Monday 16 May 2016
- New poll reveals cities which are seen to have the nicest smiles in the UK.
- London, York, Liverpool, Cambridge and Bath make up top five.
- Wolverhampton, Salford, Lichfield and Stoke-on-Trent received the least votes.
- The survey is part of the 40th National Smile Month — which begins today — a charity campaign looking to improve the nation’s oral health
London has been voted the best of British when it comes to their smiles, claiming their crown by topping a nationwide poll of cities whose residents have the nicest smiles.
The research, commissioned by the Oral Health Foundation as part of National Smile Month, questioned more than 2,000 Brits in order to try and provide an insight into smiles across the country.
The survey featured 45 of the UK’s most populated cities and uncovered that more than one in five (21 per cent) identified Londoners as having the greatest grins, beating those in York (18 per cent) and Liverpool (16 per cent) into second and third place respectively.
The cities trailing behind in the smile stakes were Wolverhampton, Salford and Lichfield who shared less than six per cent of the total vote between them.
Dr Nigel Carter OBE, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation discussed the poll: “London may have a reputation for being a place that is very short on smiles but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
“It shows that quantity is not always related to quality and when London residents do choose to smile their grins are showing the rest of the country the way forward. Maybe the good people of London can share their secret behind a brilliant smile with the rest of us so we can all see better smiles across the country.
“A smile is an incredibly powerful tool and is worth remembering it is one we all possess; a simple smile can make others around you feel at ease, it’s highly contagious and plays such an important role in our lives that we should make our oral health top priority.”
The Oral Health Foundation have released the research on the first day of National Smile Month, which runs until 16 June. The campaign is UK’s largest and longest running charity campaign initiative aimed at increasing awareness of importance of oral health, and this year celebrates its 40th year.
Together, with thousands of individuals and organisations, National Smile Month highlights three key messages, all of which go a long way in helping us develop and maintain a healthy mouth. They are:
- Brush your teeth last thing at night and on at least one other occasion with a fluoride toothpaste.
- Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks.
- Visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.
The results of the poll come shortly after Public Health England released their latest child oral health statistics which highlight glaring dental inequality across the country.
Dr Carter added: “These new statistics illustrate a worrying relationship between geography and oral health. They show that in the south-east 80% of five-year-olds have a clean bill of oral health, but in the north-west the proportion is just 67%. To think that our quality of smile is linked to our hometown is very sad especially when almost all oral health problems are entirely preventable.
“During National Smile Month we are campaigning for better smiles nationwide. We are seriously concerned that poor oral health may be affecting the quality of our smiles as it has been proven to have a close relationship with confidence, self-esteem, relationships and overall health.
“National Smile Month is a great opportunity for us to take a moment and think about our oral health and discover what we can do to improve it.”
National Smile Month 2016 is being supported by some of the nation’s best-known brands and retailers. Wrigley’s Extra, Oral-B as platinum sponsors of the campaign, with further support from Polo sugar-free and Philips Sonicare.
Visit www.smilemonth.org for more information about National Smile Month.
