History
The Korean Academy of Periodontology was the only professional body in health sicences to attend the 1st Lifestyle Disease Awareness Event held in October 2007; and in February 2008, it held a conference with members of the Korea Science Journalists Association to gather advice on promoting awareness of periodontal disease.
In April 2008, the Academy created and broadcasted a documentary entitled 'Periodontal Disease Threatens our Bodies' in association with Medi TV, and also made a DVD for the Academy members to educate their patients. Then in October of the same year, the Academy participated in the 2nd Lifestyle Disease Awareness Event, which recorded over 1,600 visitors.
The Academy, however, realized the limitations of promoting awareness through sporadic newspaper articles and other media sources, and in 2009, it designated the 24th of March as 'Gum Day' and announced this to the nation - a first in history. The Academy also created a gum guarding mascot named as 'Pinky' (named after the color of healthy gums), and appointed Buram Choi, the actor, as the Goodwill Ambassador for Gum Day.
Gum Day was made in the third month to signify the length of time it takes for bacteria in the periodontal pocket to return to pathogenicity (three months) and on the twenty-fourth day to signify the Korean words 'yi (tooth) - 2 (yi)' and 'sarang (love) - 4 (sa)' to denote the overall meaning 'Love your teeth every three months'. The history of Gum Day is as follows.
Announcement of March 24 being designated as 'Gum Day'
Held a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of Gum Day, and provided over 1,000 visitors with free gum health checkups and a consultation service. Campaigned for gum health from March 17-31, during which time, fourteen locations were visited nationwide to provide the people with lectures on health and free periodontal screenings in collaboration with local designated training institutions and branches. The 'Silent Pain of the 90% - Periodontitis' episode of KBS TV's 'the Secrets of Life' was also aired.
In commemoration of the 2nd anniversary of Gum Day, a ceremony and free screening event for seniors were held on the 8th-floor auditorium of the Seoul National University Dental Hospital. In a follow-up to the campaign the year before, eleven places were visited between March 14-31, during which time lectures on health were provided for the people in collaboration with designated local training institutes and branches.
An event similar to the one held the year before was held to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Gum Day. Another step taken towards the health of the people by providing workers at the Seongbundo Welfare Center in Gwang-ju, Gyeonggi Province with oral health screenings and statistical data.
The 4th Annual Gum Day. We began in earnest to make this a day of mass promotion of periodontal disease awareness through collaboration with public health centers. Each year, new issues regarding periodontal disease are brought into the spotlight for the people through a press conference, and promotional activities are held.
The 5th Annual Gum day. Brought into the spotlight were the issues of "Prevalence of periodontal disease among up younger people increasing at an alarming rate" and "Hereditary susceptibility to periodontal disease", which both received much media coverage. KAP members, Hanyang Women’s University Dental Hygiene students, and the Dongkook Pharmaceutical held the "Scaling for Persons with Disabilities Event", which received great attention from the media and health care related organizations, and through projects such as free exam and scaling offered volunteered at by professionals, we are continuing our efforts to promote prevention and early treatment of periodontal disease.
The Sixth Annual Gum Day. Similar events were held.
