edit-Frank-151-152
High quality oral health – an
Editorials
FDI World Dental Federation
objective
Michael FRANK
DDS, PhD
Associate Editor-in-Chief
Dear Readers,
It is my pleasure to write to you as the new President of the European Regional Organization of our FDI World Dental
Federation, and I would like to take this opportunity to share some insights from the most recent developments in
international policies for our profession. Globalization is a buzzword we have been hearing repeatedly in the media, and
yes, the world is most certainly converging in terms of sharing information, data transfer, transport, trade and international
financial flows. At the same time, the regions and nations of this globalized world still differ enormously in terms of their
standards of living and, not in the least, their access to health care. Reducing global health inequality and tackling global
health problems effectively, efficiently and sustainably were the objectives of the annual congress of the FDI World Dental
Federation, held in San Francisco from 2 to 8 September, 2019. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about the most
important resolutions adopted at this meeting.
Visions for global oral health
The FDI’s current strategic plan – the policy paper in which the goals of our international dental cooperation are defined –
covers the years 2018 to 2021 and will therefore come to an end in two years’ time. For this reason, some time ago we tasked
a new working group with drawing up a new strategic plan for the FDI World Dental Federation for the period until 2030.
Prof. Michael Glick (USA) and Prof. David Williams (UK) were appointed to lead this working group, and my German
colleague Dr. Michael Sereny is also part of it. The key points of the plan so far are that oral health must be accessible,
available and affordable worldwide. It should be integrated into the overall health agenda; this will ensure that dentists
are empowered under the UN goals for sustainable development. We want to build a responsive and robust profession
worldwide and we want oral health to be firmly anchored in the global discourse on health and sustainability. One point
that is very important for everyone involved is to ensure that the draft of our new strategic plan, Vision 2030, is not an
immutable doctrine, but instead a document that can be changed or adapted at any time. We want technical feedback and
constructive criticism to be easily incorporated into the new paper, which we hope to have ready as a final draft to present
to the FDI General Assembly in 2020.
New FDI policy statements
An important aspect of the work of our federation is to produce and publish information and guidelines on all aspects
of oral health care and the actions of dentists worldwide. We do this with the FDI Policy Statements, which sum up our
thoughts and views on a wide variety of issues and topics related to our profession, its practice and oral health. These
statements are the result of long and intensive discussions and consultations with respected experts from around the
world. Many of our statements are prepared by scientific committees specifically set up to debate and write them. Other
statements are the result of professional collaboration between our association and other associations such as the World
Health Organization (WHO).
Stomatology Edu Journal 151
While in San Francisco the voting delegates of the FDI member organizations adopted policy statements on the following
Editorials
topics:
m Access to Oral Healthcare Among Vulnerable and Underserved Populations
m Antibiotic Stewardship in Dentistry
m Continuing Education via eLearning
m Ethical International Recruitment of Oral Health Professionals (this is a revised and updated version of the 2006
statement). Updated issues included a commitment not to solicit dental professionals. As the FDI we fully align ourselves
with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Code of Practice on the Ethical Recruitment of Health Professionals.
m Infection Prevention and Control in Dental Practice (revised and updated version of the 2009 state-ment)
m Malocclusion in Orthodontics and Oral Health
m Carious Lesions and First Restorative Treatment
m Repair of Restorations
Our new Policy Statements will be published shortly in English and German on the FDI website:
(https://www.fdiworlddental.org/resources/policy-statements).
A new President and forward-looking elections
Like most political professional bodies, the World Dental Federation has a democratic structure. Elections to the FDI Council
and the standing committees on a range of topics are part of every General Assembly.
In San Francisco, the former President-elect, Dr. Gerhard Seeberger (Italy), was elected President of the FDI, leaving the post
of his designated successor to be filled. The General Assembly elected Professor Ihsane Ben Yahya (Morocco) to the office of
President-elect in two ballots. In accordance with the FDI constitution, she will take up the office of President of the World
Federation in 2021. Dr. Jack Cottrell (Canada) and Dr. Peter Engel (Germany) had also stood for election.
Dr. Greg Chadwick (USA) took over the office of treasurer.
Dr. Juliane von Hoyningen-Huene, one of my German colleagues, was appointed chair of the FDI Women Dentists Worldwide
Section.
For me personally, the congress in San Francisco marked a very fruitful and collegial cooperation of dentists from all over
the world, and it was a source of pleasure and inspiration. The results of the congress encourage me to hope that in the not
too distant future we will be able to work together to balance or even eliminate the dramatic differences in access to high-
quality oral health care that exist around the world, and to ensure that everyone, everywhere benefits from the best possible
oral health care – thus creating true globalization. I cordially invite you, dear colleagues and all readers of the Stomatology
Edu Journal, to work with us to achieve this goal!
Yours sincerely,
Michael Frank, DDS, PhD
ERO President of FDI World Dental Federation
President Dental Chamber Hesse
Board of the German Dental Chamber
Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Stomatology Edu Journal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25241/stomaeduj.2019.6(3).edit.1
152 Stoma Edu J. 2019;6(3): 151-152 http://www.stomaeduj.com