Newsletter
The adoption each year of a series of FDI Policy Statements is a key task of the Worldental Parliament, which assembles alongside the FDI Annual World Dental Congress (AWDC) and brings together delegates from FDI’s nearly 140 member National Dental Associations (NDAs) representing over one million dentists worldwide. Together, these members elect governing and committee officials, debate the current status of dental policies or oral health in the world, and make recommendations on the directions FDI should be taking to maintain its leading role as the driving force behind the worldwide dental profession and its voice in international public affairs.
This year, a total of six Policy Statements — three new, two revised and one consolidated — will be submitted for adoption during the AWDC. The new ones are ‘Oral Radiations’ and ‘Early Detection and Appropriate Care of HIV Infection’, both developed by the FDI Science Committee (SC), and ‘Perinatal and Infant Oral Health’, by the Dental Practice Committee (DPC). In addition, the Policy Statement on ‘Dental Amalgam’ updates and consolidates all previous statements since 1999. The two revised Policy Statements concern ‘Dental Implants’ and ‘Water Fluoridation’.
FDI Policy Statements — a traditional task of the Federation throughout its over 100 years of existence — are declarations that lay out the current thinking on various issues critically related to oral health, oral health policies and the dental profession. They are key documents to guide oral healthcare professionals and health policy makers on the latest consensus in the area of oral health practice and policy.
They are put together through consultation, discussion and consensus amongst leading dental experts from around the world. Many statements are the result of projects carried out by the five FDI Standing Committees (mostly the Science Committee), while others are produced in collaboration with partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO).
Of course, a number of NDAs already develop Policy Statements for their dental communities that reflect national legislation, practice and custom. However, this is mostly the case in only high and sometimes middle income countries. NDAs in low income countries rarely have the capacity or means to undertake such a costly and expert intensive exercise.
It is in these cases that FDI Policy Statements come into their own, providing dentists in rural and urban settings in both developing and developed countries with the standards and information related to all aspects of oral health that they need to accomplish their daily tasks. In this sense, they are an accumulation and reflection of the current best evidence and worldwide best practice.
Click here to read more news from the 2014 FDI AWDC.
