FDI World Dental Federation

{{Short description|International dentistry organization}} {{For|the federation's international standard tooth numbering system|FDI World Dental Federation notation}} {{Infobox organization | name = FDI World Dental Federation | native_name = Fédération dentaire internationale | abbreviation = FDI | logo = Fédération Dentaire Internationale, Logo marina.png | logo_size = 180px | logo_alt = Logo of the FDI World Dental Federation | logo_caption = Logo of the FDI World Dental Federation | type = International non-governmental organization | founded = {{Start date and age|1900|8|15}} | founder = Charles Godon | headquarters = Geneva, Switzerland | region_served = Worldwide | membership = National dental associations and specialist groups | focus = Dentistry and oral health | leader_title = President | leader_name = Nikolai Sharkov | website = {{URL|https://www.fdiworlddental.org}} }}

The '''FDI World Dental Federation''' ('''FDI'''; French: ''Fédération dentaire internationale'') is an international organization representing the dental profession. Founded in Paris in 1900, it is a federation of national dental associations and dental specialist groups and is one of the oldest international professional bodies in dentistry.<ref name="Benzian2005">{{cite journal |last1=Benzian |first1=H. M. |last2=Nackstad |first2=C. |last3=Barnard |first3=J. T. |year=2005 |title=The role of the FDI World Dental Federation in global oral health |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |volume=83 |issue=9 |pages=719–720 |pmid=16211166 |pmc=2626329}}</ref><ref name="BDJ2005">{{cite journal |title=What is the FDI World Dental Federation? |journal=British Dental Journal |year=2005 |volume=199 |issue=3 |page=123 |doi=10.1038/sj.bdj.4812599}}</ref> FDI is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has been in official relations with the World Health Organization since 1948.<ref name="Seeberger2020">{{cite journal |last1=Seeberger |first1=G. K. |last2=Lamster |first2=I. B. |last3=Bondioni |first3=E. |year=2020 |title=Celebrating a double milestone in 2020: FDI turns 120 and the International Dental Journal is 70 |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=319–320 |doi=10.1111/idj.12611 |pmid=32776322 |pmc=9379152}}</ref>

== History == FDI was founded in Paris on 15 August 1900 by the French dentist Charles Godon, dean of the École Dentaire de Paris, together with a small group of colleagues. The federation was created to organize regular international dental congresses and to support professional exchange and education across national borders.<ref name="Hancocks2000">{{cite journal |last=Hancocks |first=S. |year=2000 |title=The FDI's first ten years, 1900–1910 |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=175–183 |doi=10.1111/j.1875-595X.2000.tb00556.x |pmid=11042817}}</ref><ref name="Freihofer1975">{{cite journal |last=Freihofer |first=H. H. |year=1975 |title=The Fédération Dentaire Internationale, 1900–1975 |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=140–145 |pmid=1099007}}</ref><ref name="Seeberger2020" /> The first annual International Dental Congress under the new federation was held in London in 1901.<ref name="Hancocks2000" />

In its early decades, FDI functioned chiefly as a scientific and professional forum. Its work was interrupted by the First and Second World Wars but resumed in the post-war period, and the organization later expanded from congress organization into policy development and public-health work.<ref name="Benzian2005" /><ref name="Freihofer1975" /> FDI entered into official relations with the World Health Organization in 1948.<ref name="Seeberger2020" /><ref name="Vision2030" /> In 1950, the federation launched the ''International Dental Journal'', succeeding the earlier ''FDI Bulletin''.<ref name="Seeberger2020" />

In 1994, WHO and FDI jointly designated 1994 as the International Year of Oral Health.<ref name="Seeberger2020" /> In 2005, Michele Aerden became the first woman elected president of the federation.<ref name="WomenDentistry">{{cite web |title=Timeline of Women in Dentistry |publisher=History of Dentistry |url=http://www.historyofdentistry.net/famous-dentists/timeline-of-women-in-dentistry/ |access-date=20 April 2024}}</ref> Analyses published in the early twenty-first century described FDI as increasingly engaged in global health policy, particularly on oral disease prevention and the integration of oral health into the wider non-communicable disease agenda.<ref name="Wong2015">{{cite journal |last1=Wong |first1=T. C. |last2=Eiselé |first2=J.-L. |year=2015 |title=FDI World Dental Federation: Responding to new realities of oral health |journal=Journal of Dental Research |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=507–509 |doi=10.1177/0022034515571185}}</ref><ref name="Vision2030">{{cite journal |last=Glick |first=M. |year=2021 |title=FDI Vision 2030: Delivering Optimal Oral Health for All |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |doi=10.1111/idj.12620|pmc=7537538 }}</ref>

== Organization == FDI is a membership federation of national dental associations and specialist groups. Its General Assembly, also described as the World Dental Parliament, is the principal decision-making body and meets annually during the World Dental Congress. An elected Council oversees implementation of policy, and standing committees composed of member-association volunteers carry out programme work.<ref name="Wong2015" /><ref name="BDJ2005" />

A 2005 article in the ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization'' reported that FDI then represented more than 900,000 dental professionals through 157 dental associations in 136 countries.<ref name="Benzian2005" /> Writing in the ''Journal of the American Dental Association'' in 2021, then-president G. K. Seeberger described FDI as working with close to 200 national dental associations and specialist groups from more than 130 countries.<ref name="Vision2030ADA">{{cite journal |last=Seeberger |first=G. K. |year=2021 |title=Toward Vision 2030 |journal=Journal of the American Dental Association |volume=152 |issue=9 |pages=697–699 |doi=10.1016/j.adaj.2021.06.006}}</ref>

== Activities ==

=== World Dental Congress === FDI organizes the annual '''World Dental Congress''' ('''WDC'''), which combines scientific sessions with meetings of its governing bodies. The congress grew out of the international congress model central to the federation's founding purpose.<ref name="Hancocks2000" /><ref name="BDJ2005" /> Recent congresses have been held in Shanghai (2020), Istanbul (2024), Shanghai (2025), and Prague (2026).<ref name="WDC2026">{{cite web |title=FDI World Dental Congress 2026 |publisher=FDI World Dental Federation |url=https://www.fdiworlddental.org/fdi-world-dental-congress |access-date=23 April 2026}}</ref>

=== Policy and frameworks === FDI publishes policy statements and conceptual frameworks on oral health and dental practice. In 2016 its General Assembly adopted a revised definition of oral health that emphasized functional and psychosocial dimensions rather than the absence of disease alone.<ref name="Glick2016">{{cite journal |last1=Glick |first1=M. |last2=Williams |first2=D. M. |last3=Kleinman |first3=D. V. |last4=Vujicic |first4=M. |last5=Watt |first5=R. G. |last6=Weyant |first6=R. J. |year=2016 |title=A new definition for oral health developed by the FDI World Dental Federation opens the door to a universal definition of oral health |journal=Journal of the American Dental Association |volume=147 |issue=12 |pages=915–917 |doi=10.1016/j.adaj.2016.10.001 |pmid=27886668}}</ref>

In 2021, FDI published ''Vision 2030: Delivering Optimal Oral Health for All'', a policy framework on the place of oral health in health systems.<ref name="Vision2030" /> The FDI conceptual framework has also been applied in external research; a 2022 study in the ''International Dental Journal'' used it to examine oral health in a general adult population.<ref name="Ahonen2022">{{cite journal |last1=Ahonen |first1=H. |last2=Suhonen |first2=R. |last3=Richardson |first3=J. |last4=Nilsson |first4=M. |year=2022 |title=Applying World Dental Federation theoretical framework for oral health in a general adult population |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=409–418 |doi=10.1016/j.identj.2021.10.002|pmc=9275075 }}</ref>

== Standards == FDI is associated with the '''FDI World Dental Federation notation''', a two-digit system for designating teeth and areas of the oral cavity. The system, also published as ISO 3950, was originally developed by the federation and has been recognized by the World Health Organization.<ref name="ISO1984">{{cite web |title=ISO 3950:1984 Dentistry — Designation system for teeth and areas of the oral cavity |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/9600.html}}</ref><ref name="ISO2016">{{cite web |title=ISO 3950:2016 Dentistry — Designation system for teeth and areas of the oral cavity |publisher=International Organization for Standardization |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/68292.html}}</ref> Dental literature describes the system as the most widely used dental notation outside the United States and as suitable for standardized clinical and research communication.<ref name="Peck1993">{{cite journal |last1=Peck |first1=S. |last2=Peck |first2=L. |year=1993 |title=A time for change of tooth numbering systems |journal=Journal of Dental Education |volume=57 |issue=8 |pages=643–647 |doi=10.1002/j.0022-0337.1993.57.8.tb02785.x |pmid=8349894}}</ref>

== World Oral Health Day == '''World Oral Health Day''' is an annual public-awareness observance organized by FDI. It was first declared in 2007 and initially observed on 12 September, the birth date of Charles Godon, but the campaign was not fully activated until 2013, when the date was moved to 20 March to avoid conflicting with the FDI World Dental Congress.<ref name="WOHDabout">{{cite web |title=About World Oral Health Day |publisher=FDI World Dental Federation |url=https://www.worldoralhealthday.org/about |access-date=23 April 2026}}</ref><ref name="BDJ2015">{{cite journal |title=World oral health day |journal=British Dental Journal |year=2015 |volume=218 |issue=6 |page=325 |doi=10.1038/sj.bdj.2015.221}}</ref>

The observance has been marked by World Health Organization regional offices and other public-health institutions, which have used the day to promote oral health and advocate for universal health coverage that includes oral care.<ref name="WHOSEARO2023">{{cite web |title=World Oral Health Day: Accelerate action to achieve universal coverage for oral health |publisher=World Health Organization South-East Asia Region |date=20 March 2023 |url=https://www.who.int/southeastasia/news/detail/20-03-2023-world-oral-health-day-accelerate-action-to-achieve-universal-coverage-for-oral-health}}</ref><ref name="WHOAFRO2026">{{cite web |title=World Oral Health Day 2026 |publisher=World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa |date=9 March 2026 |url=https://www.afro.who.int/regional-director/speeches-messages/world-oral-health-day-2026}}</ref>

== Relations with international bodies == FDI has been in official relations with the World Health Organization since 1948.<ref name="Vision2030" /><ref name="Seeberger2020" /> A 2005 article in the ''Bulletin of the World Health Organization'' described FDI as one of the oral-health-related non-governmental organizations in official relations with WHO, and WHO lists published in 2023 and 2024 continued to include FDI among non-State actors in official relations with the organization.<ref name="Benzian2005" /><ref name="WHONSA2023">{{cite report |title=Non-State actors in official relations with WHO |publisher=World Health Organization |date=6 December 2023 |url=https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB154/B154_37-en.pdf}}</ref><ref name="WHONSA2024">{{cite report |title=List of 219 non-State actors in official relations with WHO |publisher=World Health Organization |year=2024 |url=https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/executive-board/list-of-entities-in-official-relations-with-who---2024.pdf}}</ref>

FDI is one of the five member organizations of the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA), alongside the International Council of Nurses, the World Medical Association, the International Pharmaceutical Federation, and World Physiotherapy. In November 2022, WHO and the WHPA signed a memorandum of understanding on health-workforce priorities, covering all five alliance members.<ref name="WHOWHPA">{{cite web |title=WHO, members of the World Health Professions Alliance sign new memorandum of understanding on health workforce priorities |publisher=World Health Organization |date=7 November 2022 |url=https://www.who.int/news/item/07-11-2022-WHO_WHPA_MOU}}</ref><ref name="WHPAabout">{{cite web |title=About WHPA |website=World Health Professions Alliance |url=https://www.whpa.org/}}</ref> FDI is also listed as a member of the NCD Alliance network.<ref name="NCDA">{{cite web |title=FDI World Dental Federation |website=NCD Alliance |url=https://ncdalliance.org/about/our-network/membres/fdi-world-dental-federation}}</ref>

== Partnerships == FDI has participated in long-running public-health partnerships with private-sector and academic partners. The best-documented example is its collaboration with Unilever Oral Care on school-based toothbrushing and oral-health education. A 2018 review in the ''International Dental Journal'' described twelve years of joint activity under the FDI–Unilever ''Brush Day & Night'' partnership.<ref name="Kell2018">{{cite journal |last1=Kell |first1=K. |last2=Aymerich |first2=M.-A. |last3=Horn |first3=V. |year=2018 |title=FDI–Unilever Brush Day & Night partnership: 12 years of improving behaviour for better oral health |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=68 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=3–6 |doi=10.1111/idj.12404|pmc=9379085 }}</ref> The earlier ''Live.Learn.Laugh.'' programme was evaluated by researchers at the University of Salford across 38 countries, with findings published in the ''International Dental Journal'' in 2011; the commissioning of that evaluation was reported in the ''British Dental Journal'' in 2009.<ref name="Pine2011">{{cite journal |last1=Pine |first1=C. M. |last2=Dugdill |first2=L. |last3=Nicoll |first3=A. |last4=Owens |first4=J. |year=2011 |title=Analysis of a unique global public-private partnership to promote oral health |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=61 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=10–14 |doi=10.1111/j.1875-595X.2011.00036.x|pmc=9374979 }}</ref><ref name="Dugdill2011">{{cite journal |last1=Dugdill |first1=L. |last2=Owens |first2=J. |last3=Pine |first3=C. M. |year=2011 |title=Evaluation of international case studies within 'Live. Learn. Laugh.': a unique global public-private partnership to promote oral health |journal=International Dental Journal |volume=61 |issue=Suppl 2 |pages=24–29 |doi=10.1111/j.1875-595X.2011.00035.x|pmc=9374919 }}</ref><ref name="BDJ2009">{{cite journal |title=Focus on world oral health |journal=British Dental Journal |year=2009 |volume=206 |issue=12 |page=612 |doi=10.1038/sj.bdj.2009.537}}</ref> The Salford evaluation was commissioned as part of the partnership, and the supporting papers were published in a journal supplement associated with the programme.

== Publications == FDI is the owner of the ''International Dental Journal'', a peer-reviewed publication that succeeded the ''FDI Bulletin'' in 1950 and covers research, reviews, policy papers, and commentary in dentistry and oral health.<ref name="Seeberger2020" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Official website|https://www.fdiworlddental.org}} * [https://www.worldoralhealthday.org World Oral Health Day]

Category:Dental organizations Category:International medical and health organizations Category:Medical and health organisations based in Switzerland Category:Organisations based in Geneva Category:Organizations established in 1900 Category:1900 establishments in France