An improved access to FDI official Policy Statements and Resolutions

INTRODUCTION

FDI World Dental Federation official policy statements will now be published in the International Dental Journal (IDJ), giving a wider visibility to these important reference documents. With this new development, FDI policy statements will become available on Medline/PubMed and citable as bibliographic references.

One of the goals of the FDI World Dental Federation is to develop and disseminate policies, standards and information related to all aspects of oral health care around the world. It does this through the publication of FDI Policy Statements; these are declarations that lay out the current thinking on various issues related to oral health, oral health policies and the dental profession.

The development of policy statements support fully the main objectives of FDI: to be the worldwide, authoritative and independent voice of the dental profession; to promote optimal oral and general health for all peoples; to support the member associations in enhancing the ability of their members to provide oral health-care to the public; and to advance and promote the ethics, art, science and practice of dentistry. The FDI policy statements are a core deliverable of the Federation and enable both the FDI and its member national dental associations to advocate on key issues with decision makers at both national and international level.

FDI policy statements are put together through consultation, discussion and consensus among leading dental experts from around the world. Many statements are the result of projects carried out by the FDI Science Committee, while others are produced in collaboration with organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA). These documents are discussed, commented, amended by all national dental associations and finally adopted by the General Assembly of the FDI, which takes place each year during the Annual congress. This process guarantees a large consultation of all stakeholders and the inclusion of all sensitivities and national considerations. In this issue of the IDJ one can find important statements and resolutions adopted in 2011 and 2012:

• •Policy Statement on dental bleaching materials¹.
• •Policy Statement on classification of caries lesions of tooth surfaces and caries management systems².
• •Resolution on global legally binding instrument on mercury³.

FDI Policy Statements are also available in German, Spanish and French on the FDI website www.fdiworldental.org.

THE WAY FORWARD: ORAL HEALTH IN ALL POLICIES

FDI policy statements represent the global view of the dental and oral health communities and are a basis for advocacy and policy development at the global and national level. These documents offer an opportunity for members of the profession to become true leaders and role models. In line with the principles of the Adelaide Statement on Health, we strongly advocate for the inclusion of Oral Health in All Policies, and for the engagement of oral health-care professionals with leaders and policy-makers at all levels of government and NGOs (i.e. local, regional, national and global). As emphasised in FDI Vision 2020⁴, we have a significant role as health advocates, which involves educating and influencing decision makers, including senior government officials, national and international agencies, community leaders and the public.