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Last year, the James Lind Alliance Oral and Dental Health Priority Setting Partnership asked patients, carers and health care professionals and members of the public to tell them what questions they wanted research to answer on oral and dental health, to keep peoples' mouths, teeth and gums healthy. Over 600 people replied, submitting over 1000 questions. The responses were whittled down to a key set of 38 questions. In order to promote Oral & Dental Health Research, the Chief Dental Officer shared a survey to identify the top 10 priorities. We are grateful to those members who took the time to complete the survey and hoped that periodontal health research would be recognised as a priority for funding. The results of the survey are now in and more information can be found here.

The European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) has become a global federation by opening its doors to International Associate Members. EFP President Anton Sculean said: “Periodontitis is a global issue, with severe forms affecting around one in ten people worldwide. (1) Gum health is a key factor for overall health and quality of life. As the most influential periodontal organisation in the world, the EFP is joining forces with international societies so that together we can prevent and treat periodontitis and its complications.” International Associate Member Societies gain access to EFP projects, newsletters and publications; reduced fees for the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, EuroPerio congress and other educational events; support from the EFP Immediate Past President; and much more. Mexico was the first society to become an International Associate Member, followed by Taiwan, Brazil, and Lebanon. Their memberships are set to be formalised at the 2019 EFP General Assembly in Bern, Switzerland, on 30 March. EFP Secretary General Iain Chapple said: “This is an exciting time for the EFP, as we prepare to welcome the first cohort of International Associate Members in March. We are in discussions with other societies and look forward to expanding the EFP family even more.” Cecilia Robles, Immediate Past President of the Mexican Association of Periodontology, said: "Nearly 60% of Mexicans have signs of periodontal disease, and more than three-quarters of 65 to 69 year-olds have poor oral hygiene.” (2) Alejandro García Huerta, President of the Mexican Association of Periodontology, said: “Joining the EFP is an important step towards achieving our goals of improving oral health in Mexico and contributing to international efforts to tackle this widespread problem.” References 1) Kassebaum NJ, Bernabé E, Dahiya M, et al. Global burden of severe periodontitis in 1990-2010: a systematic review and meta-regression. J Dent Res. 2014;93:1045–1053. doi: 10.1177/0022034514552491. 2) Cruz G, Picazzo E. The paradigm of oral health in Mexico. J Oral Res. 2017;6:8–9. doi:10.17126/joralres.2017.004.

The United Nations’ (UN) Universal Children’s Day was established in 1954 to promote international togetherness, raise awareness among children worldwide and improve children’s welfare. This special day is celebrated on the 20th November every year.

The EFP has today launched their Perio & Diabetes project. This is an exciting collaboration with Sunstar and an ambitious project to promote awareness of the important links between periodontal diseases and diabetes. For more information click here to read the latest press release.

The European Federation of Periodontology will launch a Perio & Diabetes project on 14 November to promote awareness of the important links between gum disease and diabetes, explaining how they can be fought together. The project is a collaboration between the EFP and SUNSTAR and will provide specific guidelines for oral-health professionals, medical professionals and pharmacists, researchers, policymakers, patients, the public, and the media. Here is their early press release but watch this space for the launch of their exciting project:

Periodontology featured highly in the recent October edition of the British Dental Journal. We have chosen several articles to bring to your attention.

A note from Honorary Secretary, Professor Nicola West... I would like to keep you appraised of developments regarding the UK implementation of the new classification of Periodontal Diseases. The new classification was agreed at the joint meeting of the American Association of Periodontology and European Federation of Periodontology at the World Workshop in Periodontology, held in Chicago during November 2017. The proceedings were published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology in early 2018. On your behalf, the BSP has tirelessly looked at the process of implementation of the new classification for the UK. The first stage of this process is a paper to be published in the British Dental Journal that describes the salient points of the new classification, rationalises the differences between the 2017 and 1999 versions and provides BSP management guidelines. This will be published on the 11th January 2019 and it will be available online from December 2018, although the exact date for this release has not been finalised yet. The January issue of the BDJ will carry the implementation guidelines of the classification paper itself together with an illustrative case study. A further five case studies will feature in the subsequent series. There are also plans to release a decision-making flowchart (algorithm) that will be widely circulated to the membership to help practitioners to adapt to the new classification. This is currently being finalised but promises to guide practitioners and Periodontists through the decision-making process to arrive at the correct diagnosis for their patients.

Dr Mike Milward represented the BSP at the CDO Societies and Associations briefing session on the 4th October at the BDIA show at the Excel in London. The sessions had presentations from Sara Hurley (CDO), Janet Clark (deputy CDO), Eric Rooney (deputy CDO) and Andrew Taylor (head of programme Office of the Chief Dental officer).

You may recall that we recently shared with our membership a survey from NHS England requesting feedback on their document, "Developing the long-term plan for the NHS". We were extremely disappointed to note that Dentistry did not feature in the NHS plan despite oral conditions having a systemic impact on other areas of health.