A huge success and leap forward for dental science, this year’s Perio Workshop outcomes were the result of a significant collaboration between the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) and European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA).
Held in La Granja, Spain, over three days during November 2016, the workshop was sponsored by Colgate and attended by top-level international specialists from periodontology and cariology. Delegates worked together in mixed groups to create a framework for collaboration on reducing gum disease and caries – the two main causes of tooth loss.
Four working groups generated in-depth debate on:
- The role of microbial biofilm
- Interaction of lifestyle and systemic diseases with caries and gum disease
- Prevention and control at individual and society level
- Age-related effects on oral health.
Each group was co-chaired by an expert from ORCA and another from the EFP. Conclusions of these joint sessions are being reviewed and refined for publication in a special open-access supplement of the EFP’s Journal of Clinical Periodontology during 2017.
New standards
These outcomes will be the product of an unprecedented exchange of knowledge, approaches and methodologies from EFP and ORCA delegates. Given the profile and prestige of these specialists, the conclusions of Perio Workshop 2016 will set new global standards not just in Europe but across the globe in science and research on causes of people most often losing their teeth – either during childhood because of caries, or for the elderly due to periodontal disease.
‘Perio Workshop 2016 has been a fantastic opportunity to bring together the scientific culture and background of first-class scientists who very rarely work together,’ explained chairman Mariano Sanz.
‘We discussed all the common risk factors that make a person more susceptible to caries or periodontal disease – or both – including impact of sugar, the developmental aspect of teeth and periodontal tissues.
‘A key topic of Perio Workshop 2016 was geriatric dentistry. We went into detail on what occurs to our teeth as we are getting old. This is important as the EFP is willing to put renewed emphasis on the patient’s quality of life and wellbeing,’ Mariano explained. ‘This is a two-directional process. It is important to understand how caries and gum disease impact on our quality of life and wellbeing, but also the other way around: how social and economic factors can heavily influence these diseases.’
Both the EFP and ORCA are science-driven organisations based in Europe with a worldwide reach, as they lead the global conversation on periodontology and caries, respectively.
