IFDH President's Report

March 2020

A lot Has been Accomplished in Only 6 Months!

Since our election mid-August 2019, the IFDH Board of Directors and staff have been busy.

We’ve had several conference calls and recently (February 2020) we held our first in-person board meeting in Dublin, Ireland, where we met with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the International Symposium on Dental Hygiene 2022. See the ISDH report of Barbara Derham, Chair of the LOC in the e-News.

During our board meetings, we discussed how best to implement our new IFDH Strategic Plan, with new committees and tasks, our marketing and PR strategy, our finances including the 2020 – 2022 budget and our current and new programs.

Marketing Elements Developed

Our main focus will be on global leadership, collaboration and advocacy and on the promotion of oral health, education, research and practice. This has resulted in a new sponsorship brochure on Corporate Partnership Opportunities 2020-2022, with an Association Resource Centre, Education Academy, Research Grants, Social responsibility and more.

At the same time, we updated our individual Membership Brochure to promote the benefits for becoming an IFDH Individual Member – including our quarterly International Journal of Dental Hygiene, the official scientific peer-reviewed journal of IFDH, bringing the latest scientific news, high quality commissioned reviews as well as clinial, professional and educational developmental and legistilative news. Samples of the brochure will be sent to you for distribution at your meetings. Please help us get more Individual Members!

We have also updated the IFDH PowerPoint presentation – “Getting to Know IFDH”, which is available for your use in promoting your organization’s membership in IFDH. It is found in the secure section of our website.

Global Oral Health Summit & Executive Leadership Forum

To emphasize our role in the promotion of oral health, we decided to organize a Global Oral Health Summit and an Executive Leadership Forum in Barcelona, March 12-13, 2021 (this is a new date due to hotel availability). During the Summit, influential stakeholders in oral health, public health, education and research will discuss oral health issues, resulting in a multi-faceted statement and policy recommendations on the importance of oral health.

During the Executive Leadership Forum, current board members and future leaders of our national Dental Hygienist organizations, will learn from experts on how to advance their leadership skills through strategic thinking and collaboration. They will be able to share their organizational issues and concerns and learn from global oral health community peers and their successes – great benefits for our member organizations!

Plan now and select who will attend this 2-day event from your organization. See more information.

Representing IFDH

In December 2019, I visited the meeting of the European Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe (IFDH is an Associated Member) and the launch of the “Policy Recommendations to Improve Oral Health in the EU” in the European Parliament. The total cost for treating oral health related diseases in the EU is an estimated Euro 100 billion per year and productivity losses due to dental diseases are estimated to reach some euro 57 billion a year. Taking into account that “Oral diseases are almost entirely preventable with the right policies and incentives…”

Our First of 3 Surveys

The IFDH recently fielded the first in a 3-survey series to explore Dental Hygienists’ knowledge about fluoride dentifrices, including resources used for decision-making when providing recommendations to their patients. Survey results identify common information sources and knowledge gaps across regions to guide future educational programs. The survey was sent out to all of our 34 national association members. There were 480 respondents, representing 20 countries. Congratulations to the top five countries with the most respondents – Korea, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland and South Africa. Look for two more surveys this year. Thank you to P&G for their sponsorship of this program.

Committees Developed

During our House of Delegates Business meeting in Brisbane, August 2019, the House of Delegates (HoD) decided on having smaller IFDH committees with more specific tasks. During the first months of the current board we discussed the HoD-accepted Strategic Plan 2019-2022 and the Bylaws changes. As a result the board has divided some of the major committees (Education & Research, Infrastructure, Membership, Professional & Public Relations and Social Responsibility) and added some sub-committees. We developed a list of tasks for each committee, appointed a board member as a liaison to the committee, invited Chairs for the committees and asked the House of Delegates to participate in the committee of their preference. Together with our new appointed committees we hope to accomplish the tasks we decided on in Brisbane and realize our mission!

Corrie Jongbloed-Zoet, RDH, Epe
President IFDH