Task Teams
Task Teams and Working Groups are established by Council to consider matters that do not fall within the purview of any Standing Committee.
The Advocacy Task Team oversees the development and implementation of FDI’s advocacy strategy. The work is focused on ensuring oral health is integrated in the global health and development agenda and included in policies addressing other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs); recognized as being key to achieving universal health coverage (UHC); considered as being a core component of general health and well-being, with oral health professionals being recognized as valued members of the healthcare team.
The 2021/2022 liaison members with the FDI World Dental Congress Mumbai 2022 local organizing committee are the FDI Executive Committee, the Chair of the the Education Committee, and the Executive Director.
The Dental Materials & Products Surveillance Task Team provides expert, timely advice and guidance to FDI Council, Standing Committees and HQ on dental products, dental materials (including biomaterials) and such other oral health matters as arise.
The Digital Cleft Care Task Team, in collaboration with Smile Train liaison experts, provides guidance and scientific expertise as well as develops content to ensure sound implementation of the latest digital technologies into the cleft care continuum.
The Global Periodontal Health Project Task Team provides guidance and scientific expertise to ensure sound implementation of the Global Periodontal Health Project, which aims to reduce and prevent periodontal (gum) disease worldwide.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused events around the world to be cancelled or postponed and it has affected the usual business of the General Assembly and FDI Parliament. The Governance Task Team was established to look into alternative solutions for uninterrupted conduct of the General Assembly business and meeting in extraordinary circumstances.
The Task Team oversees the work of the Oral Health for an Ageing Population project, which aims to strengthen the role of the oral health community in achieving healthy longevity. They push for oral health challenges to be addressed in broader disease policies and health promotion strategies for ageing populations. The Oral Health for an Ageing Population Task Team reports to the Public Health Committee.
The project is planned to run until the end of 2022, with the support of Unilever. It has two objectives:
- Improve the integration of oral healthcare and cancer care and collaboration between oral health professionals and health professionals involved in cancer care.
- Empower patients with cancer to improve their oral hygiene and adapt their oral health behaviours according to their specific needs.
The Oral Health in Cleft Patients Task Team, in collaboration with Smile Train liaison experts, provides guidance and scientific expertise as well as develops content to ensure sound implementation of the Oral Health in Comprehensive Cleft Care project, which aims to integrate oral health professionals into the cleft care continuum. The Task Team also contributes to the promotion, dissemination and use of the project deliverables when possible.
The Oral Health Observatory Task Team guides the implementation of the initial deployment in 10 countries of the Oral Health Observatory project, which generates standardized data on oral health to inform FDI's advocacy work.
Health and Safety phase II Task Team provides guidance, scientific expertise and content to develop the project deliverables of phase II of the project, which seeks to help improve mental health and wellbeing of the oral healthcare team by developing an online toolkit and communication resources.
The Task Team oversees the work of the Partially Dentate Patients project, which ensures a tailored, comprehensive approach to treatment and care for those people with partial tooth loss. The Partially Dentate Patients Task Team reports to the Dental Practice Committee.
The Policy Statements Editorial Task Team reviews all FDI Policy Statements to ensure that they are written to a high level of English and are grammatically correct. They also check all scientific terminology is consistently used and all references are up to date and relevant.
There is no current professional consensus on the role of mouthwash for healthy patients or for patients with existing oral disease. The Task Team aims to develop a series of articles exploring this subject, which will be published in a supplement of FDI's International Dental Journal.
The Sustainability in Dentistry Task Team provides guidance and scientific expertise to ensure sound implementation of the Sustainability in Dentistry project, which aims to map out strategies and implement solutions to help reduce the environmental impact of dentistry and the dental industry.
The Whole Mouth Health phase II Task Team provides guidance and expertise to deliver advocacy support to National Dental Associations in implementing the FDI Vision 2030.
Celebrated every year on 20 March, World Oral Health Day is the largest global awareness campaign on oral health. The World Oral Health Day Task Team oversees the development and implementation of the campaign strategy. The Task Team also reviews campaign material for scientific accuracy to ensure it is in line with FDI's core messages. It also provides input on how to extend the reach of the campaign to key audiences.
