FDI seeks pledge towards sustainable goals

The FDI World Dental Federation launched a campaign asking dental associations and members to pledge their commitment to delivering sustainable oral healthcare.

The campaign, launched during the World Oral Health Forum (WOHF) held recently in Geneva, Switzerland, encouraged “all stakeholders of the dental profession and industry to take action towards more sustainable practices”.

Project goals

Devoted to the topic of sustainable dentistry, the FDI outlined three Project Goals:

• Increase awareness of the need to implement sustainable actions in the dental community
• To develop a guide for oral health professionals to identify actions that can lead to environmentally sustainable outcomes
• To conduct a review of the current literature and identify the current research and guidelines and to identify any gaps in the literature regarding sustainability in dentistry.

Other issues discussed at the Forum include challenges like climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.

Aligning with UN sustainability goals

The international body called upon the FDI member associations to sign the pledge, which seeks to better align the oral health profession, industry and wider community with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

By taking up the pledge, member associations commit “to increase awareness, promote ‘reduce and recycle’ solutions, promote sustainability as a collective responsibility, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and harnessing science, technology and innovation to achieve the UN SDGs”, said the organization.

Earlier this year, FDI launched a Toolkit for Sustainable Dentistry that serves as a guide for dentists to make their work more environmentally sustainable, while equipping them and their teams with the ability to adopt greener practices and to chart how well they are performing.

FDI members may submit their pledges here.