WOHD22: Don’t neglect patients’ mental wellbeing

The World Oral Health Day (WOHD) falls on Sunday 20 March. Organised by FDI World Dental Federation, this annual event seeks to unite members of the world’s dental community for a common cause: “Reduce the burden of oral diseases, which affect individuals, health systems and economies everywhere”.

This year’s theme is `Be Proud of Your Mouth` which “champions the critical importance of mental health, quality of life, and dentistry”. In recognition of the 2022 WOHD theme, FDI’s flagship publication, the International Dental Journal (IDJ) has assembled a collection of papers that demonstrate the multi-faceted role that dental professionals play, not only engaging in the physical well-being of patients, but also their mental health.

According to the press release edited by Prof Lakshman Samaranayake – recently appointed by the FDI Council as IDG’s new Editor-in-Chief and Honorary Chair of Dental Resource Asia’s Editorial Advisory Board – until recently, the dental profession “seem to have relegated mental health to a dark corner possibly due to poor comprehension of the conceptual framework underpinning this subject”.

The FDI press information cited the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having defined over 70 years ago, health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

“…until recently various health authorities appeared to have paid only lip service to this declaration,” reads the press release.

“This proclamation is now supported by an increasing body of data which suggest that initiatives which aim to promote only physical wellbeing to the exclusion of mental and social wellbeing are doomed to failure.”

On World Oral Health Day 2022 (WOHD22), FDI is reminding the global dental community to take “meaningful action” to help eliminate oral health neglect.

“Because an unhealthy mouth not only impacts general health but it can have a severe impact on people’s emotional, social, mental, and overall physical well-being; and that’s why we are calling on people to Be Proud of their Mouth for their happiness and well-being,” the campaign for WOHD22 encourages.

To join in for the WOHD22 celebrations and to help spread the word, FDI is providing free publicity materials for both digital downloads and/or physical printing here.