In the late 1980s, two far-sighted periodontists, Dutch academic Ubele van der Velden and French clinician Jean-Louis Giovannoli, suggested that the most active European periodontal societies coordinate their initiatives. After realising that their aims and challenges were similar, 11 national societies of periodontology agreed to pool their resources and align their vision. Representatives of these societies met in Amsterdam from December 12-13, 1991, established the objectives of the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP), and approved its constitution and by-laws. Now, the EFP celebrates its first 30 years of history.
To mark the anniversary, the EFP has produced a series of three commemorative videos and is preparing a booklet about the history of a federation that started with the scientific societies of periodontology of Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scandinavia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. Since 1991, the EFP has grown and now comprises 37 affiliated national societies from Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
As the EFP celebrates its 30th birthday, it is preparing two major events: International Perio Master Clinic 2022, a conference for periodontal practitioners to be held in León, Mexico in February, and the EuroPerio10 congress in Copenhagen, Denmark, in June, aimed at the worldwide dentistry community.
In the last 30 years of world-leading scientific congresses, workshops, publications and research to improve the quality of the periodontal clinical care received by patients around the world, the EFP has made a valuable contribution as it advanced its mission ‘Periodontal health for a better life.’ This year, the EFP-edited Journal of Clinical Periodontology became the leading dental journal in the world with an impact factor of 8.728.
“At the EFP, we are proud of the outstanding level of collaboration and exchange we’ve reached between our 37 scientific societies from all around the world, even if every single one of them keeps its autonomy and identity,” says Lior Shapira, president of the EFP. “As the EFP has gone global in the last years, diversity has become one of our strengths. Our native languages are different, but we all speak gum health – this is our common language. Then, production of scientific evidence and a shared vision of periodontal health for a better life are the secrets of our unity.”
EFP, global benchmark in periodontology
The European Federation of Periodontology (EFP, www.efp.org) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting awareness of periodontal science and the importance of gum health. Its guiding vision is “periodontal health for a better life.”
Founded in 1991, the EFP is a federation of 37 national periodontal societies that represents more than 16,000 periodontists, dentists, researchers, and oral-health professionals from Europe and around the world. It supports evidence-based science in periodontal and oral health, and it promotes events and campaigns aimed at both professionals and the public.
The EFP organises EuroPerio, the world’s leading congress in periodontology and implant dentistry, as well as other important professional and expert events such as Perio Master Clinic and Perio Workshop. The annual Gum Health Day on May 12, organised by the EFP and its member societies, brings key messages on gum health to millions of people across the world.
The EFP also organises workshops and outreach campaigns with its partners: projects to date have covered the relationship between periodontal disease and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and caries, as well as women’s oral health during pregnancy.
The EFP’s Journal of Clinical Periodontology is the most authoritative scientific publication in this field. The federation also publishes JCP Digest, a monthly digest of research, and the Perio Insight magazine, which features experts’ views and debates. The EFP’s work in education is also highly significant, notably its accreditation programme for postgraduate education in periodontology and implant dentistry.
The EFP has no professional or commercial agenda.
