The future of education on periodontology and how to make it more effective and more modern were the topics addressed at Perio Workshop 2023, a meeting of periodontal scientists organized by the EFP (European Federation of Periodontology) in collaboration with Dentaid which took place in La Granja, Spain until November 8.
Approximately 70 leading experts from 22 countries met at Perio Workshop 2023 to discuss and reach a new consensus, after the success of the 2009 workshop on the same topic. It is time to identify the changes that are needed in periodontal education at all levels (undergraduate, postgraduate, continuing education), affecting learning outcomes and competences, methods of learning and training, and evaluation.
Chaired by David Herrera, Perio Workshop 2023 brought together a selection of specialists from the EFP and ADEE (Association for Dental Education in Europe). Sessions were organized in four working groups, which discussed guidance on the scope and limits of periodontal education at all levels.
“Discussions at this year’s workshop were especially exciting since we identified relevant factors that are impacting education in periodontology since 2009,” announced David Herrera, chair of Perio Workshop 2023 and the EFP Workshop committee. “Those factors include the recommendations of the World Health Organization after its 75th World Health Assembly; the new framework for the undergraduate curriculum in dentistry proposed by the ADEE; the impact of teaching and evaluation methods of the Covid-19 pandemic; and the recent Perio Workshops on the classification and on the management of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions (S3-level clinical practical guidelines),” explained Prof Herrera.
The outcomes of these four days reviewing the latest studies available on this field will be published as a consensus paper in the EFP-edited Journal of Clinical Periodontology in spring 2024, and are set to shape how periodontology and therapeutics with dental implants are taught in the coming years by any public or private organization teaching periodontics around the world, including the EFP-accredited postgraduate programs in periodontology and implant dentistry imparted by 23 universities in Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Cristina Ballesteros, head of Dentaid’s medical department: “Generating knowledge is a pillar of Dentaid. We work day by day hand in hand with professionals, co-creating and sharing knowledge to contribute to the improvement of dental practice. Collaborating in this workshop is consistent with our purpose, as improving and updating the training of periodontics professionals facilitates the advancement of oral health research and allows for improved patient outcomes”.
Organized annually by the EFP, Perio Workshop brings together world-class periodontists for a high-level scientific meeting aimed at reaching a new consensus on state-of-the-art, emerging topics relevant to the science behind gum health and gum disease by examining and discussing the latest research-based knowledge available.
