Oral health and systemic health outcomes
Joint meeting calls for interdisciplinary action.
The European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) held a joint working group meeting with the European Association of Dental Public Health to address the growing burden of oral disease and mounting evidence linking oral health to systemic health outcomes.
Titled Oral health and systemic health outcomes: a call for interdisciplinary action, the meeting took place in Frankfurt last week, supported by Oral-B.
Bringing together experts from periodontology, dental public health, epidemiology and prevention, as well as doctors, including cardiologists, diabetologists and general practitioners representing the World Heart Federation and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the meeting focused on developing a shared, evidence-based framework to support closer interdisciplinary collaboration.
The discussions will inform the development of a joint white paper, with an emphasis on primary and secondary prevention, barriers to collaboration across disciplines and practical recommendations for coordinated action.
Central to the framework is the recognition that oral diseases share common, modifiable risk factors with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs), yet prevention remains fragmented and insufficiently integrated within health systems. Using a common risk factor approach, the framework outlines how oral primary prevention can be embedded within mainstream NCD strategies and universal health coverage. It prioritises high-impact risks (particularly sugar, tobacco, alcohol, and hygiene behaviours) while also addressing broader structural determinants of health.
Discussions highlighted feasible integration mechanisms across policy, primary care, surveillance, workforce training and community action, supported by a clear economic and equity rationale. Evidence-based individual behaviours were considered alongside upstream population-level interventions, including fiscal policies, fluoridation and school-based programmes. Particular attention was given to interdisciplinary delivery models, workforce reform and life-course approaches to reduce inequalities.
Moritz Kebschull, past president of the EFP, emphasised the importance of the initiative: “Oral diseases are on the rise, even though they are largely preventable. They also share common risk factors with other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as smoking and the intake of sugar and alcohol.
“Many at-risk patients do not regularly visit a dentist, underlining the need to raise awareness among all health professionals and social workers about the links between oral and systemic health and to engage them in prevention efforts.
“This meeting brought disciplines together to interpret the evidence, identify existing barriers, and agree on realistic recommendations to ensure collaboration among all stakeholders, laying the foundation for interdisciplinary action on oral disease prevention.”