01—Dental Materials and Medical Devices

Over the course of 2019, the Working Group strongly focused on dental amalgam in view of an anticipated feasibility study on the phase-out of dental amalgam by 2030, which resulted in several activities undertaken by the Working Group. These activities included the organization of a webinar with the consultancy firm commissioned to draft the aforementioned feasibility study, a meeting with the European Commission to present CED’s position, as well as an update of the CED Resolution on Dental Amalgam to reflect the newest political and legislative developments in this field. Other topics that the Working Group focussed on in 2019 included, among others, tooth whitening, titanium dioxide, cobalt and phthalates.

During the last year before the deadline for the implementation of the Medical Devices Regulation, the Working Group continued monitoring progress and expressed concerns about the readiness of the system in the CED Position on the implementation of the Medical Devices Regulation. The Working Group actively participates in the expert groups advising and assisting the Commission and the Member States in ensuring a harmonised conversion of the national systems.

02—eHealth

Due to a rise in the popularity of online platforms allowing patients to submit online reviews rating their local dental practice or individual dentist, the Working Group updated the CED Resolution on online evaluation of dentists to correspond with new technical and legal developments. 

In light of discussions on the format and content of European Health Records, the Working Group developed the Resolution on Dental Data Set and Access to Health Records, stressing the importance of access to relevant health-related information for dentists and outlining the basic dental data set to be included in cross-border information exchange. 

The Working Group remains active in engaging with the European Institutions and stakeholders to reflect dentists’ views on European plans for the digital transformation of healthcare. In 2020, the Working Group will focus on monitoring initiatives on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data with an objective to develop its position in this regard.

03—Education and Professional Qualifications

Given the lack of political interest, the Working Group issued a call to update the list of subjects for dental professionals in Annex V.3/5.3.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC. Further delays might lead to the maintenance of an outdated dental curriculum that poses a threat to public health and hampers the further development of dentistry.

Outcomes of the One Health initiative, organised jointly with medical doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians and students’ organisations, were shared with the EU AMR One Health Network. A second regional conference aiming to promote interprofessional collaboration took place in Warsaw, Poland in 2019 and the initiative will continue in another region in 2020. 

The Working Group updated the CED Resolution on Continuing Professional Development. The Working Group will focus on outlining the main challenges to the workforce and its vision for the future of oral health. Its position will be developed in collaboration with the Board Task Force Internal Market.

04—Oral Health

In 2019 the Working Group drafted a White Paper on the importance of prevention policies and recommendations for future public health policies in oral care, which has been presented on various occasions, including during a CED meeting with the European Commission’s Director-General for Health and Food Safety, Anne Bucher. 

In view of the new European Commission identifying vaccination among the top priorities for its mandate, several activities related to this topic also took place at Working Group level. Among these, the Working Group participated in the Coalition for Vaccination and in the high-level event, the Global Vaccination Summit. The Working Group agreed to participate in an advocacy campaign within the framework of the Coalition for Vaccination, which is meant to address healthcare providers. In light of all these developments and the increasing European and global interest in this topic, the Working Group also drafted a CED Resolution on Vaccination outlining CED’s position on vaccination, especially HPV vaccine, its relationship with antimicrobial resistance and calling for support for vaccination programmes at national and European level.

Other topics that the Working Group has been focusing on include sugar and tobacco. The CED is now also working together with the ENSP (European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention). The Working Group will also organise a public event on prevention, including vaccination for reducing AMR, in 2020.

05—Patient Safety, Infection Control and Waste Management

The Working Group gathered information from Members on national procedures related to dental sedation techniques, which resulted in an update of the CED Resolution on the use of Nitrous Oxide Inhalation Sedation. 

In the context of the circular economy, climate change mitigation and sustainability being prioritised in the political discussion, the Working Group will further brainstorm on environmental sustainability to identify provisional and preventative actions in dental practice. The Working Group’s objective is to address sustainability challenges in dentistry and come up with feasible solutions. 

The Working Group focuses on the improvement of patient confidence in the appropriate infection control protocols and procedures. In 2020, the Working Group will update the CED Resolution on Patient Safety.