28 NEWS Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 6/2020 WHO and dentistry: moving on from misinformation By Jeremy Booth, Dental Tribune In- ternational GENEVA, Switzerland: The World Health Organization’s (WHO) han- dling of the global pandemic has brought it more criticism than praise, and dentists are among those who have denounced public health guid- ance from the UN agency. According to dental associations contacted by Dental Tribune International (DTI), WHO has been the subject of unbal- anced media coverage relating to its guidance on dental practice. Much of the criticism that has been directed at WHO during the SARS- CoV-2 pandemic has been in reaction to guidance about practices that are unfamiliar to the citizens of many countries, such as the wearing of masks in public and the need to re- duce social contact. Dentists around the world reacted defensively when the agency called for the delay of routine dental care in interim guid- ance issued on 3 August, with many fearing that further postponement of elective care would damage oral health and compound the damage that had already been done to their businesses during the first wave of the virus. Some dentists felt that it was an attack on the effectiveness of infection prevention measures within dentistry. Florida dentist Dr Greg Prior told ABC Action News in late August that the timing of the WHO recommen- dation had made no sense, as den- tists in the state had been allowed to resume the provision of oral care in April. Since emergency measures were put in place in the state in March, Prior has implemented even greater infection control measures at his dental practice, including the installation of air purifiers and air filters. “Dentistry is so important for people’s overall health,” Prior told the news agency. “It seems untimely they would’ve [made that recom- mendation], especially since we’re all coming back to work and we’re all putting in the protocols.” The Ameri- can Dental Association (ADA) had ◊Page 2 i y a b a x P / e e b m r i F © WHO interim guidance issued in August was misunderstood by many dentists and dental patients owing to media reports. said in mid-August that it “respect- fully yet strongly disagrees” with the WHO guidance. A long list of news agencies reported on the WHO recommendation, and it was also covered by publishers from the dental industry press, in- cluding DTI. In an email to dental associations on 13 August, Dr Be- noit Varenne, a WHO dental officer, expressed concerns about the way that the guidance had been inter- preted by the media. “Unfortunately, a number of media headlines in- tentionally or not—when they are referring to the WHO guidance, did not mention that the recommenda- tion to delay routine oral healthcare is only suggested in an intense un- controlled community transmission scenario,” Varenne wrote. He asked dental leaders to be aware of incom- plete reporting, and the fact that it could heighten the concerns that many patients already had with re- gard to visiting their dental practice during the pandemic. According to the British Dental Asso- ciation (BDA), incomplete reporting on the WHO guidance by the me- dia had caused confusion about the agency’s recommendations in the area of oral healthcare. A BDA spokesperson told DTI: “Contrary to media reports, the guidance did not say categori- cally that all non-urgent treat- ments should be postponed but suggested that some treatments be delayed until there has been a sufficient reduction in SARS-CoV-2 community transmission rates. It also stated that ‘adequate ventila- tion in oral healthcare facilities reduces the risk of transmission in closed settings’. This principle has been taken up by the profession in order to reduce fallow time and to make it possible to see more pa- tients.” The spokesperson added that WHO “could not necessarily provide a one-size-fits-all solution, and it was considered inappropriate to apply this advice in the UK’s current con- text, where dentists already have extremely high levels of infection prevention and control in place.” The Bundeszahnärztekammer (BZÄK) (German dental associa- tion) told DTI that it also felt that media reporting had led to the in- terim guidance from WHO being misunderstood. “The WHO recom- mendation is essentially the same as the BZÄK recommendations. Only a postponement of dental visits in an uncontrolled transmis- sion scenario is recommended, and otherwise the official health policy recommendations at national, re- gional or local level should be fol- lowed,” the association said. adoption of the areas that have been proven and to aid the integration of new technologies that benefit dental professionals in all dental disciplines. The scientific programme included topics on dental sleep medicine, bone regeneration and soft tissue management, laser dentistry, pre- vention and oral hygiene, surgical regenerations in periodontal defects, aesthetic and digital smile design, oc- clusion, material selection for high performance rehabilitation and dental facial cosmetic surgical pro- cedures related to grafts, implants as well as non-surgical periodontal and endodontic treatments. Dental facial cosmetic treatments re- main one of the most popular treat- ments in the middle east region and the conference surpassed expecta- tions through its 40+ lecture presen- tations. Total of 25 multi-disciplinary hands-on training courses In addition to the two conferences and two sub-specialty seminars, over 25 multidisciplinary hybrid hands-on training courses took place, catering to dental profession- als, and showcasing the latest trends in restorative, aesthetic, and digital dentistry, as well as implantology, facial aesthetics, orthodontics, endo- dontics, dental technologies, dental hygiene, and product innovations. The courses were organized through online livestreaming as well as face to face interaction at the CAPP Train- ing Institute in Dubai, UAE. Poster presentations The annual poster presentations were hosted virtually as part of the two conferences. The competition was open to all dental students, in- terns, graduate students, general dentist, or dental specialists who had submitted their entries. Each partici- pant presented during the event and was reviewed by the scientific com- mittee live online. CAPP and the sci- entific committee had the pleasure to congratulate the winners: • 1st Place - Dr Eman Maged Fouad & Dr Aya Mohamed Fawzy, Egypt who presented “Does Dynamic Naviga- tion Represent a New Era in Digital Dentistry”. • 2nd Place - Dr Amruth Ganesh, In- dia, who presented “Vista – The Pre- sent and Future of Periodontal Plas- tic Surgery: A Case Report”. • 3rd Place - Dr Les Kalman, Canada, who presented “In Vitro Assessment of a Novel Additive Manufactured Ti- tanium Implant Abutment”. Dental, NextDent by 3D Systems, Aidite, Shofu, Scorpios International LLC, BOREA, GSK, Coltene, SDI, Fon- daco, Vital Alliance Co. Ltd, MDent, 3Shape, ORMCO, Ultradent, Curaden, Curaprox, Philips Sonicare, VITA, GC, Zirkonzahn, Hu-Friedy, EMS, South- ern Implants, Castle General Trad- ing, Acteon, FKG, ClearSmile Aligner, Bausch, DynaFlex, Medit, Maptec and Formlabs Dental. All participating delegates received a certificate of attendance. The awards were sponsored by Philips Sonicare, Shofu and Castle General Trading. Thank you to all sponsors, me- dia, and scientific partners CAPP would like to thank all spon- sors, media publishers and scientific partners for supporting the CAPP No- vember Dental Livestream continu- ing dental educational programme. The sponsors included Dentsply Si- rona, Oral-B, Straumann Group Digi- tal Solutions, Ivoclar Vivadent, Hen- ry Schein Connect Dental, NSK, 3D Middle East, 3D Systems, Carestream CAPP November Dental Livestream was supported by the following sci- entific partners: Saudi Dental Soci- ety, Singapore Dental Association, Kuwait Dental Association, iDental- Courses, International group for Oral Rehabilitation, Lebanese Dental As- sociation, The Lebanese Orthodontic Society, Oman Dental Society, Iraqi Dental Association, Saudi Ortho- dontic Society (Digital Orthodon- tics Scientific Partner), Association of Orthodontists (Singapore), AALZ Aachen Dental Laser Center, British Academy of Restorative Dentistry (BARD), British Academy of Dental Implantology (BADI), Tipton Train- ing, International College of Dentists, Emirates Dental Hygienist Club, FDC Academy, Q & M Dental Group and Association for Oral Health Thera- pists Singapore. CAPP Dental ConfExpo 2021 to take place in November 2021 CAPP will be organising the CAPP Dental ConfExpo on 17-19 Novem- ber 2021 in Dubai, UAE. During these three days, the 16th CAD/CAM Digi- tal Dentistry and 13th Dental Facial Cosmetic International Conferences will take place in collaboration with World Expo 2020. The World Expo 2020 is a global event taking place 01 October 2021 – 31 March 2022 and is important as the initiative pro- motes preserving the planet as well as sustainability, mobility, and op- portunity. Expo 2020 Dubai will be a celebration of the UAE Vision 2021.