Welcome to 2018: EFP president reviews 2017 and looks ahead to the year of EuroPerio9

EFP president Gernot Wimmer, in his seasonal message to members of the 30 EFP-affiliated national societies of peridontology, highlights the federation's achievements in 2017 and looks ahead to 2018, where the highlight will be EuroPerio9 in Amsterdam in June.

Dear fellow periodontist, dear friend,

As we are almost at the end of 2017, as president of the EFP I am delighted to look back briefly on what has been a great year in which we have all achieved a great deal. I would also like to look optimistically to 2018, which is a EuroPerio year. This is to say, a year to celebrate periodontal science and practice and to be very proud to be involved in the battle of gum health against gum disease.

Looking back on 2017, we can see a lot of successful activities involving the EFP. From the scientific side, the Perio-Diabetes Workshop in Madrid in February, held in collaboration with the International Diabetes Federation, explored for the first time at the global level the interactions between two widespread, related comorbidities. Last month, the World Perio Workshop 2017 held in Chicago jointly with the American Academy of Periodontology, tackled the urgent task of reconsidering the classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases.

In March, Perio Master Clinic 2017 in Valletta (Malta) tackled the subject of peri-implantitis from aetiology to treatment, and confirmed the appeal of this emerging triennial event by attracting more than 500 clinicians. The EFP Postgraduate Symposium in Ballyconnell (Ireland) in September brought together teachers and students from all the EFP-accredited postgraduate perio programmes. The recent launch of EFP Alumni will boost the networking and interaction between graduates of these programmes, who are very much the future of the EFP.

On 12 May, European Gum Health Day 2017 – with its motto “Fighting periodontal disease together” – was a great success across Europe. A record number of 27 EFP-affiliated perio societies took part and the event had an unprecedented impact on dental and health professionals, on the media, and on the public.

Concerning knowledge dissemination, this autumn the EFP launched the Oral Health & Pregnancy project, which provides an array of valuable scientific content at the oralhealthandpregnancy.efo.org website, including four scientific reports, a series of guidelines and brochures addressed at different audiences, along with infographics, videos, and other material.

Meanwhile, Perio Insight has evolved into a lively magazine that offers debates, expert views, and analysis of important topics in periodontal science and clinical practice. JCP Digest continues to play a leading role in translating the most relevant scientific articles on perio into an easy-to-read summary format for clinicians, while the Journal of Clinical Periodontology remains the flagship of EFP publications, with an impressive impact factor of 3.477.

All this – and much more – was achieved thanks to the effort of many people. More than ever, in fact, as this year the EFP increased to 30 affiliated societies as we welcomed the Azerbaijani perio society as a new member. I would like to thank all members of the EFP committees, our all-important partners (Colgate, Dentaid, Johnson & Johnson, Oral-B, and Sunstar), and to give special thanks to my predecessor, EFP immediate past president Juan Blanco, as his brilliant legacy still paves the way for present and future success. And thank you all for your passion – you are the centre of the EFP, nothing would be possible without you.

For the coming year, EuroPerio9 will very much be the star and will certainly confirm itself as the main periodontal congress in the world. Its top-level scientific programme, its superb venue in Amsterdam, and the record number of abstracts submitted are solid reasons for optimism. And just a few weeks before the congress, European Gum Health Day 2018 will mobilise the energies and talents of our affiliated societies to put periodontology higher than ever on the agenda.

I look forward to meeting you at EuroPerio9 next June. In the meantime, on behalf of the EFP I would like to wish you and your loved ones a very, very happy New Year. Enjoy the most joyful and restful holidays with your family and friends – and charge your batteries for an exciting 2018!

Gernot Wimmer

EFP president