Record-breaking EuroPerio9 - Amsterdam's four-day celebration of periodontology

EuroPerio9 came to a spectacular close on Saturday 23 of June with a special ceremony at the RAI Amsterdam concluding four intense days in which periodontal science and clinical practice took centre stage in an international celebration of periodontology and implant dentistry that broke EuroPerio records.

For congress chair Michèle Reners, “The atmosphere of EuroPerio9 was really relaxed and friendly, no stress at all, and the venue was also a part of this feeling – close to the city and full of daylight. Also, the sessions were very realistic and the feedback from the attendees very positive – they were really satisfied. EuroPerio9 has reached its goals and even more!”

For the first time ever, a EuroPerio congress attracted a five-figure number of participants, with a total of 10,232 periodontists, oral-health professionals, students, and others present at an event which featured more presentations in its scientific programme (134 in 42 sessions) than any of the previous eight EuroPerios.

With participants coming from 111 countries and 25% of delegates from beyond Europe, this was truly an international event, which reflects the EFP’s increasingly global perspective as it seeks to build alliances across the world to advance the cause of evidence-based periodontal science.

Both evidence-based research and international co-operation were to the fore at the session on Friday 22 June which may well prove to be EuroPerio9’s most lasting legacy: the News from the World Workshop session, which presented the new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases, agreed by consensus by a joint workshop of the EFP and the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP).

The new session formats at EuroPerio9 – such as Perio Talks, the “nightmare” session, live surgery, debate, the interactive session on treatment planning, and the Perio Contest– proved popular with delegates, who were able to participate actively in some of these sessions by using the voting facility of the special EuroPerio9 App.

Looking back over the four-day congress, highlights included:

Day One (Wednesday 20 June)

• Perio Talks, the first EFP Graduate-Alumni Symposium, where eight speakers gave lively short presentations on what has inspired their professional careers. 
• Joint sessions with the Japanese Society of Periodontology on biofilm and anti-infective therapy, and regenerative periodontal and implant therapy.
• Opening ceremony: A laser show and a dance performance culminating with the emergence of congress chair Michèle Reners, who then welcomed everyone to EuroPerio9, saying that “the secret to success is quality speakers.” The ceremony also featured the flag parade in which representatives of each of the EFP’s 30 affiliated national societies took to the stage with their national flags.

Day Two (Thursday 21 June)

• Debate between David Herrera (Spain) and Andrea Mombelli (Switzerland) on the use of adjunctive systemic antimicrobials in periodontal therapy given the dramatically increasing threat of the development of bacterial resistance.
• Premiere of the 3D science film Peri-implantitis and its Prevention produced by Cell-to-Cell Communication, which offers insights into one of the main challenges faced by periodontists in their everyday practice.
• The Saving teeth session, where master clinicians presented ways to solve compromised situations with alternative treatment options to the use of dental implants.

Day Three (Friday 22 June)

• News from the World Workshop: a packed double session chaired by the journal editors Maurizio Tonetti (Hong Kong) and Ken Kornman (USA) heard all about the new classification of periodontal and peri-implant diseases and conditions, and the rationale for the classification change. Delegates were provided with a vision of how the changes can be incorporated into clinical practice to have a positive impact on the care of patients.
• Live surgery performed by Giovanni Zucchelli (Italy) and Martina Stefanini (Italy) at the ACTA dental school and transmitted in real time and high quality to the audience at RAI Amsterdam.
• Interactive treatment-planning session, chaired by Christoph Hämmerle (Switzerland) and David Nisand (France), where an interdisciplinary team of experts discussed possible treatment decisions and solutions and the audience voted on the options presented.

Day Four (Saturday 23 June)

• The “nightmare” session, in which Caroline Fouque (France), Giulio Rasperini (Italy), and Jean-Louis Giovannoli presented some of their “most horrible treatment scenarios” in periodontal plastic surgery, regenerative surgery, and implant surgery.
• The 3D session on reconstructive surgery at teeth and implants, where Pierpaolo Cortellini (Italy) discussed periodontal defects and presented the three main surgical approaches, and Stefan Renvert (Sweden) demonstrated the treatment options for patients with advanced peri-implantitis defects. These were illustrated by high-quality 3D film.
• Lecture by Klaus Lang (Switzerland) on 50 years in periodontology in which a packed auditorium was able to hear from one of the greatest periodontal scientists. “It is all about people,” he said as he started a lecture that took the audience on a journey in which Prof Lang gave credit to many of the other pioneers who have advanced periodontology over the past 50 years.  One of his key messages was to give tissues time to heal.

Congress chair Michèle Reners said that among the most memorable sessions had been “the Perio Talks, the ‘master clinician’ session on saving teeth and the nightmare session.”

Søren Jepsen, scientific chair, said: “Among the sessions I enjoyed the most I can name the science movie on peri-implantitis and its prevention, where important messages were given using fascinating images. The session on live surgery was quite amazing: more than 4,500 people sitting together in total silence and concentrating on what was going on is something I had never experienced before. I think the session on the new classification of periodontal diseases was also a landmark event.”

Visitors to RAI Amsterdam were also able to take advantage of the biggest ever EuroPerio exhibition, with a total of 139 companies exhibiting, including a record number of 26 sponsors, with total space amounting to 3,763m².

Next stop, Copenhagen

Attention now turns to EuroPerio10, which will take place in at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen from June 2-5, 2021. The organising committee – chaired by Phoebus Madianos (Greece), with David Herrera (Spain) as scientific chair and Nicola West (UK) as treasurer – was presented during the closing ceremony.

Just as EuroPerio8 in London seemed a tough act to follow, EuroPerio9 has set some very high standards for the next EFP congress.

“EuroPerio10 is a gigantic task and even a greater challenge, given the enormous success of EuroPerio9," said Phoebus Madianos.  "I would like to congratulate, yet again, Michèle Reners and the whole organising team for their unprecedented achievements in Amsterdam, and I am confident our team with David Herrera and Nicola West will follow in their footsteps to create a superb anniversary event in Copenhagen for the 10th EuroPerio.

"We have certainly learned a lot from Amsterdam and will try to identify and improve on any possible weak spots, while our top priority is rendering the highest quality scientific programme."