The unacceptable burden of oral disease

What to expect

This webinar, delivered by Professor David Williams will discuss the challenge of reducing the global burden of oral disease and the importance of effective population-level prevention; the drivers of oral health inequalities; the importance of the relationship between oral and general health, and what we can do to make a positive impact.

A CPD certificate (in the name of the purchaser) will be available to download once viewing of this online lecture has been completed.

This is a recording of a webinar delivered in March 2026.

Learning objectives

• Understanding the importance of achieving a paradigm shift in our approach to the management of oral disease with the inclusion of oral health services in universal health coverage
• Understanding the importance of the integration of oral and general person-centred healthcare, leading to more effective prevention and management of oral diseases
• Discussing the need for closer collaboration between a wide range of health workers to deliver sustainable, needs-based and person-centred healthcare
• Improving oral health literacy among all health professional and the wider population, and the importance of oral self-care (including the Advisory Board Consensus Statement).

Development outcome

C

Meet the speaker

Professor Williams is Professor Emeritus for Global Oral Health at Bart’s and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and Academic Lead, Centre for Dental Public Health and Primary Care. Previously he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences and Professor of Pathology at the University of Southampton between 2004-10 and then Vice Provost between 2010-11.

He is currently Co-chair of the FDI Vision 2030 Working Group, a Member of the Advocacy Task Team, a Member of the Oral Health Observatory Task Team and a Member of the Science Committee of the FDI World Dental Federation. He is Joint Chair of the Project Team that has developed the Standard Set of Adult Oral Health Outcome Measures. The Project Team comprised 23 international experts nod service users and the project was a joint initiative of the International Consortium for Health Outcome Measures and the FDI World Dental Federation.

Since June 2020 he has been a Member of the Expert Advisory Group of the Global Self-Care Federation, which represents associations and manufacturers in the self-care industry and is committed to promoting sustainable growth and better global health outcomes for all. He was President of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) between 2009-10. During his Presidency, he was the driving force behind the IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Agenda (GOHIRA) initiative. This sets out the research agenda to generate the evidence for a strategy that will reduce inequalities in oral health within a generation. This agenda is a key IADR strategic priority and is being implemented through the IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network.

Professor Williams was one of the founders of the IADR Global Oral Health Inequalities Research Network and its President from 2014-17.