The General Assembly (GA) is the supreme legislative and governing body of FDI. The GA gathers once a year and sets FDI policies, the strategic plan, missions and aims, and monitors progress on their achievement. Additionally, the GA approves the annual budget, establishes the annual subscription of the Regular Members, receives and takes necessary action on reports of the Council, and elects Regular, Associate, Affiliate and Supporting Members, Committee and Council members, as well as the Speaker of the GA.

This year, in Istanbul, the voting members of the GA took the following decisions:

Membership applications

• Accepted Lebanese Dental Association – Tripoli application for regular membership
• Accepted Société Congolaise des odontologues, stomatologues et chirurgiens maxillofaciaux application for regular membership

Discover the election results: newly appointed officers

Council Members

• Dr Mauricio Montero (Colegio de Cirujanos Dentistas de Costa Rica)
• Dr Sophie Dartevelle (Association Dentaire Française)
• Dr William Cheung (Hong Kong Dental Association)
• Prof. Elham Kateeb (Palestinian Dental Association)
• Prof. S. M. Balaji (Dental Association of Seychelles)
• Dr Anna Lella (Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists and Polish Dental Society)
• Asst. Prof. Duygu Ilhan (Turkish Dental Association)

Speaker

• Dr Stephen Liew (Australian Dental Association)

Membership Liaison and Support Committee

• Dr Irene Marron-Tarrazzi (American Dental Association)

Dental Practice Committee

• Dr Doniphan Hammer (Association Dentaire Française)
• Dr Hiroyuki Hirano (Japan Dental Association)

Education Committee

• Prof. Jun Tsuruta (Japan Dental Association)
• Dr Antonio Estrada Valenzuela (Asociación Dental Mexicana Federación Nacional de Colegios de Cirujanos Dentistas, A.C.)
• Dr Antonio Roma Torres (Ordem dos Médicos Dentistas - Portuguese Dental Association)
• Prof. Tianmin Xu (Chinese Stomatological Association)

Science Committee

• Prof. Dr Falk Schwendicke (Bundeszahnärztekammer (BZAEK)
• Dr Wendy Thompson (British Dental Association)
• Prof. Dr Kıvanç Bektaş Kayhan (Turkish Dental Association)

Public Health Committee

• Dr Louisa Nokukhanya Makwakwa (South African Dental Association)
• Prof. Youn-Hee Choi (Korean Dental Association)
• Assoc. Prof. Simona Dianišková (Slovak Chamber of Dentists)
• Prof. Islam Tarek Abbas Hassan (Egyptian Dental Association)
• Prof. Chun-hung Chu (Hong Kong Dental Association)

New policy statements

FDI policy statements, which detail FDI’s position on issues of interest within the oral health community, are put together through consultation, discussion, and consensus among leading dental experts from around the world. This year, the GA adopted eight policy statements:

1. Artificial intelligence in dentistry
2. Reduction of sugar consumption
3. Early childhood caries
4. Special care dentistry
5. Oral health and NCDs
6. Ethics in dentistry
7. Dental laboratory technician
8. Lasers in dentistry

The newly adopted policy statements will be available for consultation on the FDI website soon and will be published in the International Dental Journal.