Members of the global oral health community attended the International College of Dentists (ICD) second Stakeholders’ Day in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 29, 2025.

The programme and celebratory dinner were held on the campus of Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). The Stakeholders’ Day was a key event for ICD’s Global Oral Health Leadership (GOHL) Institute, that was launched in December 2024 in partnership with Henry Schein. The GOHL Institute is designed to support global leadership in oral health and to encourage meaningful discussions that foster collaboration and sustainable public-private solutions.

The Stakeholders’ Day provided an opportunity for the 2025 GOHL delegates to engage with thought leaders, innovators and activists in oral health and other sectors. The programme also promoted the GOHL Institute objectives including, to foster a global community of practice, lead system change through evidence and innovation, empower transformational leadership, bridge sectors, and catalyse cross-sectoral impact to interested collaborators.

Distinguished guests from across oral health participated, including the 2025 GOHL delegates representing 10 countries, ICD fellows, and prominent industry and academic figures.

The event began with two panel discussions led by Marko Vujicic, chief economist and vice president of the Health Policy Institute, American Dental Association, and Greg Chadwick, president of the FDI World Dental Federation and dean of the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine. The guest speakers addressed evidence-based advocacy and policy in the face of challenging contexts, interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve system-level change, and actionable steps through innovation and sustainability.

Marko said, “I feel we’re at the beginning of a ‘Golden Era’ of oral health internationally. A decade ago, we did not have compelling evidence that investing in oral health, for example, saves money on pregnancy outcomes or reduces healthcare costs among people with diabetes. There is a very strong value proposition for oral health today that we didn’t have a decade ago. There’s significant momentum, and a lot of it has to do with economics. The fact that we can show there is a financial ROI to investing in oral health is really important in policy circles.

“This ‘Golden Era’ opportunity for oral health is inconsistent with the status quo financing and delivery models that exist. So that is the tension I feel the leaders of the profession need to address, a fundamental realignment in what oral health care focuses on.”

The celebratory dinner enabled dialogue between changemakers in oral health. Dr. Hugh Silk, keynote speaker and family physician in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, gave a powerful presentation about leading a pathway to change through curiosity, creativity and love, and his journey of incorporating oral health into overall health to reach more patients.

William Giannobile, the dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, also addressed guests on the pride of being part of such an important collaborative initiative.

He said, “As we all know, right now is such a challenging time in academia, in education and in research, so to see a programme dedicated to global oral leadership is more important now than ever.

“Part of the vision of the HSDM is to transform access to healthcare and advance science to prevent and find cures for oral diseases and conditions, and part of our mission is really to foster that community of diverse global leaders in research, education and clinical innovation to really integrate medicine and oral health.”

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