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World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII

In the mid-1980s, Professor Sir David Mason (UK) and Dr. Dean Millard (US) conceived the idea of convening experts in oral medicine from around the world to explore the current status and future directions of the field. The first three World Workshops on Oral Medicine took place at the American Dental Association headquarters in Chicago in 1988, 1993, and 1998; and in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 the WWOM took place in Puerto Rico and London, Orlando and Gothenburg, respectively. At each conference, approximately 50-100 global experts in oral medicine and other fields participated and worked in sections to review rigorously the current literature and to examine educational standards. The proceedings have been published and widely distributed (see Oral Diseases 2015; 21:409–416).

In July of 2020, the World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII (WWOM VIII) was announced. The WWOM VIII Steering Committee is currently selecting early-mid career level Oral Medicine clinicians and/or scientists from all over the world, to participate as reviewers and assistant reviewers in the upcoming Workshop. The meeting is scheduled for May 2-3, 2022, Memphis, USAin conjunction with the meeting of the American Academy of Oral Medicine (AAOM) on May 3-7, 2022. This opportunity will allow the participants to interact with colleagues from around the world, experience the evidence-based review process, and promote the specialty by identifying the next generation of leaders.

The upcoming Workshop consist of 4 groups/projects. The impact of changes in guidance on antibiotic prophylaxis on the incidence of infective endocarditis will be investigated under the leadership of Valeria Edefonti and Pedro Diz Dios. A blue skies project, led by Caroline Shiboski and Luiz Alcino Gueiros, will help uncover barriers to research in oral medicine.  For the other two groups, the WWOM VIII is taking a new and unique direction with the introduction of the World Workshop on Oral Medicine Outcomes Initiative for the Direction of Research (WONDER).

This initiative will align oral medicine with other medical specialties who have established core outcome sets for the disorders within their specialty practice to facilitate standardized data capture in future interventional trials. Jennifer Taylor and Jairo Robledo Sierra will explore current outcomes used in oral lichen planus while Konstantina Delli and Alessandro Villa will helm the group evaluating outcomes for dry mouth.

Each of the four groups in the Workshop will have 2-3 reviewers and assistant reviewers assigned to them. Under the guidance of the groups’ section heads, and the assistance of the group consultants and Steering liaisons, reviewers and assistant reviewers will work on the projects assigned and deliver in a timely manner a significant and influential work.

The application for assistant reviewers and reviewers is now closed and we are delighted to have received over 130 applications. The Steering Committee will soon start the rigorous and unbiased process of reviewing, assessing, and selecting applicants. We aim for an international representation in this Workshop, with representatives from all continents.