In 1992 CECDO started on the initiative of Brian Mouatt. Brian was the Chief Dental Officer for England at the time and negotiated successfully for establishing a ‘dental’ counterpart to the meetings of chief medical officers and chief nursing officers. Thus CECDO was born in London during the British EU-presidency in 1992. Two years later in 1994 CECDO became a formalized association under Dutch Law.
Over the years, CECDO has developed from a spontaneous initiative by friends into a professional network with a strong position in the European field of oral health. The CDO’s have increasingly used CECDO as a platform for consultation and exchange of views and ideas. This is of paramount importance in a Europe with vanishing borders and a mobile oral health workforce. The quest for good oral health can no longer be left solely to the individual member states but calls for a pan-European approach.
Therefore CECDO has recently stepped up its efforts to establish a stronger relationship with both the European Parliament and the European Commission. Therefore CECDO participates within the Platform for Better Oral Health in Europe of which it is a founding member.
The Presidents of the CECDO have been:
- 2017 – 2018: Margie Taylor (Scotland)
- 2015 – 2016: Corrado Paganelli (Italy)
- 2013 – 2014: Paula Vassallo (Malta)
- 2011 – 2012: Paul Boom (Netherlands)
- 2009- 2010: Shlomo Zusman (Israel)
- 2007- 2008: Simona Dianišková Slovakia)
- 2004 – 2006: Elpida Pavi (Greece)
- 2001 – 2003: Eeva Widström (Finland)
- 1999- 2000: Robin Wilde (UK)
- 1996 – 1999: Jos van den Heuvel (Netherlands)
- 1992 – 1995: Brian Mouatt (UK)
