The first conversations about creating a dental iteration of the PHRC were when Dr. Jenny Girdler (University Dental Hospital of Manchester, UK) and Dr. Sushi Kadanakuppe (V. S Dental College & Hospital, Bengaluru, India) reached out to the PHRC leadership team nearly simultaneously in Autumn 2022. Since, there have been many contributors throughout the metric adaptation process with mention to Dr. Monisha Chinthala (V. S Dental College & Hospital, Bengaluru, India), Bree Zhang (Columbia University, USA), Dr. Donna Hackley (Harvard School of Dental Medicine) and Dr. Elizabeth Shick (School of Dental Medicine, University of Colorado). However, principal acknowledgement for the final rendition of the Dental PHRC metrics used for its pilot year is attributed to Dr. Jonathan Dixon (University of Sheffield), Dr. Nicolas Martin (University of Sheffield) and Dr. Sushi Kadanakuppe. The current (second) version of the report card was modified by Dr. Monisha along with Dr. Ramya based on feedback from the participating students and faculty in the pilot in 2023-24.

This is now Dentistry PHRC’s second year co-led by Dr. Monisha Chinthala and Dr. Ramyashree Rao (Alumni of V. S Dental College & Hospital, Bengaluru, India). We are delighted that we have 8 schools participating across 4 countries, with the reports to be published on Earth Day along with the other disciplines.

Although we have seen improvement in the pilot schools already and a lot of good examples across the participating schools this year, there’s still a lot more improvement to be seen for the integration of planetary health education in dental schools across the world. We are keen to keep working towards advocating for future dentists to be more prepared for the general and oral health implications of climate change and involve themselves in research in these interest areas. If you are interested in participating in the Dentistry PHRC initiative in any capacity, such as a faculty advisor, a school student lead, or a student regional lead overseeing the expansion of the dentistry PHRC in your country, please do get in touch via the contact page of the website.