Of the 48 IADR, FDI and IFDH staff, 37 (77%) are women. Table 1 presents the gender of staff employed at the headquarters of the IADR (in USA) and FDI (in Switzerland). Of the 25 IADR staff, 76% are women, and of the 19 FDI staff, 84% are women. The most senior positions (CEO/executive director) are held by men in both organisations.

The IFDH team is small (https://ifdh.org/about-ifdh/meet-the-team/). They have an executive director (male), membership, meetings and project co-ordinator (female), accountant (female) and E-marketing director (male).

The Board of Directors comprises 15 members with five (33%) female members. The president and president-elect are male and the vice-president female. Six (40%) of the directors are from the American division (Table 2). There are 123 members across 15 IADR committees (https://www.iadr.org/about/leadership/iadr-committee-officers), excluding joint committees with the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR). Of the committee chairs, eight (53%) are women and six (40%) are from the American division. Of the 108 committee members, 45% are women. The important Distinguished Scientist Awards Committee is chaired by a man, with 41% of members women. Supplementary Table 2 details chairs and members of the IADR committees by division and shows that more than half are from four divisions: the American (29%), Australian/New Zealand (11%), Brazilian (8%) and British (7%) divisions.

Of the 15 members on the Council, eight (53%) are women. The president, president-elect and treasurer are all men. Most (67%) are from high-income countries in Europe (47%) and USA (20%) (Table 3). Standing committee leadership by country, region and income category is detailed in online Supplementary Table 3. Of the 50 standing committee members across five committees (https://www.fdiworlddental.org/standing-committees), 42% are from Europe, 26% from Asia and 14% from North America. Three of the five committee chairs are men.

The board of directors is exclusively female, with a president (Canada), president-elect (USA), vice-president (Sweden), treasurer (Ireland) and secretary (Israel). All 12 of the IFDH committee chairs and co-chairs are women. Committee members are located in Canada (4), the Netherlands (2), Korea (2) and one each from Ireland, Germany, the USA and the UK, all high-income countries.

Of the 100 past presidents (1921-2023), 11 were women, with the first female president elected in 1981. Since then, of the 41 past presidents, nine (22%) were women. From 2018-2023, three of the five past presidents were women. The division of past presidents is not indicated on the website. A manual check of the recent 22 past presidents (post-2000) showed that they were based in eight countries, most from the USA (n = 8; 36%), followed by the UK (n = 4; 18%), Ireland (n = 3; 14%), two each from Japan and Australia, and one each from Netherlands, Brazil and Finland. All except Brazil are high-income countries.

Of the 47 FDI past presidents (1901-2023), six (13%) were women. From 1901-1952, all 11 past presidents were men; from then to 1999, two (8%) of 25 were women; and in the twenty-first century, of the 11 past presidents, three (30%) were women. Almost all (89%) were from high-income countries. More than half (n = 27; 57%) of past presidents were from Europe, ten (21%) from North America, five (11%) from Asia and two (4%) each from Oceania and South America, and one (most recent) from Africa. Almost one-fifth (19%) were from the USA and 17% from France (online Supplementary Table 4).

All 12 past presidents of the IFDH were women. Of the 12, four (33%) were from the USA, three (25%) from the Netherlands, and one each from Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.

Of the 16 presidents (across 15 organisations), five (31%) are female. Of the seven president-elects, one is female. Of the eight vice-presidents (potentially president-elects), one is female. Of the 12 immediate past presidents, five (42%) are female. Of the 12 treasurers, one is female and of 12 secretaries, half are female. Online Supplementary Table 5 lists the location of the senior leadership (presidents, president-elects, vice-presidents and immediate past presidents) and shows that of the 43 leadership positions, 40% are located in Europe.

The executive board of the chief dental officers/dental public health section comprises a chair (male, Canada), secretary (male, Bahamas) and three members (two female, UK and Senegal; and male, Singapore). Of the 159 global CDOs, 54% are male. By region, this differs slightly, with less than 40% of CDOs being female in South America and Asia (Table 4).

Of the 370 global congresses (or similar global events), spanning from 1901-2023, almost three-quarters have been held in Europe (39%) and North America (34%). Of the 221 FDI, IADR and IFDH congresses, 183 (82%) were held in North America (43%) and Europe (39%) (Table 5). Only 38 congresses have been held outside these continents with almost half (42%) located in Asia. The first IADR congress outside North America was held in the UK in 1975. Since 1975, there have been 49 congresses, held in North America (59%), Europe (18%) and the rest across Africa (1), Asia (3), Central America (1), Oceania (2) and South America (2). Prior to 1975, 86% of FDI meetings were held in Europe. Of the 47 FDI meetings since 1975, 38% have been held in Europe and one-quarter (26%) in Asia. Of the 13 IFDH symposia, seven (54%) were held in Europe. Of the 149 specialist association congresses, 38% have been held in Europe, 21% in Asia and 20% in North America (Table 5).

Online Supplementary Table 6 details congress locations by organisation, country and income category. Of the IADR congresses, 95 of the 99 have been held in high-income countries. Of the 109 FDI congresses, 91 have been held in high-income countries. All but one of the 13 IFDH symposia have been held in high-income countries. Of the specialist association congresses, 80% have been held in high-income countries.