“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, … it was the age of wisdom.”It is a pleasure and a delight for me to pen this inaugural editorial as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Dental Journal (IDJ). I am truly honoured and humbled to steer this “grand dame” of dentistry, now in its 72nd year of uninterrupted growth, and wish to thank the World Dental Federation (FDI) for bestowing upon me this august task.IDJ is the flagship research journal of FDI World Dental Federation (FDI). It is, therefore, imperative that it serves as a prime purveyor of the expounded vision and missions of this supreme body, to “lead the world to optimal oral health.” The outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Professor Ira Lamster, has admirably fulfiled this task over a 7-year-long stewardship. I am grateful to Ira and his outstanding editorial team for the leadership that has seen the journal improve its quality and content in leaps and bounds, and I wish to take this opportunity to thank them for their tireless service. Serving on editorial boards, for the sake of science, is an onerous task and I trust that the current editorial board will continue to lend their expertise to make IDJ fly even higher. Knowing the stellar reputation IDJ now has, as a leader in contemporary dental research, my vision is to maintain their outstanding record of accomplishments and continue to develop the journal with a fresh impetus and an outlook.As Charles Dickens so elegantly wrote in A Tale of Two Cities (quoted above), we are now in an era that could only be described as “the best of times … [and] the worst of times.” This resonates as being so true in these turbulent times of the post-COVID “new-normal” world. The digital media explosion, initially considered a wonderful prospect for science publishing, now poses various threats in terms of the mushrooming predatory publishers and the plethora of substandard journals that are touted as vehicles of quality research, to cite but 2 examples. On the contrary, the breathtaking technological advances in the media landscape provide unimagined extraordinary opportunities for the industry. The journal is now fully armed to deal with these vagaries with its full open access policy, making it reachable to interested readers in any remote corner of the world. This, I believe, is a pivotal necessity to serve particularly those in the resource-poor regions, where access to journals is hindered by a dearth of well-resourced library facilities and unaffordable print charges.In a “new-normal” world, where COVID-19 continues to spread in various guises, its profound effect on dental practice is now clear. Hence, it is my intention to further expand the scope and the remit of the journal to incorporate multidisciplinary topics that impact dental practice today such as infectious diseases, artificial intelligence, and teledentistry. For this purpose, I plan to incorporate a new major subsection entitled “Science and Technology in Dentistry” to complement the extant sections on (i) practice-related research, (ii) international public health, and (iii) interprofessional education and practice. This, together with an expanded editorial board, will necessarily extend the remit and the scope of the journal to be more inclusive of biomedical, clinical, and surgical sciences in dentistry and should further extend the scope, the readership, and the impact of IDJ.After a year-long transitional period, the journal is now under a fresh, watchful eye and the guidance of the renowned publisher Elsevier. Its Impact factor has seen a salutary, steady, and continuous upward trajectory over the last few years, and I believe this trend will continue to grow going forwards, particularly with the open access policy and broadening the inclusivity of its remit and scope, as discussed above.In concluding, I truly value the trust the FDI leadership has placed on me as the Editor-in-Chief of its flagship journal. With their unstinting support, a world-class publisher, a dedicated editorial board, an expanded remit, and a faithful readership, we are now superbly placed to confront any adversities and come out on top as a key voice on all dental matters of critical importance to the community and “lead the world to optimal oral health!”Wishing you all a wonderful, healthy, and fruitful 2022!