PRESS RELEASE

May 15, 2006
Dr. Ron Inge, Executive Director of IOH

Healthcare Leaders Take Aim at Improving Nation’s Dental Care Delivery System

New Institute for Oral Health Launched to Advance Innovations

(Seattle, WA 5/15/2006) – Each year tens of millions of dollars are invested in oral health research and innovations, but it often takes many years before the results reach most dental offices. A new Institute for Oral Health launched today by healthcare leaders intends to bridge this gap.

Headquartered in Seattle, the Institute was formed to accelerate the development and adoption of progressive treatment guidelines and delivery methods for healthcare policy makers, the dental profession and the public. The goal: Increase the use of innovations that will make the U.S. dental care system more effective, cost efficient and accessible to more people.

“The Institute for Oral Health is a new voice for advancing dental care delivery,” said Cathye Smithwick, IOH advisory faculty member and Principal with Mercer Health and Benefits. “It’s the first time nationally-recognized experts from academia, dental research and public health have joined with commercial dental carriers and purchasers to advance how dental care is delivered.”

Breaking Down Barriers

The Institute for Oral Health will apply the knowledge gained from scientific research, and the insight from data analysis, to recommend options to overcome the barriers to efficient and effective dental care delivery by:

• Filling the gap that exists between research-and-development institutions and real world dental practice.
• Cutting the time it takes to transfer innovations from academic research to the dental chair in half.
• Facilitating the adoption of innovations by healthcare policy makers, dental care providers and the insurance community.

The Institute will make research and data accessible as a resource to government agencies, universities, benefits companies, dental professionals, dental benefits purchasers and the public, as well as collaborate with other organizations to support public policies that advance oral health.

"Oral health is an essential component of overall health," said Howard Bailit, D.M.D., Ph.D. "That's why we need to make greater efforts to speed the adoption of new and more effective treatment technologies to dental practitioners and educators."