The DSM-Forsyth Alliance will conduct clinical demonstration projects
aimed at improving oral health in all segments of society. DSM will provide
funding to help support the Alliance’s first three years of operation.
Forsyth clinical care and research teams will direct the projects.
A key goal of the Alliance is to bring proven new therapies and
techniques to practice more rapidly, thus enhancing the quality of care and
making high quality care more available.
"Scientific knowledge about oral health is increasing at an exponential
rate, yet it can take 20 years or more for new knowledge to be incorporated
into clinical practice and for these proven treatments to be covered by
dental benefit providers," said DSM President and CEO Kathy O’Loughlin, DMD,
MPH. "We need to close that gap if we are going to improve the quality of
patient care. This is a key objective of this initiative."
Forsyth President and CEO Dominick P. DePaola, DDS, PhD, added, "The
alliance is a significant step toward moving research findings into the
hands of practicing dentists quickly. We look forward to applying Forsyth’s
scientific and clinical expertise in this major initiative to improve the
oral health of the nation."
The Alliance will establish the DSM-Forsyth Center for Evidence-Based
Dentistry (CEBD) and provide partial funding for the Forsyth Center for
Children’s Oral Health (CCOH), which was recently created to address the
need for a "best practices" approach to prevention and care of oral disease
in children.
- DSM-Forsyth Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry
As the umbrella organization of the Alliance, CEBD’s central goal will
be to increase the use of high-quality evidence in patient care. To that
end, CEBD will conduct clinical demonstration trials and clinical
research; compile and distill international clinical evidence into useable
knowledge; provide dentists with access to the best evidence; and offer
educational opportunities for corporations and health professionals
seeking to integrate evidence-based outcomes into their health care
programs. CEBD will also conduct research to identify effective new
technologies.
Housed at Forsyth, this Center is the first in the US to focus on
evidence-based dentistry.
- Forsyth Center for Children’s Oral Health
The Forsyth Center for Children’s Oral Health will develop and carry
out demonstration projects that integrate school-based outreach, clinical
care, evidence-based dentistry, economic analysis, and scientific
discovery in a comprehensive "wellness" model of care. The goal is to keep
children free of oral disease.
CCOH’s first project will be a three-year pilot program based in four
Massachusetts public elementary schools. Slated to begin in September
2003, the program will provide and assess innovative oral health
prevention and treatment programs in Lynn and Hyannis -- cities in which,
studies have shown, children have substantial oral health needs.
If the pilot program proves effective, the Alliance will seek partners
to initiate similar programs throughout Massachusetts and in other states.
"We hope that the successful prevention and treatment methods used in this
program will be adopted by individuals and practitioners worldwide," said
Robert Compton, DDS, Chief Dental Officer at DSM.
The announcement comes in the wake of a recent "Call to Action" in which
the US Surgeon General highlighted the need to create "critical partnerships
to engage in programs to promote oral health and prevent disease."
With goals of improving the quality of care, increasing access to
cost-effective care, and shortening the time it takes to bring new knowledge
and effective products into routine clinical practice, "the Alliance
programs provide a response to that call," said Richard Niederman, DMD,
Director of the DSM-Forsyth CEBD.
In DePaola’s words: "The Alliance will be a vital resource for the dental
practice, insurance, education, research, clinical care, and consumer
communities."
*
The Forsyth Institute is an independent, nonprofit research organization
focused on oral, craniofacial and related biomedical science.
