Dentech panel addresses oral health innovation in current climate
ADA Forsyth summit met Oct. 9-10 in Massachusetts
ADA Forsyth dentech 2025 kicked off Oct. 9 with a panel addressing oral health innovation in the current economic and political landscape.
“You know I’m fond of saying people can look at the world in two ways: opportunities and threats. I choose to look at life as an opportunity,” said moderator James Schulz, ADA senior vice president of government and public affairs. “It’s an opportunity to tell our story right now. It’s an opportunity to strengthen the fortitude around the work that we do. And today’s panel is really here to talk about that.”
Panelists discussed the challenges that follow when changes in political, regulatory or economic conditions put the onus on oral health leaders to take new approaches to business plans and advocacy. They addressed concerns about funding for the National Institutes of Health and the potential consolidation of its institutes, including the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Christopher Fox, D.M.D., D.M.Sc., CEO of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research, noted that although the Trump administration proposed cutting NIH funding by 40%, medical research still has bipartisan support in Congress.
“The good news is both the House and the Senate in their appropriations bills — as you well know, thanks to help from the ADA and D.C. office — are basically saying flat funding,” Dr. Fox said. “In normal years, we would say that’s not good either because we’re not keeping up with inflation, but flat funding is a heck of a lot better than a 40% cut.”
In one sentence, panelists addressed what they viewed as the single largest shift oral health needs to make to create innovation in this climate.
Maria Ryan, D.D.S., Ph.D., executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Colgate-Palmolive, said oral health needs to be integrated into the global health agenda. She later highlighted how the World Economic Forum has two affinity groups: one on oral health and the other on rare diseases.
“We in oral health have a communication problem because you have two affinity groups: one for diseases no one has ever heard of and one for the most common diseases in the whole world. Fifty percent of people suffer from oral diseases,” Dr. Ryan said. “Yet, we have to form an affinity group to explain what those diseases are and how they impact your health and your business.”
To turn ideas into action, Dr. Fox said partnerships between government, academia and industry are needed.
“I think when we come up with systems that really do truly integrate oral health within the rest of the health care system, we also need to be thinking in advance of building research into those questions so that we can document not only health improvements but economic improvements that will come with that integration,” Dr. Fox said.
Other panelists included Bob Coughlin, member of the board of directors of MassBio, and Daniel Croley, D.M.D., chief dental officer of Delta Dental of California. Natalia Chalmers, D.D.S., Ph.D., chief dental officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was scheduled to be a panelist but could not attend because of the government shutdown.
ADA Forsyth dentech, an annual summit convening dental tech startups, key business leaders and more, took place Oct. 9-10 at the ADA Forsyth Institute in Somerville, Massachusetts. For more from the event, visit forsyth.org/dentech.
