Untreated dental problems are driving millions of Americans to emergency rooms each year, costing the country billions and worsening chronic health conditions. Experts say bridging the historic divide between medical and dental care — through data connectivity, integrated health centers and AI-driven tools — could improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare spending.
By strengthening the connection between dentists and physicians, we can enable real-time care coordination, ensure patients get follow-up when needed and help teams spot risk factors earlier.
Zelis highlights how employers, payers, and consumers are integrating digital tools to manage healthcare costs.
Reinforcing educational standards will enable hygienists to perform more advanced procedures and raise the standard of care.
Salivary testing represents more than a new tool; it’s a scalable strategy to shift care upstream, reduce preventable emergencies, and bring equity to a population too often left behind.
This isn’t a political issue, it’s a public health challenge with real consequences for kids’ futures. As reality sets in, we must face the possibility of a post-fluoridation era and find new ways to give kids in at-risk communities a fair shot at a healthy smile.
Medicaid and CHIP facilitate necessary access to oral health services, which helps to bridge the gap in dental care for children from low- and moderate-income families. By providing coverage, it ensures that socioeconomic status does not hinder a child’s ability to receive necessary dental services.
How to turn analytics into actual policy outcomes.
The integration of the latest technologies improves diagnostic quality and accelerates treatment solutions, decreasing the time patients spend in discomfort or pain due to dental issues.
This starts with viewing specialties such as oral health, maternal health, endocrinology, and cardiology — among others — as interconnected practices, not as separate areas. It also requires combining education, innovation, and investment to truly see — and feel — positive change and interconnected care
The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan have decided put some rivalry aside and create a company, Sirona Therapeutics, that partnered with Ohio-based Venture Therapeutics. The partnership will form a new company to develop and commercialize new technology to treat precancerous oral lesions. The Ohio State Innovation Foundation and Drug Development Institute and […]