Big Boost in Funding for Dental Research

Abstract

A little over a year ago, I wrote about the poor state of affairs with regards to research funding in Australia for dental research.* Now I find myself “eating my words”. In the past few months dental research in Australia has received very significant funds from the Federal Government. In July, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia announced the funding of a new Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Oral Health at the University of Adelaide. A few months later, in September, the Federal Government announced continued funding for nine years of the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre based at the University of Melbourne. While this is excellent and timely news, it should come as no surprise that these funding agencies have finally woken up to the enormity of the significant issues relating to oral diseases. Figures such as untreated dental caries affecting around 25 per cent of adult Australians, approximately 20 per cent of the adult population having moderate to severe periodontal disease and the emerging significant relationships between oral health and systemic health were used by both universities to make their cases for funding of large scale research programmes in oral health. Importantly for dentistry is that both research centres were assessed as being significantly competitive and relevant to the larger medical framework within which they were judged. Clearly, as I, and many other wiser people than me have stated, no longer can oral health be sequestered away from general health. The time has come for oral health to be considered within the overall context of general well-being. Thus, it is indeed timely that these two research centres have been funded. The work ahead for both centres is enormous but the support is significant. This is particularly so for the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre which has not only received substantial funding from the Federal Government but also has the backing of five major industry partners. The potential for significant translation of research to clinical and product outcomes is exciting. In conjunction with the global research effort in dental research, it is clear that we have the opportunity to significantly contribute to this effort at many levels. Both research centres will have research teams in population health and epidemiology, technologically advanced laboratory science and clinical studies in dental caries, periodontal disease and cancer as their main focus. It is indeed my hope that both centres will complement each other and work in mutual collaboration to take advantage of this significant funding and the opportunity to contribute to the health and well-being of not only Australians but the whole global village. P Mark BartoldEditor