School of Dentistry to have a major impact upon future care of oral health nationwide

Michelle Robinson, DMD, and Gregg Gilbert, DDS, have contributed to the national publication “Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges.”
Photography: Andrea MabryMichelle Robinson, DMD, senior associate dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry, and Gregg Gilbert, DDS, distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Clinical and Community Sciences, have contributed to the national publication “Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges.” This report is a foundational publication for preventing and treating oral disease.

The new report, which is intended to provide a road map on how to improve the nation’s oral health, draws primarily on information from public research and evidence-based practices and was compiled and reviewed by NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and a large, diverse, multidisciplinary team of more than 400 experts.

Robinson is an associate editor for Section six, “Emerging Technologies and Promising Science to Transform Oral Health.” This section explores catalytic research advances and focuses on new ways of understanding and treating oral diseases. Section six is paving the way for a more effective focus on the prevention of problems related to oral and craniofacial health.

“I am grateful to be part of a publication that impacts decades of oral health,” Robinson said. “Our goals include individualizing health care, suggesting possibilities for new treatments and facilitating the discovery of new products that can improve oral health.”

In this prestigious national publication, Gilbert contributed to the practice section focusing on the emergence of dental practice-based research. Gilbert’s contribution allows for the advancement and improvement of dental care.

“Tremendous advances have occurred in the technology supporting dental practice, and it is an honor to be able to help advance experiential research,” Gilbert said. “I hope that our work positively changes the landscape of dentistry research and education.”

“Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges” is a culmination of two years of research and writing by over 400 contributors. As a follow-up to the surgeon general’s “Report on Oral Health in America,” this report explores the nation’s oral health over the last 20 years. The first and only report was released in 2000 and established the foundation of how dentistry is practiced today.