CDA Essentials 2014 • Volume 1• Issue 5

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23 Volume 1 Issue 5 |
Issues and People
Sounding the Alarm:
THEFUTUREOFORALHEALTH
RESEARCHINCANADA
DM: The two main issues facing oral health
research in Canada are 1) the lack of growth
in health care research budgets—not just for
oral health research, but for health research
in general, and 2) the need for succession
planning. There aren’t enough young
scientists and dental clinician-scientists to
replace senior researchers in the dental
faculties who will be retiring. There is no one
to pass the torch to.
JD: If those two issues can be addressed,
we can make tremendous advances. We
need to provide a viable avenue for dental
students with an interest in pursuing a
career in academia and research. Providing
support for them early in their careers is very
important. I’m confident that mobilizing the
public and the profession to bring these
Increasing awareness about oral health research in Canada is an important cause for Drs. Jeff Dixon and Debora
Matthews. At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), they are both members of the Institute Advisory
Board at the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA), which supports oral health research as part of its
mandate. CDA spoke with Drs. Dixon and Matthews about the current status of oral health research in Canada.
issues to light can make a difference. We
need continued lobbying from individual
dentists and the profession to increase
federal funding for health research—it can
make a big difference to the profession and
the country. Research can lead to new ways
for dentists to work more effectively and
have better control over oral
disease.
DM: I think that the
nature of research is moving
towards more collaborative,
transdisciplinary approaches,
and oral health researchers
are really getting on board
and thinking outside the box.
That’s one of the reasons why the Network
for Canadian Oral Health Research (NCOHR)
was created—with the small numbers of oral
health researchers in this country, we need to
work collaboratively, build capacity, and give
trainees the encouragement and skills that
they need.
JD: These are important issues for the
profession: Who will be teaching our dental
students of tomorrow? Will we be advancing
the profession here in Canada? Future
improvements in health care are going to
come from great research. a
This interviewhasbeencondensedandedited.
Theviewsexpressedarethoseoftheauthorsanddonotnecessarilyreflectthe
opinionsorofficialpoliciesoftheCanadianDentalAssociation.
Jeff Dixon
Debora Matthews
4% 23 87
0 20 40 60 80 100
23
87
2000-01
2011-12
4: Percentage of CIHR-IMHA
spending in oral health, as a
proportion of CIHR spending
among IMHA’s focus areas—
representing the smallest
piece of the funding pie.
23: Number of CIHR-funded oral health
researchers who were co-principal investigators
or co-applicants in 2000-01.
87: Number of CIHR-funded oral health
researchers who were co-principal investigators
or co-applicants in 2011-12.
Increase in collaborative oral health
research
Low investment in
oral health research
Funding Comparisons at CIHR-IMHA: Oral Health at a Glance
To hear the
full interview with
Drs. Matthews
and Dixon, visit