Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Data Resource Center Established

To respond to the changing oral health needs and disease trends in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has joined with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) in awarding a 5-year, $3.7 million contract to fund a data resource center. The contract was awarded to ROW Sciences in Rockville, Md., in August.

The primary function of the Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Data Resource Center will be to assemble data and other information needed to support research, program evaluation, and policy development at NIDCR, CDC, and other Public Health Service (PHS) agencies.

"We are delighted to co-fund this center with the CDC," said Dr. Dushanka V. Kleinman, NIDCR deputy director. "This center will provide us with an essential resource to document and facilitate access to specific data bases related to oral, dental, and craniofacial health. In addition, routine analyses and reports will permit us to monitor the nation’s burden of disease and take appropriate actions."

One of the center’s major tasks is to generate a catalogue of all existing databases that provide information on dental, oral, and craniofacial health, disease, health personnel, and health care utilization and expenditures.

While initial efforts will concentrate on acquiring and preparing national data sets for analytic purposes, attention also will be given to determining how state and local data or data from specific populations can be included. Future plans also include the development of a Web-based query system.

"Having these data more readily available and accessible will show how states and the nation are progressing in meeting the nation’s Health People 2010 objectives," said William R. Maas, DDS, director of CDC’s Division of Oral Health and PHS Chief Dental Officer. The center will extend our capacity to utilize such data to help guide development of a National Oral Health Plan, outlined in the recent Surgeon General’s Report: Oral Health in America."

Other responsibilities of the center include developing an archive of clinical indices, procedures, methods, and biomarkers used in oral health surveys, producing an annual report of health statistics and health care costs; and developing the capacity to assess the knowledge, opinions and practices of educators, practitioners, and the public regarding disease prevention and health promotion activities.

The center will be located in Rockville, Md., and will operate with guidance from oversight and advisory committees representing the various communities of interest.

Related Link

• NIDCR is part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. For more information on visit http://ww.nidcr.nih.gov.

Historical Document
Page last reviewed: June 1, 2007
Content source: Division of Oral Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion