Dental disease is almost 100% preventable, yet many children and adults throughout America still suffer from this chronic condition. At DentaQuest, we believe this is unacceptable. We're 100% committed to improving oral health by making significant investments in research and outreach—all to improve the delivery of quality care to everyone, everywhere. Everything we do at DentaQuest brings us closer to a world free of dental disease.

DentaQuest Oral Health Center

Pioneering new preventive therapies

Recently named the American Dental Association's Adult Preventive Care Practice of the Year, the DentaQuest Oral Health Center is an innovative leader in evidence-based dentistry. This is where new oral health therapies are quickly put into practice, long before most dental offices are using them. Many prevention-focused protocols pioneered and tested at the center are now covered by our benefits programs.

• Founded 11 years ago, the DentaQuest Oral Health Center is a thriving dental office with 13,000 patients.
• The latest advancements in dental medicine are used here to prevent and treat oral diseases—including therapies that can help reverse early tooth decay.
• The center is home to several national research studies and clinical trials for new prevention and treatment models—its findings strengthen our dental benefits programs across the country.

 

Early Childhood Caries Program

Eliminating childhood dental disease

In 2008, the DentaQuest Institute teamed with Children's Hospital in Boston and St. Joseph Hospital for Specialty Care in Providence to develop a new program for children who were at risk for having minor dental problems develop into extreme dental diseases, often resulting in months of pain, anxiety, inhibited learning and, ultimately, costly and difficult surgery in a hospital setting.

• Intervention by dentists is used to engage and educate the child's parent or guardian and show them how to break the cycle that creates the underlying disease process.
• A comfortable and accessible “dental home” is established for families to turn to for oral healthcare—resulting in fewer complaints of mouth pain, less need for surgery, and reduced cavity recurrence.

 

Dental Disease Management Initiative

Putting new science into practice

This initiative was created to close the gap between what oral health professionals know about risk assessment and risk-based treatment planning, and what is universally practiced. Along with helping dental care providers target the unique health and social factors that contribute to a patient's oral disease, the initiative provides guidelines to prioritize the most effective and advanced prevention and treatment methods.

 

Dental Sealant Initiative

Preventing cavities in children

The DentaQuest Institute launched an initiative in 2010 to increase the proportion of children from 6 to 8 years of age, and adolescents from 12 to 14 years of age, who are treated with sealants at safety-net dental practices. More than simply applying sealants (which greatly reduce cavities among children), the protocol combines outreach, education, ongoing oral healthcare, and follow-up tracking.