ADA Presses NIDCR for Prevention and Data Integration in 2027–31 Research Plan

Edited by Dentaltown staff

The ADA has asked the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to sustain investment in core oral health science while expanding work on oral-systemic health, dental data integration, and the research workforce, in recommendations filed as the institute’s public comment period closed Sept. 14.

NIDCR issued the request for information, numbered NOT-DE-26-015, to gather input for the strategic plan that will cover fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Responses were due by 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern time on Sept. 14.

The association organized its response around the four areas the institute named: dental, oral and craniofacial research; integration of oral health research, data and care with the broader biomedical enterprise; research capacity; and research operations.

On core science, the ADA called for sustained investment in fundamental research including the oral microbiome and inflammatory pathways, and listed nonoperative and minimally invasive caries management, precision dental medicine, prevention science, dental faculty development, and evaluation of care delivery and workforce models among its priorities. It urged NIDCR to fund research on translating nonoperative caries evidence into U.S. practice, naming fee-for-service incentives and nonbinding clinical guidelines as implementation barriers.

Fluoride drew a separate recommendation. The association wrote that continued investment in fluoride efficacy and safety, prescription-strength topical fluoride, and community water fluoridation programs remains essential to reducing disparities in caries incidence.

On integration, the ADA pointed to links between periodontal disease and systemic conditions, dental data interoperability, and practice-based and registry-linked research. It said fragmented implementation of dental data standards remains a barrier to large-scale real-world research and recommended that NIDCR explicitly fund infrastructure supporting harmonized data systems.

For research capacity, the association urged expanded training mechanisms aimed at dentist-scientists alongside continued investment in practice-based research networks, biorepositories, and shared analytic infrastructure, calling a sustained research workforce “foundational to every other priority” in the plan. On research operations, it supported regular, structured engagement between the institute and the profession.

NIDCR is the federal government’s principal funder of dental, oral, and craniofacial research. The institute will draw on responses to the request for information as it builds the plan that sets its priorities for five years.

Sources:
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Notice NOT-DE-26-015, request for information on the NIDCR Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2027–2031: nidcr.nih.gov/strategic-plan/not-de-26-015
ADA News, “ADA urges NIDCR to prioritize prevention, oral-systemic research in next strategic plan,” Sept. 14, 2026: adanews.ada.org/2026/september/ada-urges-nidcr-strategic-plan