Delta Dental of California announced it is selling the $152.4 million equity stake investment it made in 2019 for a 49.5 percent share in Moda Partners, Inc., back to Moda Holdings Group, Inc.

“As a way of accelerating innovation to benefit our 38 million customers, we are always looking for short and long-term partnership and investment opportunities in promising established and startup businesses in the oral health care sector,” said Mike Castro, president and CEO of Delta Dental of California. “The Moda investment met our strategic objectives, and we are grateful for the partnership Moda provided. Investments such as this play an important role in our mission of advancing dental health, increasing access to oral care and supporting our commitment to meeting the needs of those we serve through exceptional dental benefits.”

“We greatly appreciate the long-term partnership we have shared with our friends and colleagues at Delta Dental of California,” said Robert Gootee, president and CEO of Moda. “Their strategic investment of a few years ago helped us sustain and expand our diverse strategies at a critical time. The continuing evolution of the healthcare landscape surely will afford us many fresh strategic opportunities for continued collaboration going forward, while at the same time allowing each of us to focus on our primary initiatives in our strategic markets.”

About Delta Dental of California

Since 1955, Delta Dental of California has offered comprehensive, high quality oral health care coverage to millions of enrollees and built the strongest network of dental providers in the country. The Delta Dental of California enterprise includes its affiliates Delta Dental Insurance Company, Delta Dental of Pennsylvania, Delta Dental of New York, Inc., as well as the national DeltaCare USA network, and provides dental benefits to more than 38 million people across 15 states and the District of Columbia*. All are members of the Delta Dental Plans Association based in Oak Brook, Illinois, the not-for-profit national association that through a national network of Delta Dental companies collectively covers millions of people nationwide. For more information about Delta Dental of California, please visit www.deltadentalins.com 

*Delta Dental of California’s operating areas encompass Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and District of Columbia.

About Moda

Founded in 1955, Oregon-based Moda is a company committed to building healthier communities. Moda has 330,000 members in its medical plans and more than 1 million members in its stand-alone pharmacy segment. The Moda family of enterprises includes Moda Health, Moda Assurance Company, ODS Community Dental, Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization, Summit Health, OHSU Health IDS, Ardon Health, BenefitHelp Solutions, Astra Practice Partners, Dental Commerce Corporation, Arrow Dental and Emerging Health. Affiliated companies include Delta Dental of Oregon and Delta Dental of Alaska with more than 1 million dental members.

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Overjet (www.overjet.ai), the global leader in dental artificial intelligence (AI), today announced it has raised $27 million in Series A financing led by General Catalyst and New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners with participation from existing investors that include Crosslink Capital and the MIT-affiliated E14 Fund.

“Overjet is on a mission to improve oral healthcare for all,” said Dr. Wardah Inam, CEO and Co-founder of Overjet. “This ambitious vision pushed us to find world-class investors with a depth of experience supporting the scaling of high-growth technology companies.”

Overjet’s dental AI products are designed to help dentists deliver the best patient care and enable dental insurers to operate more accurately and efficiently. Today’s financing follows the FDA’s recent clearance of Overjet’s Dental AssistTM product designed for dental practices, the first dental AI company to receive such a clearance. 

“Overjet improves patient care by automating much of the clinical review process with AI and by helping clinicians increase diagnostic quality, consistency, and speed,” said Chris Bischoff, Managing Director of General Catalyst. “At General Catalyst, we are excited to partner with Wardah Inam and the entire Overjet team as they deliver on the vision of health assurance in dentistry – creating a win for patients, as well as insurers and clinicians.”

In the dental benefits space, Overjet has emerged as the leading AI company with dental insurers, inking 15 major carriers as customers for coverage of over 53 million Americans. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian Life), a leading dental provider, was the first national carrier to integrate Overjet’s dental AI into its claims processing. The two companies started their commercial partnership in late 2019 with a focus on supporting consistency in dental claims review and improving operating efficiency.

“Guardian Life continues to be committed to facilitating the best oral health care possible for our members,” said Dr Randi S. Tillman, Chief Dental Officer, at Guardian Life. “By partnering with Overjet, we are able to leverage AI technology to improve the consistency of our dental claim review process while ensuring that we are able to make decisions based on the most precise clinical data.”

“The rapid pace of customer adoption for Overjet’s software is a testament to its product differentiation and the market pull for powerful, rapidly improving AI technology in dentistry,” said Lonne Jaffe, Managing Director of Insight Partners. “As Overjet scales up, more and more dental payers and providers will get the chance to appreciate the predictive accuracy of its software and the caliber of its team. Overjet is on a mission to solve the most challenging problems in dentistry, which can positively impact millions of patients.”

With a rapidly growing customer roster, Overjet expects the new funding to only accelerate market adoption, new product launches, and impact on dentistry. “Tens of millions of Americans already have their dental claims processing streamlined and accelerated by Overjet today,” said Shaju Puthussery, Chief Operating Officer of Overjet. “With the recent FDA clearance and new funding, more Americans will see Overjet’s dental AI technology assisting their dentists at the next check-up. We’re committed to helping clinicians deliver the best patient care.”

ABOUT OVERJET

Overjet is the global leader in dental artificial intelligence, helping both payers and providers improve patient care. The company was founded by experts from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and has assembled the largest and most seasoned team of technologists and domain experts with deep AI, dental, and insurance experience. Follow us at www.overjet.ai and on Twitter @overjetdental.

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quip, the modern oral healthcare company with over 7.5 million users, today announced it has raised $100 million in growth funding from Cowen Sustainable Investments (CSI). On the heels of reaching profitability, expanding into new oral care verticals, and launching its first professional service, CSI, an environmental sustainability focused growth investment strategy, recognized quip’s unique potential to disrupt the $450 billion global oral healthcare market through its digital platform connecting personal and professional oral care, and become the center for oral health. 

“quip is well on its way to becoming the iconic oral care brand in the way we’ve seen companies revolutionize other industries like fitness, pet care and eyewear. No other oral care company can match quip’s engaged customer base, data expertise, professional network and digital platform that helps people take control of their oral health,” said Ewa Kozicz, Co-Head of CSI. 

Since launching in 2015, quip has upended the personal oral care market becoming the first and most prolific brand, putting design, accessibility and simplicity at the forefront of oral care while providing a clear and tangible benefit to the environment with its innovative, first of its category, refillable oral care products and all-paper recyclable packaging. With the Series B funding, quip will further scale its existing consumer packaged goods (CPG) business and fuel the development of new verticals, innovations in professional services and global expansion, taking aim at the entire global oral healthcare market.

Key areas of investment include:

• Channel Growth: quip will continue to grow its multi-million member subscriber base through its ecommerce, retail, partner and provider omni-channel approach. Retail sales of quip oral care products year to date are up more than 100% compared to last year thanks to new product launches and expanding 10,000+ door retail footprint (most recently, launching nationwide in Walmart following its successful roll-out with Target in 2018). 

• Professional Services & Virtual Care: Following the launch of a virtual orthodontist enabled clear aligner service in April, quip plans to continue creating professional services that better connect its millions of members to its network of 50,000+ professionals, while improving and integrating the experiences of patients, payors and providers.

• Talent Acquisition: quip aims to grow its leadership team and double its 200-person NYC and SLC team by the end of 2022 to support the continued build out of its 360° digital healthcare platform and strengthen its consumer-packaged goods business.

• Product Innovation: With an ambitious endeavor that started with an electric toothbrush and toothpaste, quip brought more delight to oral care routines this past year with refillable floss pick, refillable mouthwash, refillable gum and smart electric toothbrushes. These new innovations alone are on pace to hit 1 million units sold later this year. The company, which designs and develops all it’s products in-house, will continue to expand its portfolio of professionally-backed and ADA accepted dental solutions.

• Oral Care Companion App: As the largest digitally native oral care brand and subscription service, quip will roll-out multiple new features to its mobile app over the coming months. Currently paired with its smart brush; quip expects to reach over 1 million app users in 2022. These new features will continue to build on the apps focus on oral care habit tracking, coaching and health monitoring. Members can earn points for improving their oral care habits and health and redeem them for free products, gift cards and discounts from quip and other partners.

• Sustainability: Through recyclable paper packaging and refillable products, quip estimates over One Hundred Million single use plastic components have been diverted from entering landfills from its efforts to date. The brand will continue to be champions of change with sustainable packaging and innovative product design, aiming to reach over 1 million pounds of plastic reduction or diversion within the next 12 months.

• Global Expansion: With members in over 100 countries, quip plans to meet international demand for their products by launching international ecommerce and brick and mortar channels. 

“At quip, we want to improve every step in your oral health journey…whether that’s rewarding you for regularly brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day, tracking changes in your oral health, or seamlessly scheduling your next dentist appointment through our app,” said quip co-founder and CEO, Simon Enever. “We want to redesign the way the industry conventionally views, provides, and integrates oral health into everyday life.” 

Vusal Najafov, Co-Head of CSI added “quip has established itself as a leading platform for oral health solutions, with an innovative model underpinned by sustainability and high quality, affordable products. We are excited to support quip in its mission to make dental care services more simple, accessible and enjoyable for everyone.” 

Artem Mariychin, Managing Director at CSI, will join the company’s board.

To learn more about quip, it’s products and professional services, please visit getquip.com 

About quip 

quip is a modern oral health company launched in 2015 that provides thoughtfully designed personal oral care products and professional dental care services to make oral care more simple, accessible, and enjoyable. The current personal care offerings include a wide selection of American Dental Association accepted (ADA seal) adult and kid electric toothbrushes, smart brushes, refillable floss pick and string, mouthwash and gum, all kept fresh with a refill delivery service. quip’s professional platform, which is behind quip Aligners and quipcare, is part of the company’s future vision to combine personal and professional care. quip was co-founded by Simon Enever and Bill May. Learn more at getquip.com. 

About Cowen Sustainable Investments

Founded in 2018, Cowen Sustainable Investments (CSI) provides tailored financing and data analytics solutions to companies that are accelerating the world’s transition to an environmentally sustainable economy by addressing pollution, waste, and resource constraints. The CSI strategy is managed by Cowen Sustainable Advisors LLC, a division of Cowen Inc. (“Cowen”). Cowen is a diversified financial services firm offering investment banking services, research, sales and trading, prime brokerage, global clearing, commission management services and investment management. Cowen focuses on delivering value-added capabilities to our clients in order to help them outperform. Founded in 1918, Cowen is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. Learn more at Cowen.com

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OSAP is pleased to announce the successful launch of a brand-new website and an online education platform. Both were designed to offer a more customized experience, facilitate a welcoming environment for our valued members, and adapt to the changing needs of the oral healthcare community.

OSAP Executive Director, Michelle Lee CPC, says “OSAP is thrilled to provide the same great education and resources we are known for with an easier user experience and new exciting features.” A new feature on the website is “My Community”, a new way to engage with other members. Using the My Community feature members can upload photos and create albums, add status messages to share what they’re working on, engage in special interest groups, and send private messages to one or more members at a time.

Another exciting feature is a new addition to the OSAP Event Calendar. Now it will not only show upcoming events but also “OSAP On The Move” or meetings and events where OSAP leadership will be attending and hosting booths. Members can also search the Member Directory to find members with similar interests and utilize the community forum, a new platform for discussions, networking, and mentorship.

OSAP also successfully launched a brand-new Infection Prevention & Safety CE Center, a one-stop shop for our members and the oral health care community to meet their infection prevention and control educational needs. “OSAP’s mission is to be the leading provider of infection prevention and control education, training and credentialing that supports safe dental visits. For years, the OSAP board has wanted to be able to provide more online education options. The creation of our Infection Prevention & Safety CE Center will help us to ensure we can continue to meet the needs of the oral healthcare community”, says Lee.

The CE Center already has more than 25 courses available for CE credit. OSAP members can earn free CE credits by completing self-study courses and on-demand webinars. Non-members can also access all the courses; some do have a small fee associated.

About OSAP

The Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) is the only dental membership association solely focused on infection prevention and patient safety education. Our members include individual clinicians, group practices, educators, researchers, consultants, trainers, compliance directors, policymakers, and industry representatives who advocate for safe and infection-free delivery of oral healthcare.

OSAP focuses on strategies to improve compliance with safe practices and on building a strong network of recognized infection control experts. OSAP offers an extensive online collection of resources, publications, FAQs, checklists, and toolkits that help dental professionals deliver the Safest Dental Visit possible for their patients. Plus, online and live courses help advance the level of knowledge and skill for every member of the dental team. For additional information, visit www.osap.org.

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The ADA has asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to prioritize oral healthcare. In a letter to Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the ADA said that it looks forward to working with CMS in:

• Ensuring that a permanent position of chief dental officer within the CMS is filled, as the position has been vacant since 2017
• Expanding the participation of dentists through increased reimbursement and reduced administrative burden, such as the easement of credentialing, audit processes, and encouragement of clean claims paid within 15 days
• Requiring the CMS Center for Program Integrity to issue guidance to state Medicaid agencies (SMAs) concerning best practices in dental audits and develop standardized training for dental auditors
• Providing guidance to SMAs to streamline dentist credentialing by utilizing the ADA Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare credentialing service or equivalent
• Establishing a benchmark floor for all Medicaid dental fees at 75^th percentile of regional dental fees based on ADA survey data
• Working to enhance consistent adult dental benefits across all Medicaid programs
• Working with the dental community to establish an appropriate Healthcare Common Procedural Coding System billing code to help address ongoing challenges regarding access to dental rehabilitative services
• Making pediatric oral health coverage mandatory for families with children and including maternal oral health as an essential health benefit for one year post-partum within the Affordable Care Act’s exchange plans
• Instituting activities to increase oral health equity, including incentivizing dentists to practice in underserved communities across the United States and strengthening support for Action for Dental Health Initiatives

“We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss how we can meet these challenges together,” said the letter, which was signed by ADA president Daniel J. Klemmedson, DDS, MD, and executive director Kathleen T. O’Loughlin, DMD, MPH.

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Japan is economically advanced and has plentiful dentists as well as universal healthcare, but it also has inequities in oral healthcare, according to the University of Tsukuba.

After examining a huge set of claims and checkup data in search of regional and socioeconomic trends, researchers at the school said, regional lower income and educational levels may correlate with a failure to seek preventive dental treatment.

“We conducted an ecological [population-level[ study to try and grasp how people access oral care across Japan and what they seek,” said coauthor and former associate professor Takahiro Mori. “This was the first-ever national-level attempt to examine regional inequality in dental care use in our country.”

The 216 million data points in the study spanned from April 2017 to March 2018 and included indicators such as outpatient visits, use of outreach (home) services, and treatments such as fillings and dentures.

The researchers also examined the data in different regions in relation to socioeconomic factors such as income and education. This is the first time that such findings were possible, as previous studies had been on a much smaller scale, the researchers said.

The researchers used a standardized claim ratio (SCR) as the basis for their calculations. An SCR is a numeric index representing observed versus expected claims. An SCR of 100 for a region, or a Japanese prefecture in this case, indicates the same level as the entire country.

The low SCR of 1.4 for outpatient visits meant access was relatively balanced. But the 19.3 and 17.6 scores for outreach services and periodontal surgeries showed wide regional inequalities, the researchers said, adding that the most important findings regarded income and education.

“Access to preventive care was negatively correlated with areas that showed lower income and education levels,” said senior author Nanako Tamiya.

“This means people in those areas may be less likely to seek preventive dental measures such as calculus removal, i.e., cleaning. This, in turn, can make it harder to preserve teeth and necessitates more severe treatment,” said Tamiya.

The researchers emphasized that this ecological study shows the big picture and not necessarily the individual one. Conversely, however, they note that this is the first nationwide study in Japan to show regional inequalities.

“Knowing these inequalities is a key first step in righting them,” said Tamiya.

The study, “Regional Inequality in Dental Care Utilization in Japan: An Ecological Study Using the National Database of Health Insurance Claims,” was published by The Lancet Regional Health—Western Pacific.

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Align Technology has awarded 10 research grants under its eleventh annual Research Award Program. Since the program’s 2010 inception, the company has funded more than $2 million in awards that have led to advances in digital orthodontics and dentistry, it said.

“We are proud to support scientific research to further advance the study of dentistry and orthodontics and congratulate this year’s group of research award winners,” said Dr. Mitra Derakhshan, vice president of global clinical at Align Technology.

“These studies focus on work that can contribute to improvements in oral healthcare and orthodontic movement and support Align’s purpose of transforming smiles and changing lives,” said Derakhshan.

The Americas research award recipients for 2021 include:

• The University of British Columbia: primary investigator Dr. Edwin HK Yen
• The University of Toronto: primary investigator Dr. Anuradha Prakki
• The University of Toronto: primary investigator Dr. Céline Lévesque
• The University at Buffalo: primary investigator Dr. Pramod Philip

The European research award recipients for 2021 include:

• The Hebrew University and Hadassah: Dr. Omer Fleissig
• The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens: primary investigator Dr. Iosif Sifakakis
• The University of Rome Tor Vergata: primary investigator Dr. Roberta Lione
• Gothenburg University: primary investigator Anna Westerlund

The Asia Pacific research award recipients for 2021 include:

• Anhui Medical University: primary investigator Dr. Xu Jianguang
• Kunming Medical University: primary investigator Dr. Jiangtian Hu

The funded research studies cover a range of topics for projects seeking to better understand treatment in orthodontics and dentistry, the company said, including but not limited to:

• Comparing the clinical performance of the index test in detecting supragingival interproximal caries
• Investigating remineralizing properties of polyaspartic acid attached to a resin infiltrant
• Evaluating the effects of mesenchymal stem cells transfer to periodontal ligament on the rate of orthodontic tooth movement
• The role of adaptive immunity and B cells in orthodontic tooth movement
• Determining the effect of probiotics on oral health
• Examining the effect of Class II elastics on the vertical dimension
• Prevention and progression of caries with the addition of an active agent in aligners
• Comparing the effectiveness of Invisalign mandibular advancement with incremental advancements versus single advancement
• Demonstrating that Invisalign First treatment is effective in treating anterior crossbite

All award applications receives were first reviewed and prioritized in a blind evaluation by an independent academic committee. The final recipients then were determined by Align Technology.

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Despite mandatory state dental coverage, children in the foster care system face significant barriers to accessing oral healthcare, according to the University of Minnesota. For example, most children in the foster care system have medical and dental coverage through Medicaid, but few providers participate in Medicaid or in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Researchers at the school compared the self-identified oral health needs and access to dental care among youth who have and have not experienced foster care. Data was drawn from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey, which polled public school students in the fifth, eighth, ninth, and eleventh grades.

Youth with a history of foster care were compared to youth with no history of foster care on seven oral health indicators. They also were asked whether or not they had experienced five types of dental problems in the past 12 months:

• Toothaches or pain
• Decayed teeth or cavities
• Swollen, painful, or bleeding gums
• Inability to eat certain foods because of a dental problem
• Missing one of more school days because of a dental problem

Youth who reported a dental problem then were asked if the issue was treated by a dentist and when they last had an appointment at a dental office for a checkup, exam, teeth cleaning, or other dental work. They also were asked about routine dental care, including checkups, exams, cleanings, or other dental work.

“To our knowledge, this study is the first in the United States to survey youth with a history of foster care about their oral healthcare needs using their own words,” said coauthor Elise W. Sarvas, DDS, MSD, MPH, associate professor in pediatric dentistry at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.

“We found that compared to their peers, youth with a history of foster care have self-identified dental needs, including issues with pain, and they have less access to a dentist to address these needs,” said Sarvas.

Specifically, the study also found that:

• Youth with a history of foster care were more likely to report each of the five dental problems and less likely to report receiving dental care, compared to their peers with no history of foster care.
• Approximately 44% of youth with a history of foster care reported at least one dental problem, compared to 32.2% of youth with no experience of foster care.
• Youth with a history of foster care had lower odds of seeing a dentist for a dental problem, 58.2% versus 71.2%, or for routine dental care, 69.6% versus 84.4%, than their peers with no history of foster care.

“There are likely a number of reasons why youth with a history of foster care have more dental problems relative to their peers,” said coauthor Rebecca J. Shlafer, PhD, MPH, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

“Compared to their peers, foster youth in this sample were more likely to report living in households experiencing poverty. Dentists should recognize the oral health concerns of this group of kids in the context of their special healthcare needs and be prepared to render appropriate care,” said Shlafer.

According to estimates from the US Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, there were 673,000 children in or entering foster care in the United States in 2019.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services reports that approximately 15,300 children experienced foster care in the state in 2019. Minnesotan children of color were overrepresented compared to the general population, with Native American children 18 times more likely and Black children three times more likely to experience foster care than White children.

The study, “Oral Health Needs Among Youth with a History of Foster Care: A Population-Based Study,” was published by JADA.

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The community practice at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) has expanded with extended hours and a modified practice model to serve the dental needs of local residents in Upper Manhattan.

The community practice launched with pediatric services in November 2020 and has since grown to encompass general dentistry, periodontics, and restorative services. It operates several evenings a week and two Saturdays a month in CDM’s existing clinical spaces.

“The demand from the community has been pretty strong, especially for our Saturday clinic days,” said Aaron Myers, DDS, clinic director of pediatric dentistry and assistant professor of dental medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

“There was already a great need for oral healthcare in the pediatric population. We book our appointments months in advance, and there’s always a waitlist. There are lots of kids out there that need care,” Myers said.

The need holds for adult care too, Myers said, adding that with fewer appointments now available during standard hours because of COVID-19 safety measures, the community practice is an important opportunity to increase access to care.

Though the practice is an extension of CDM’s teaching clinics, the school said, the provider model is different. Residents provide care under faculty supervision, but in ratios of one or two residents per faculty rather than the five or six assigned in traditional teaching clinics.

Also, in some cases, faculty members treat patients directly. The cost to patients is kept low, CDM said, aligning with typical postgraduate teaching clinic fees, with the same insurance plans accepted.

Other benefits for patients include a faster pace of care than regular teaching clinics offer because fewer approvals and less supervision are needed with its more experienced providers, said Fredelyne Paris, senior practice manager for teaching clinics.

Also, the reception is staffed by a consistent group of people, which lends itself to rapport-building between patients and staff, Paris said.

Twelve residents and 10 faculty across three specialties provide care at the community practice, which expects to add other services like prosthodontics and orthodontics. For the residents and faculty, CDM added, the additional clinic time in small ratios is valuable.

“We’re really enriching their educational experience,” said Paris.

“It’s been great to get back to actually seeing patients directly,” said Myers. “It’s also nice to have those small interactions with the residents.”

“We work with a great team of people. Everyone is very passionate and very happy to support this practice. I’m happy we were able to pull this off, serve the public and the community and motivate our staff to come in and see the need,” said Paris. “It’s amazing.”

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Dr. Mark E. Hyman, a dentist in private practice and key opinion leader for Philips Oral Healthcare, discusses how clinicians can better educate their patients about taking care of their own oral health between dental visits, as well as the role of power toothbrushes like the Philips SonicCare line in providing professional-level cleaning at home.