Colgate: Bright Smiles, Bright Futures!

In this year’s series of partner interviews for the EFP newsletter, we are looking at how leadership in dentistry is going to play a vital and pivotal role in the years to come and how partners are ensuring that they are at the forefront of developing leadership that works.

In this interview we talk to Dr. Maria Ryan, Executive Vice-President and Chief Clinical Officer at Colgate - Palmolive.

Colgate-Palmolive is reimagining a healthier future for all people, their pets and our planet. As a global leader in oral care, and with their Colgate brand found in more homes than any other, the company is in a unique position to champion oral health and show leadership in doing so. 

“Our purpose is to reimagine a healthier future for all”, says Dr. Maria Ryan, adding that “oral disease has profound social consequences, impacting employment and overall well-being.”

Dr. Ryan is a periodontist herself and is passionate about how a company the size of Colgate is truly committed to their role as a leader in oral health.

“We work very hard to help people understand the connection between general health and oral health and how to adopt preventative strategies. The earlier people start the better.”

This has inspired the “Bright Smiles Bright Futures” initiative which has recently hit a significant milestone of reaching two billion children and their families globally, since its start in 1991.  Indeed, Colgate does a lot on the children's oral health front. 

In England, for example, the company is engaged in a multi-year public private partnership with the government to provide toothbrushes and toothpaste to 600,000 children yearly in “underserved communities”.

Also in the UK, Colgate has its Colgate-Palmolive Dental Health Unit at the University of Manchester. This collaboration provides - among other important research initiatives - methodologies and data championing behaviour change, helping people to incorporate oral health routines with other daily activities. 

Dr. Maria Ryan explains: “We apply behavioural science to show people how to use preventive strategies, adding the lens of evidence-based interventions and what is relevant and matters to them.”

Working with other organisations is in Colgate’s DNA. Beyond partnerships in the field, other collaborations help to inform and educate people outside of dentistry to understand, for example, how important oral health is to systemic health, the workforce and to the world’s economy.

“We support the 100 million mouth programme”, enthuses Dr. Maria Ryan, “working with Harvard University to educate physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers, bringing oral health into the medical curriculum.”

She expands on this: “It is essential to keep the medical profession informed of the dental research in order to guide their patients towards understanding the potential impact of periodontal diseases to their overall health.”

The need to educate is central to Dr. Ryan’s mission and it involves many stakeholders; from governments to journalists, clinicians and the public at large.

Dr. Maria Ryan wants to fly the profession’s flag. “Many people don’t know what periodontists do, and it is important to share that information, hence our focus and initiatives to partner with organisations like the EFP and AAP. Our approach has always been to have strong collaborations built on trust and the complementary strengths of industry, academia and dental practice.  This really does drive meaningful progress.”

Examples are the EFP Perio and Caries and Behaviour Change projects where the gap between scientific discovery and clinical practice is closed by supporting the creation and dissemination of evidence-based guidance to various audiences including oral healthcare teams, non-dental health professionals, researchers, policy makers and of course the public. Part of any strong leadership is mentoring the next generation and Colgate makes a huge effort here too.

There are really far too many initiatives to put into this short article but here are just two examples of what Colgate is doing.

“The TORCH (Trailblazers in Oral Health Research) Fellowship  provides a $70,000 award to promote inclusion in research and we hold “Meet a Mentor” sessions at IADR where we facilitate direct connections between new investigators and experienced leaders in the field”, explains Dr. Ryan.

What of the future? How optimistic is Dr. Maria Ryan that the message will continue to get through and that the importance of good oral health is vital for systemic health?  How can leadership make that future brighter?

“I am very optimistic”, laughs Dr. Ryan, “although it is not always easy’. Prioritising Oral Health is possible in important forums where we can lead actions to inform policy globally as we have done when creating the World Economic Forum’s first Oral Health Affinity Group within the Health for All Network.

There is no room for a silo mentality she says: “Research followed by technology transfer and scientific communications are key, and you can’t do that alone, which is why we’ll continue to work with premier professional organizations like the EFP and other trusted partners to ensure that oral health isn’t left out of the global health agenda”.

With oral disease affecting 3.7 billion people worldwide, and with Colgate being in six out of every 10 homes, the company is in an ideal position to be at the forefront of leading oral health initiatives globally so that all people can have a future that they can smile about.

“Leadership and collaboration foster the WIN for everyone!”