Transforming women's oral-systemic health through discovery, development, and delivery

Background: Oral-systemic etiologies solely or disproportionally affect women's health; however, little communication between and among disciplines occurs. Methods: To bridge this gap, an innovative conference, "Transforming Women's Health: Discovery, Development, and Delivery," was held in Tampa, Florida. The conference aimed to address complex oral-systemic women's health issues by bringing together researchers, providers, and policy experts in dentistry, medicine, nursing, public health, and allied health professions. The program was structured by three organizational themes: (a) discovery (i.e., oral-systemic research specific to women's health issues); (b) development (i.e., translation of oral-systemic research to practice); and (c) delivery (i.e., collaborative practice). Results: Issues discussed during conference proceedings include oral-system health in children, pregnant women, and older women, and cardiovascular disease and human papillomavirus (HPV) as oral-systemic health issues. Team and system-based approaches to reducing disciplinary-specific research, developing cross-disciplinary strategies and methods for improving women's health, and the advantages of creating collaborative networks, as well as effective communication practices with patients, were addressed. Conclusion: Based on findings from this innovative conference, it is clear that creating a transdisciplinary paradigm of research and practice may be the most effective vehicle for addressing oral-systemic health issues.