Research and Charitable Grant Programs
AO/OF Research Grant
Dental professionals pursuing groundbreaking dental implant research may be eligible for as much as $30,000 in research grants. Applications that address areas of research to enhance the public acceptance of implants are encouraged. To qualify, research grant proposals must be submitted by an AO member, faculty member or student who conducts research in any academic dental institution (at least one person on the research team must be an AO member).
First-place grants of up to $30,000 each will be awarded to research teams in the categories of:
Basic Science – research to advance implant knowledge that does not include human subjects
Applied Science – research to advance clinical dentistry that does include human subject(s)
First-place grant recipients are required to present their results at the AO Annual Meeting, as well as to submit a research manuscript to The International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants (JOMI).
Osseointegration Foundation Charitable Grant Program
The Osseointegration Foundation (OF) Charitable Grant Program provides financial assistance (up to $10,000) to improve the quality of life for those who have been diagnosed with a lifetime dental deficit or suffered from severe dental trauma and are unable to receive needed dental therapy due to economic restraints.
The OF Charitable Grant is only available to AO member dental professionals. Patients cannot apply for this grant.
Charitable grants will be determined based on three major requirements:
- Care providers
- Patients
- Corporate partners
The primary care provider in each grant application must be a member of the Academy of Osseointegration.
The funds provided will be used for the care and treatment of only the individual (i.e. patient) specified in the application. These funds should subsidize all or part of the care needed by the patient, and a commitment to complete therapy and including a 3-year follow-up is implied and required when the provider accepts the grant funding. The patient should not incur any financial obligations. All team members must agree to relieve the patient of any financial responsibilities.
Proposals will only be funded if the diagnosis and full treatment plan (including a restorative plan) for a particular patient is submitted for evaluation as part of the proposal. the identity of a patient is irrelevant to the evaluation of any proposal (see attached sample application), so anonymity can be assured.
Documentation, both pre- and post-operative, in the form of projection-quality slides and radiographs, is required for each grand-funded case. Patients may be asked to agree to be photographed or filmed for promotional activities by the Osseointegration Foundation. A patient release form will be required for this purpose.
Three years of follow-up to the Osseointegration Foundation is required. Follow-up should be submitted to the Osseointegration Foundation on an annual basis.
The patient must meet the eligibility requirements in each category:
- Physical disability ‒ there must be the presence of a disability that is amenable to implant therapy and for which implant treatment would significantly improve the patient’s dental deficit and quality of life
- Economic status ‒ documents providing evidence of the patient’s inability to receive needed implant therapy because of economic constraints must be presented. Economic hardship, however, is not the primary or sole criterion for awarding a grant
- Emotional well-being ‒ the benefits of psychological or emotional improvement from implant therapy will be considered in the award selection process
The design of this program requires involvement of the Osseointegration Foundation’s (OF) commercial partners service and/or hardware for the patients who become grant-funded. All materials should be donated by the specified company. Grant applicants must specify the particular products (including manufacturer names) at the time of grant application. Commercial entities should be contacted by the applicant to obtain donations for the required materials.
If the applicant does not have a specific company or contact to obtain these donations, the OF will provide a list of potential suppliers.
Both care providers and corporate partners may participate in this program for public relation purposes. Additionally, participants in the grant program, including care providers and corporate partners, will receive narrative recognition at all opportunities (i.e. at official Academy meetings), The International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants (JOMI) and the Osseointegration Foundation Report.
This grant does not restrict how or where these funds are to be allocated by the service provider, as long as the entire grant is spent directly on patient care and treatment in the domain of osseointegration. Under no circumstances will the patient receiving the care through this grant program be charged for any services rendered.
For any questions about the OF grant programs, please contact Kim Scroggs, Manager of Education, at kimscroggs@osseo.org or 847-725-2288.