About $53 million was paid to U.S. dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeons for being speakers, gifts, and more by companies, but more than half was paid out by five firms. The analysis was published on August 16 in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Swiss dental implant maker Straumann was one of five companies that spent the most on industry payments. Furthermore, in terms of total dollars, companies spent the greatest share for acting as a speaker, consulting fees, and research, the authors wrote.
“These findings offer insight into the evolving financial landscape of OMS and may inform discussions around transparency and potential conflicts of interest,” wrote the authors, led by Dr. Cameron Lee of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in Baltimore.
Throughout the U.S. healthcare system, it is common for financial relationships, which can range from meals and travel and lodging to research support, to exist between providers and companies. Unfortunately, these collaborations can raise possible conflicts of interest, especially when these relationships aren’t transparent.
To create more transparency, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires all payments made by companies to providers, was enacted in 2010. The Open Payments database, maintained by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, serves as a central repository for these disclosures and to assess how much industry influences healthcare, according to the study.
To investigate trends in industry payments to oral and maxillofacial surgeons (OMS), this retrospective cohort study used Open Payments data from 2017 to 2024. Payments made to dentists or physicians with a specialty designation of oral and maxillofacial surgery were included in the study.
Between 2017 and 2024, 195,210 payments were made by 549 companies to 9,512 clinicians. Total payments amounted to $53,468,546 with a mean payment of $273 ± 4,708, the authors wrote.
Of the payments, Straumann spent the most at $9.7 million. These companies followed as the top four highest paying companies: dental implant maker Nobel Biocare at $6.2 million, dental implant manufacturer BioHorizons at $4.8 million, medical technology firm KLS-Martin at $4.4 million, and medical device and equipment manufacturer Stryker at $3.5 million.
In terms of total dollars from all companies, the greatest share of compensation was $9.5 million (17.1%) for acting as faculty or speaker, $9.2 million (16.6%) for consulting fees, and $5.9 million (14.2%) for research. Of all payments, 122,727, totaling about $28 million, were made in relation to products that were medical devices, they wrote.
Nevertheless, the study had limitations, including that the Open Payments database relies on industry self-reporting data. Therefore, it may be subject to underreporting, bias, or errors, the authors wrote.
“These findings highlight the evolving nature of industry collaboration in OMS and reinforce the importance of continued transparency in the advancement of surgical care,” Lee and colleagues wrote.
