Levi-Richman Integration Initiative to Champion Periodontal Health as the Oral-Systemic Link

$2.5 million program designed to improve oral and systemic health and encourage referrals for periodontal care through research, education, and advocacy

The American Academy of Periodontology Foundation is launching an ambitious initiative to grow understanding of the relationship between oral and systemic health. The program will sponsor new research, disseminate knowledge with education programs for dentists, physicians, and allied health professionals, and enable advocacy to raise awareness of periodontal/peri-implant diseases, the importance of treating them, and the specialists who can help. Named for its founding donors, Patty and Dr. Paul Levi and Dr. Colin Richman, the Levi-Richman Integration Initiative will leverage $2.5 million in existing and new investments to champion periodontal health as the oral-systemic link.

Programs of the Initiative will include

• An ambitious new program of research grants focused on interdisciplinary research into the oral-systemic link
• Existing Richman Family Foundation Perio-Ortho Interface Grants, which began in 2021 through a transformative gift from Dr. Richman
• Expanded Patty and Paul Levi Research Awards, which began recognizing prevention-related research conducted by predoctoral dental students in 2016, funded by gifts from the Levis and more than 100 other donors, and now will include a second award for postdoctoral periodontal residents
• Education programs for dentists, physicians, and all allied healthcare professionals
• Funding for relevant programs at the American Academy of Periodontology, including the upcoming Best Evidence Consensus on the prevention of peri-implant diseases
• Collaborations with Europe’s leading charity dedicated to periodontology, the Sepa Foundation, including:
  • A biannual online global symposium on prevention, beginning in 2027
  • International expansion of the AAP Foundation’s PerioDash 5K run/walk
  • A series of educational webinars for dentists and physicians in conjunction with events such as World No Tobacco Day and World Diabetes Day

This Initiative marks a visionary new chapter for the AAP Foundation, which in 2025 celebrated surpassing $10 million in cumulative grants, scholarships, and fellowships awarded over 35 years including support to programs of the American Academy of Periodontology and American Board of Periodontology. “The AAP Foundation is proud to continue its long history of support to academic periodontology,” said its president, Dr. Christopher R. Richardson, “while now complementing that core competency with this ambitious new Initiative aimed at directly supporting clinicians in private practice and improving both periodontal and systemic health.”

Funding for the Initiative comes from nearly $2 million in contributions, including Dr. Richman’s transformative $1 million pledge from 2020, a portion of which will now support other components of the Initiative. In addition to more than $250,000 previously contributed by the Levis and other donors for the Levi Research Award, Patty and Paul have committed additional funding in new and previously unannounced gifts and an estate commitment to support other components of the Initiative. Their gift also enables a $200,000 grant to the Sepa Foundation, the charitable arm of the Spanish Society of Periodontology. The AAP Foundation has committed to continuing this Initiative for five years and is actively seeking another $500,000 to extend it further.

“My family and I are proud to support this ambitious new project,” said Dr. Richman, “and to expand understanding of the bi-directional relationship between oral and systemic health. Our existing Perio-Ortho Interface Grants have already sought to strengthen collaboration between periodontists and orthodontists, which has been a major area of  focus over my career. Now, with this new effort, we extend that same spirit of integration to our systemic health colleagues and embrace another topic about which I am passionate: the oral-systemic link.”

“Our goal here is to ‘put the mouth back in the body,’” added Dr. Levi, quoting the late Dr. Bruce Donoff, a dentist and physician who served as dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine for 28 years. “Evidence has been mounting for years of the strong correlation between periodontal diseases and systemic conditions such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. More recently, new research has demonstrated relationships between oral health and an ever-growing list of conditions, from Alzheimer’s to erectile dysfunction. Although these relationships are understood among periodontists, they remain largely unfamiliar to the general public and physicians, including cardiologists, pulmonologists, and endocrinologists, whose patients could be in critical need of periodontal care.”

“Periodontal and peri-implant disease and the dysbiosis and inflammation associated with these diseases have been linked to the development and progression of many systemic diseases,” said Dr. Mia Geisinger, Immediate Past-President of the American Academy of Periodontology, who will chair the Levi-Richman Integration Initiative’s Advisory Committee. “While these associations do not necessarily prove causation, the currently understood correlations indicate that patients suffering from such systemic conditions are at increased risk of periodontal disease and should be evaluated for periodontal treatment, particularly if they demonstrate one or more warning signs of periodontal disease. Enhanced medical-dental integration, including the more universal adoption of electronic health records may allow for better assessments of the bidirectional impacts of periodontal disease and systemic disease. Future longitudinal studies and epidemiological research may allow us to further elucidate best practices to enhance diagnostic and treatment outcomes. The Levi-Richman initiative will both fund research assessing causal links between periodontal and systemic disease and help to propagate its findings through education and advocacy.”

One such advocacy program is PerioDash, the AAP Foundation’s annual 5K run/walk to raise awareness of periodontal diseases, the importance of treating them, and the dedicated specialists who can help. Now a part of the Levi-Richman Integration Initiative, PerioDash will expand to Europe through partnership with the Sepa Foundation. Supported by funding from the Initiative, Sepa will also produce educational programs open to oral and systemic health professionals worldwide, in collaboration with the AAP Foundation and other groups. These programs will begin in 2026 with a series of webinars held in conjunction with international health awareness events such as World No Tobacco Day (May 31) and World Diabetes Day (November 14). The programs will have both global and local components, enabling periodontists to reach out to physicians in their local communities to expand understanding of the oral-systemic link and build their referral networks.

Funds from the Levi-Richman Integration Initiative may also be used to support programs related to prevention and the oral-systemic link at the American Academy of Periodontology, American Board of Periodontology, and other partner organizations. The first example is partial funding of the AAP’s upcoming Best Evidence Consensus on the Prevention of Peri-Implant Diseases, to be held in May of this year. The workshop has a goal of developing clinically relevant strategies to prevent the onset, progression, and recurrence of peri-implant diseases.

About the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation

Founded in 1990, the American Academy of Periodontology Foundation serves to advance the specialty of periodontology and dental implant surgery through advocacy, research, and education. It is the premier philanthropic entity ensuring the viability and sustainability of the specialty of periodontics and dental implant surgery. More than 350 dental students, periodontal residents, faculty members, and practicing clinicians have received educational and research awards from the AAP Foundation over its 35 years, totaling more than $10 million in total funding. Those grants were made possible by funding from more than 150 corporate and organizational donors and nearly 5,000 periodontists and other individuals.

About Colin Richman

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Richman attended school in South Africa and England before receiving his periodontal certificate from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Richman is a leading periodontist in Georgia. He has extensive training and experience in periodontology and has presented more than 350 lectures in the U.S. and abroad. He is a former assistant professor at the Emory University School of Dentistry and a former clinical instructor at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Richman serves as a faculty member at the Georgia Health Sciences University.

About Patty and Paul Levi

Patty Levi has supported Paul for nearly sixty years in his endeavor to teach and practice periodontology. Patty supported Paul during his post-doctoral periodontal program at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM). He entered private practice in Burlington, Vermont and taught at the University of Vermont Dental Hygiene School for 27 years. He eventually began commuting to Boston to teach part-time at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) and at TUSDM. Today he is faculty at Harvard teaching 4-5 days a week. Patty and Paul share a deep commitment to prevention as a lifestyle and philosophy, which they have passed on to their children and grandchildren. They enjoy traveling internationally and became acquainted with the Spanish periodontal community when Paul taught in Barcelona for an academic year.