RSDM will provide screenings, oral healthcare education and dental sealants to about 1,000 underserved school children from Essex County, thanks to funding from the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. The foundation awarded RSDM a grant of $62,500, which will be used in part to pay for bus transportation from schools to the RSDM's clinic in Newark. The funding is part of Horizon's Kids' Oral Health Program, which supplies monies to school and community-based programs statewide.   LEARN MORE

Greg Ramirez remembers the day it dawned on him that patients looked to him for expert advice -- and he was ready to give it.

"My first big case was a patient who had severe periodontal disease. He needed a full mouth extraction and when I saw him on a subsequent visit, he was a little teary-eyed. He asked me if he did the right thing,'' recalls Ramirez, one of many dedicated RSDM students who are improving the lives of patients. "I was a new dentist and I thought, 'You're asking ME?' I told him his teeth were deteriorating quickly and there wasn't much else he could do, and he seemed reassured. I realized you need to be confident when you're dealing with patients because they rely on you.''