NYU College of Dentistry's Department of Pediatric Dentistry has received a nearly $2 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to train dentists and other health professionals to provide oral health care to people with disabilities and complex medical conditions. This is the fourth HRSA grant awarded to the Department of Pediatric Dentistry since 2015.   Read more.

The University of Rochester /Eastman Institute for Oral Health went from the ninth to the seventh top funded institution by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of National Institutes of Health. The ranking is especially significant because the University of Rochester's dentistry and oral biology research arm--through Eastman Institute for Oral Health--is much smaller compared to the other high-ranking institutions.  Read more.

Compelled by health care workers' pleas for personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a small, interprofessional group of students at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center sprang into action. Through their "Mask on, March on!" campaign, the students raised nearly $12,000 and succeeded in navigating fraudulent suppliers, federal regulations, international transactions, and luggage-laden subway trips to purchase and deliver more than 11,000 pieces of PPE to hospitals around New York City.   Read more.

A team of University at Buffalo dental students are using 3D printers to supply UB and Western New York dentists with much-needed protective equipment as local practices return to providing oral health care. The students, working under the guidance of Praveen Arany, assistant professor of oral biology in the UB School of Dental Medicine, are creating free face shields and comfort bands - a strip of material worn with masks to relieve pain and stress on ears.   Read more.

This past week, 20 remaining members of TCDM's Class of 2020 completed their CDCA (The Commission on Dental Competency Assessments) licensing exams which were postponed after clinical care was canceled in March due to COVID-19. TCDM had started administering a series of CDCA licensing exams for its inaugural class in February and early March when the news broke that non-emergent dental care could no longer be provided.  Read more.

For graduates everywhere, the COVID 19 pandemic cancelled important events and formal ceremonies. No parties, no food, no hugs. Instead, smiles are hidden, while co-workers cautiously step in for an awkward elbow bump. Prostho GraduationBut the pandemic could not rob the Eastman Institute for Oral Health graduates of marking their significant accomplishments. So, in addition to a virtual graduation ceremony, many EIOH residency programs held their own, socially distant, CDC-compliant, and rather creative celebrations. Read more.

Touro Dental Health, the 109-chair dental teaching practice located at the Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM), safely reopened for patient care on Thursday, June 18th after being closed for non-essential dental visits due to the COVID-19 outbreak. During that time, the clinical facility, in accordance with Governor Cuomo's guidelines, remained open to its patients of record for emergency visits. Touro Dental Health also launched a teledentistry service to further provide its patients with a safe and immediate option for those with urgent dental needs.   Read more.

Delta opioid receptors have a built-in mechanism for pain relief and can be precisely targeted with drug-delivering nanoparticles-making them a promising target for treating chronic inflammatory pain with fewer side effects, according to a new study from an international team of researchers. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was conducted using cells from humans and mice with inflammatory bowel disease, which can cause chronic pain.   Read more.

Habib Benzian, DDS, MScDPH, PhD, research professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion at NYU College of Dentistry, is a recipient of the Aubrey Sheiham Award for Distinguished Research in Dental Public Health Sciences from the International Association for Dental Research. The award recognizes an outstanding research paper published during 2019 in the field of dental public health.   Read more.