Dental Education News: December 2020
Highlights
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine Researchers’ Paper Describes How Saliva is Made

In the TV series, “How It’s Made,” viewers often discover that common objects like pencils or rubber bands are quite complicated to make. The show walks people through complex production processes that lie behind familiar items. A new paper in the journal Cell Reports does the same for saliva. The study, published on Nov. 17, breaks down, in detail, where the multitude of proteins floating in our saliva originate. Read more.
NYU College of Dentistry: New Practice Brings High-Quality, Affordable, Comprehensive Dental Care to Residents of Brooklyn and Surrounding Area and Introduces Innovative Model of Dental Education

NYU College of Dentistry (NYU Dentistry) has opened a new dental care practice in Downtown Brooklyn’s City Point. The practice brings high-quality, low-cost dental care for adults and children to the Brooklyn community and its surrounding area and provides a unique training opportunity for advanced dental students at NYU. Read more.
Education & Training
Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College Leading Students to the Digital Forefront of the Field

Every educator has been facing the challenges of putting digital tools to work in the teaching environment. At the Touro College of Dental Medicine in Valhalla the challenge has been exponentially greater because dentistry itself has been making a fundamental transition to the digital world. The transition involves more than just replacing manual patient records and billing with computerized systems or installing digital X-ray devices. Read more.
NYU College of Dentistry Dental Hygiene Program now Offering Continuing Education Courses

The NYU Dental Hygiene Program Continuing Education courses focus on the professional success of dental hygienists and improving their patient care by providing accessible, innovative and quality education to diverse learners locally, nationally and globally in pursuit of lifelong learning, training, and career advancement. Read more.
Student News
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine: HDA Student Chapter Places Third in Orgullo Competition

The Hispanic Student Dental Association (HSDA) chapter at Columbia’s College of Dental Medicine has won third place in the 2020 Orgullo (“Pride”) Competition for its educational video providing oral hygiene guidance to kids. The Orgullo contest is held annually by the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) and Procter and Gamble and solicits entries from HSDA chapters across the United States. Read more.
Dental Patient Stories
Eastman Institute For Oral Health, University of Rochester: Severe Mouth Pain Leads Florida Resident to Rochester

A 24-year-old professional performer woke up one day with red and white patches on his tongue. And soon after he felt pain throughout his mouth. He was on stage in the middle of rehearsal when his lips and palate started burning so badly he had to leave early. “The pain was unbearable,” recalled Thomas, who prefers not to share his last name. At first he learned he had geographic tongue, a condition that causes a red and white map-like pattern to appear on the tongue, but the normal tiny bumps are missing. Days later, he started getting additional symptoms of Burning Mouth Syndrome. Read more.
Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College: Every Day is Veteran’s Day: TCDM Hosts Month-Long Smiles for Veterans Event

There are very specific guidelines for veterans when it comes to receiving dental benefits though the government, leaving many former military personnel including Robert Brown, 62, (right) with no option but to pay out of pocket. Upon learning about this years’ Smiles for Veterans event at Touro Dental Health, the 115-chair clinical training facility at the Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM), Robert promptly called to make an appointment, sharing that the opportunity to receive quality care for free “means everything” to him. Read more.
Faculty and Awards
NYU College of Dentistry Awarded NIH Grant to Alter Gut Microbiome to Improve Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Drs. Deepak Saxena and Xin Li have received a new Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program grant from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. The funding will support their work to create and test probiotics that alter the gut microbiome to see if they can enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy in treating pancreatic cancer. Read more.
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine: Stefan Ruhl Elected AAAS Fellow

Four University at Buffalo professors have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. The honor is bestowed on AAAS members by their peers for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science applications. The UB faculty members were among 489 members to receive the prestigious distinction this year. Read more.