College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

Dean's Message

September is Suicide Prevention Month. As healthcare professionals, it is important for us to be active in breaking the stigma that often surrounds suicide and mental health. To do so requires us to be part of candid conversations about health care provider wellness, including increasing suicide awareness and prevention. I am proud that several of our alumni and their families have been leading voices in this conversation. It makes a difference! The reality is that dental school and the dental profession, and all health care professions, create intense and stressful experiences, which can undermine wellness for those caring for our health care needs. That's why Iowa has made it a priority to have an embedded fulltime counselor to support student and provider health and wellness, so that we can reduce factors that lead to stress and help us all learn healthy coping skills. This is all part of a larger focus on improving health care provider wellness in our dental context. We know that this work helps our students as they enter into the dental work force. ~Clark Stanford

Updates for September 29, 2023–October 5, 2023

Bob Williams receiving a 2023 Alumni Award

Bob Williams ('73 DDS) Receives College’s Highest Alumni Award

Bob Williams (73 DDS), a longtime supporter and advocate for Iowa Dentistry, was named 2023 Alumnus of the Year, an honor he says he is humbled to receive.

Business Leadership certificate students for dental and pharmacy students

Inaugural graduating class of dental students in the Health Care Business Leadership program

In collaboration with the College of Pharmacy and Tippie College of Business, Iowa Dentistry graduated its first class of Health Care Business Leadership students.

Iowa endodontist appointed to accreditation board

Fabricio Teixeira, chair and professor of endodontics, was appointed as a commissioner for the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) representing the American Association of Endodontists. Teixeira's four-year term will begin in October 2024, with twice a year meetings in addition to other responsibilities. CODA is responsible for establishing educational standards for all the dental programs, including dentistry, dental hygiene, dental assisting, dental laboratory technology, dental therapy, and all the advanced dental educational programs, including endodontics. It is also responsible for site visits and for determination of accreditation status.

Faculty Retreat!

Earlier in September, Iowa Dentistry held its annual faculty retreat. The retreat featured select faculty presenters, a brainstorming session, and more! Here is a picture during a break overlooking Kinnick Stadium.

Always a Hawkeye: Jarod Johnson ('13 DDS) shares experience, advice on managing anxiety and depression

Anxiety and depression are common human experiences, and dentists are no exception. Last year, alumnus Jarod Johnson ('13 DDS) shared about his experiences with anxiety and depression and offered some advice that has been helpful for him in managing his anxiety and depression. Sharing one's mental health struggles is an important step in normalizing paying attention to and getting treatment for mental health struggles. Jarod Johnson models that well for the dental profession. Thank you!

Iowa Dentistry Embedded Counselor

Cari Anderson is the director of Dental Counseling and Wellness Support Services for the College of Dentistry. Anderson’s office is embedded full time within the college and for the past seven years, she has held various roles to enhance the overall wellbeing of DDS students and residents as well as assist them in achieving both personal and professional success. To learn more about those services, check out the website above.

Sign up to volunteer at IMOM!

The Iowa Mission of Mercy IMOM provides free dental care to underserved populations. Since 2008, it is has served over 16,000 patients from all over the state. Iowa Dentistry has played an influential role in supporting IMOM, especially on Saturday. The 2023 IMOM is being held in Waterloo on October 13-14. You can sign up to be a volunteer today.

Exciting CE Opportunities!

Our 2023 Fall Continuing Education lineup offers exciting opportunities across a wide variety of courses in various specialties from our world-class experts in the field. We want to highlight two upcoming opportunities:

Check out our Saturday Pregame Courses: Michigan State; Homecoming v. Purdue; Minnesota; Rutgers; Illinois; and when you sign up, you can purchase 2 football tickets to the game!
Our Nowak (Pediatric Dentistry) Professorship CE course is on October 20, and it will be an exciting opportunity to hear about a variety of health care specialties in collaboration with UIHC that intersect with pediatric oral health care.

Collaborative and Innovative Research

Tassabehji NM, Leach ER, Duffy RL, Bay C, Hill BJ, Shaw HK, Stephens NS, Howe BJ, Kowolik JE. Exploring dental faculty perceptions of current strategies and barriers to retention. J Dent Educ. 2023 Sep 27. doi: 10.1002/jdd.13384. PMID: 37759373.

Faculty hiring and retention is vital for the long-term health of dental education. This study investigated strategies for and barriers to faculty retention at eight different dental schools (including Iowa) accounting for differences related to age, gender, and race. The study asked faculty members from all eight dental schools to answer 18 18 questions, including demographic information and faculty perceptions of their respective workplaces. The questions were informed by the best practices listed in the American Dental Education Association Faculty Diversity Toolkit. Approximately 20% of faculty retention responded, and the researchers found that the top four barriers to retention were: inadequate financial compensation, workload, poor work environment, and burnout. The researchers also found a significant difference between racial groups regarding perceived support for promotion, which was more acute for clinical faculty than for tenure-track faculty. These findings suggest that improving financial compensation, adequate workload support, and transparency of the promotion process, along with efforts to improve the work environment are key tools for retaining dental faculty.

Faculty and students who completed the Green Bandana Suicide Prevention Project

Hawkeye history: The Jenifer Wolfe Memorial Fund

In 2021 for Suicide Prevention Month, Iowa Dentistry worked with Jen Wolfe's ('01 DDS, '05 PEDS) family to created an endowed fund to sponsor suicide prevention and awareness activities for health care professionals and students while also providing support for suicide loss survivors. The memorial fund was established in honor of Jen Wolfe ('01 DDS) of Altoona who died by suicide on June 20, 2020. Thank you to Dr. Wolfe's family and to those who contributed to this fund.

This month, Iowa Dentistry trained a group of students and a group of faculty/staff as part of the Green Bandana Suicide Prevention Project using the #Bethe1to curriculum. The Dental Counseling and Wellness Support office has now trained over 110 staff, faculty and students. These events and others like them were sponsored by the endowed Jenifer Wolfe Memorial Fund. It matters!

Events

September 30, Pregame Professional Program: "Salivary Gland Tumors: Diagnosis and Management" by Dr. Sherry Timmons; "Dental Manifestations of Systemic Disease" by Drs. Kari Maas and Mary Kay Hill, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

October 5, Prospective DDS Student Interview Day

October 6, Dental Alumni Reception in Orlando, Florida (in conjunction with the ADA Annual Meeting)

October 6, Iowa Dental Association social at the Coralville Vine, 5:30 p.m. 7 p.m.

October 7-8, D4 ADEX Board Exams, Family Dentistry Clinic, 6:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

October 7, Pregame Professional Program: "CBCT: Endodontic Applications and Interesting Cases" by Dr. Juan Pablo Castro Cuelllar; "Endodontic Irrigation: Principles and Application" by Dr. Chris Hogden, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

October 10, Research Seminar, Ana Fugolin, School of Dentistry, Oregon Health & Science University, “Designing the Future: Exploring the Potential of Stimuli-Responsive Dental Biomaterials," hosted by Ariene Leme Kraus and Cristina Vidal, Galagan B, 12:00–1:00 p.m.

October 13-14, IMOM, Waterloo Convention Center, Sullivan Brothers Plaza, 200 W Fourth Street, Waterloo, IA.

October 20, Nowak Professorship: Pediatric Dentistry Course, 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

October 20, Prospective DDS Student Interview Day

October 21, Pregame Professional Program: "Oral Pathology Patients that Taught Me the Most" by Dr. Steve Vincent; "Infection Control: What's Trending Now" by Dr. Carrie McKnight, 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

November 3, Prospective DDS Student Interview Day

November 9, Prospective DDS Student Interview Day

November 14, Research Seminar, Jamie Nichols, School of Dental Medicine, University of Colorado–AMC, "Buffering craniofacial variation," hosted by Eric Van Otterloo, Galagan B, 12:00–1:00 p.m.

November 15, Virtual Prospective DDS Student Interview Day

November 30, Research Seminar, Ronald Strauss, Adams School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina, "Blessings in Disguise: Finding Wisdom from Facial Difference", hosted by Steve Levy, Galagan B, 12:00–1:00 p.m.

Notes and Resources

Filling Station Menu

Hours: M-R: 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.; F: 7:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

The Hawkeye Smile banner image shows Dean Clark Stanford with Jin Xie, associate dean for research, with Herky along with several others during the Iowa Section of the AADOCR in 2022.