College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

Dean's Message

Our 2022 All-College Conference is on Monday, August 15, and it marks the start of our new academic year at the college. I am excited to share with you the accomplishments—particularly of our faculty recognized for their excellence as educators, introduce new faculty and staff members, and celebrate the years of service for our faculty and staff. All of us collectively make this institution what it is. I'm proud to be serving as your dean and look forward to an exciting academic year. Cheers! ~Clark Stanford

Updates for August 12, 2022–August 18, 2022

NIH R01 grant awarded to orthodontics faculty

The National Institutes of Health recently announced a $3.2M R01 grant awarded to Dr. Kyungsup Shin and his research team to develop a new approach to reconstruction of orofacial clefts using personalized biomimetic scaffolds. This project is one component of a larger project developing more effective treatments for children born with cleft lip and palate.

Dentistry faculty receives industry-sponsored grant to improve ceramic veneers outcomes

The Japanese company, Kuraray, awarded Akimasa Tsujimoto a grant to investigate whether their newly developed light-cure resin luting cement will effectively reduce wear and prevent gap formations between ceramic veneers and teeth. This project shows the value of industry-academic partnerships to meet industry needs and improve clinical practices.

Project evaluating photography in shade matching receives clinical research grant

The college’s Clinical/Dental Education Research Initiative Support Program (CRISP) supported John Syrbu’s project on the impact of digital photography on laboratory-fabricated dental restorations to support the college’s clinical research mission. This project will be the first quantitative measure of the influence of digital photography in shade matching and lays the foundation for establishing clinical guidelines for practice.

Daphne Hoefler, Grant Kosharek, Hunter Duncan, and Josh Strohman in the admissions clinic.

Second-year dental students help urgent care patients over the summer

Thanks to second-year dental students Daphne Hoefler, Grant Kosharek, Hunter Duncan, and Josh Strohman, who helped see dental emergency patients throughout June and July. Your work helps our community and College of Dentistry urgent care patients.

Each student applied for and accepted a job position in Admissions Clinics and worked throughout the summer. Each day, they showed dedication and enthusiasm. As Paul Mazzocco, visiting assistant professor in the admissions clinic, put it: “This summer I had the chance to work with four D2 students in the Admissions clinic. I was impressed with how capable they were with such little dental experience. I appreciated their willingness to learn, treat patients and help each other. Daphne, Hunter, Grant and Josh, I wish you the best.”

Bethany Doolittle selected for IDF scholarship

The Iowa Dental Foundation (IDF) awarded seven scholarships this year, including five scholarships to our dental students and two scholarships to dental hygiene students. IDF put the spotlight on dental student recipient Bethany Doolittle this week.

"My name is Bethany Doolittle and I am looking forward to starting my fourth year as a dental student at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. I am originally from Oakdale, Minnesota but have spent a lot of time in Iowa since beginning college here in 2011. Since then, I have been able to experience life here in Iowa City as a student-athlete, realize my dream of competing as a professional athlete overseas, graduate with a master’s degree in Illinois, and return to Iowa to pursue a DDS degree."

Through being involved in various organizations at the College of Dentistry, I have gained experience and skills that I hope will prove useful as I move forward in my career after graduation. I am so appreciative for receiving this scholarship because it will help allow me to continue developing these skills as a student and future clinician while offsetting some of the dental school tuition cost."

The College of Dentistry welcomes Sara Stone

Sara Stone is a new Support Services Specialist who will be working in Family Dentistry. Sara and her family relocated to Mount Vernon from Algona for her husband’s career. They stay very busy with two teenage boys. When they are not shuffling around to games and concerts, Sara and her husband enjoy travelling as much as life allows, even if it is down the river in a kayak for the day. Sara is an Army brat who grew up in Germany. She graduated from the University of Iowa and is very excited to be back in this area!

Collaborative and innovative research

Chen X, Caplan DJ, Comnick CL, Hartshorn J, Shuman SK, Xie XJ. Development and validation of a nursing home mortality index to identify nursing home residents nearing the end of life in dental clinics. Spec Care Dentist. 2022 Jul 29. doi: 10.1111/scd.12758. PMID: 35904402.

The research team found that a large proportion (between 21%-26%) of nursing home dental patients died within one year of their initial dental exam. This high mortality rate suggests that the standard of care for such nursing home patients should be palliative in character, focusing on alleviating pain and stopping oral infection, thereby providing comfort and improved quality of life for patients nearing the end of their life. Among these patients nearing the end of their lives, however, many received long-term restorative work with composites, aggressive surgeries with extractions, had new dentures made, and so forth all in the last few months of their lives. To address this problem, the research team developed a Nursing Home Mortality Index to guide dental care providers as they make determinations about which procedures are warranted and helpful for nursing home patients.

Iowa Trailblazers: William "Bill" H. Olin, Sr.

William "Bill" H. Olin, Sr. ('48 MS and ORTHO) began his academic career at Iowa in 1948 as an assistant professor. That same year, he also founded the Division of Cranofacial Anomalies, which was a collaborative group of doctors, dentists, surgeons, and speech and language pathologists working together to revolutionize the treatment of craniofacial anomalies such as cleft lip and palate. He was internationally recognized for this work, and he continuing working for the cause philanthropically after his retirement in 1992. Olin passed away in 2017, but his work lives on. He blazed a trail at Iowa for research in craniofacial, oral biology, genetics, and dental development, which has become one of Iowa's stronger research areas as evidenced by Kyungsup Shin's R01 grant above!

Events

August 15, All-College Conference

August 26, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

September 8, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

September 9, CE Course: Olin Family Visiting Lectureship, Peter Nordland, Utilization of Periodontal Plastic Surgery to Assist in the Esthetic Outcome.

September 10, Pregame Professional Program, Iowa v. Iowa State.

September 15, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

September 16, Fall Meeting for the Dental Student Research Group, Galagans A, 12:00 p.m.

September 16, Alumni Reunion Weekend Reunion and CE-Classes Ending in 2s and 7s (details forthcoming)

September 17, Pregame Professional Program, Iowa v. Nevada (University Family Weekend)

September 17, Alumni Weekend Tailgate, Iowa v. Nevada

September 23, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

September 30, CE Course: Elevating Patient-Centered Restorative Care: Integrating Technology and Biology to Optimize Outcomes

October 1, Pregame Professional Program (Michigan)

October 1, Alumni Tailgate, Iowa v Michigan

October 3, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

October 14, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

October 21, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

October 28, CE Course: Pediatric Dentistry Legends in the Fall

October 29, Pregame Professional Program (Northwestern/University Homecoming)

October 29, Alumni Tailgate, Iowa v. Northwestern (University Homecoming)

November 4-5, Iowa Mission of Mercy, Des Moines

November 11, Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

November 11, CE Course: A Full Day Endodontic Experience

November 12, Pregame Professional Program (Wisconsin)

November 16, Virtual Fall 2022 Interview Day for Prospective DDS Students

Notes and Resources

Lend a helping hand. Due to medical issues, Stacey Jones has exhausted her sick leave and vacation. If you would like to help Stacey by contributing vacation time, please go to the following website: CAT Leave, and click on “Catastrophic Leave Donation Form.”

Filling Station Menu

M-F: 7:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
NOTE: CLOSED Monday, August 15

The banner Hawkeye Smile image shows Melika Farshad, an associate in clinic administration and patient care, with Herky. You can learn more about one of her projects WeMigrate on the College of Dentistry website.