Per Kjeldsen Mark Your Calendar... Continuing Dental Education Courses January 10, 2006 (Tuesday) Kenneth J. Ryan, DDS Memorial Seminar – The Christiansen Bottom Line The Power Center for the Performing Arts University of Michigan, Ann Arbor This course promises to be exciting, humorous, and educational with numerous “take home” ideas and suggestions you can use in your practice. It will be a fast- moving, pragmatic, clinical, and financial appraisal of many current popular concepts and controversies in dentistry, based on clinical observation and research. Using concise explanations, demonstrations, clips from new DVDs, and critiques of new techniques and concepts, Dr. Gordon Christiansen will provide the “BOTTOM LINE” on the confusing array of “advancements” in the profession. April 21, 2006 (Friday) Excellent Adventures with Children, the Team Approach Rackham Amphitheater University of Michigan, Ann Arbor This seminar will provide an informative and humorous experience for dentists, hygienists, dental assistants and front office staff who frequently answer questions about treatment. Since the dentist-patient relationship is established most effectively in a dental operatory, what you say and how you say it is just as important as what you do and how you do it. Using movie clips and videotapes, Dr. Marvin Berman, an internationally recognized Chicago- based pediatric dentist, will demonstrate a myriad of do’s and don’ts that build patient confidence. More information about these and other continuing dental education courses may be obtained by contacting the University of Michigan School of Dentistr y, O ffice of Continuing Dental Education at 1011 N. University Avenue, Room G508, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078 or by visiting the School of Dentistry Web site: www.dent.umich.edu. On the homepage, put your cursor on “alumni” and then click “continuing dental education.” Dental UM Fall 2005 Volume 21, Number 2 How Technology is Shaping Dental Education DentalUM magazine is published twice a year by the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Office of Alumni Relations and Continuing Dental Education. Mail letters and updates to: Jerry Mastey, Editor, School of Dentistry, Room 1205, 1011 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078. Or you may send your letters and updates via email to: jmastey@umich.edu. Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Polverini Director of External Relations and Continuing Dental Education . . . . . Richard Fetchiet Writer & Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jerry Mastey Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Jung Photography . . . . . . Per H. Kjeldsen, Keary Campbell Member publication of the American Association of Dental Editors The Regents of the University: David A. Brandon, Laurence B. Deitch, Olivia P. Maynard, Rebecca McGowan, Andrea Fischer Newman, Andrew C. Richner, S. Martin Taylor, Katherine E. White, Mary Sue Coleman, ex officio. University of Michigan School of Dentistry Alumni Society Board of Governors Terms Expire 2005: Joseph T. Barss ‘80, Chicago, IL Eli Berger, ‘57, ‘61, West Bloomfield, MI (Chair) William E. Brownscombe, ‘74, St. Clair Shores, MI Janet Cook, ‘81 DH, Whitmore Lake, MI Thomas C. Pink, ‘69, Jackson, MI Terms Expire 2006: Daniel L. Edwards, ‘97, Ann Arbor, MI Gerald L. Howe, ‘61, Monroe, MI Gary R. Hubbard, ‘78, Okemos, MI Michel S. Nasif, ‘72, Lansing, MI Janet Souder Wilson, ‘73 DH, Northville, MI Terms Expire 2007: Samuel Bander, ’81, Grand Rapids, MI Richard L. Pascoe, ’70, Traverse City, MI Susan Pritzel, ’67 DH, Ann Arbor, MI Terry Timm, ’71, Saline, MI Josephine Weeden, ’96, ’99, Saline, MI Student Representative: Casey Tenniswood (D3) Ex Officio Members: Peter Polverini, Dean Janet Souder Wilson, ‘73, DH, Northville, MI Alumni Association Liaison Steve C. Grafton , Executive Director, Alumni Assoc. Richard R. Fetchiet, Director of External Relations and Continuing Dental Education The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109-1432. (734) 763-0235, T.T.Y. (734) 747-1388. For other University of Michigan information, call (734) 764-1817. DentalUM Fall 2005 It’s interesting to think about how technology has profoundly altered our lives in recent years. Considered “esoteric” just 10 or 15 years ago, the Internet, laptop computers, cell phones, and e-mail are “necessities” to most of us today. Technology is playing a major role in shaping education at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. It’s influencing how students learn, how faculty members teach, and how members of our staff interact. This issue of DentalUM contains some fascinating stories that describe what we’re doing. One of the major changes that has taken place during the past year was inspired by one of our dental students, Jared Van Ittersum, and a staff member, Trek Glowacki. In a story that begins on page 10, you will learn more about how they worked with a group of dental students to solve a learning problem by using technology so dental students can listen to classroom lectures anywhere at any time. Their efforts caught the attention of one of the world’s major technology companies, Apple Computer, and resulted in a collaboration that has the potential to not only benefit our students, but our alumni as well (pages 6-7). Another story (pages 18-23), describes how a software program that benefits our students, faculty, staff, and patients has been introduced in a comprehensive care clinic and our orthodontics clinic. Digital imaging, now being used at our Michigan Center for Oral Health Research, could play a major role in how patient care is provided (pages 15-16). Other stories describing our use of technology focus on our unique Digital Learning Laboratory (pages 27-28), where faculty, students, and staff learn how they can use technology to enhance learning and education; digital video on demand (pages 29-30); and a continuing dental education course we are offering online in a novel way (pages 30-31). To make all of this happen requires the effort of our technical support staff (pages 24-26). I think Dr. Lynn Johnson, our director of Dental Informatics, put it best when she said, “With technology, you can never stand still. You either move ahead or you don’t. We’re leaders in many areas and want to lead in our innovative use of technology to enhance student learning, patient care, and research. We don’t intend to be left behind.” I couldn’t agree more. Sincerely, Peter J. Polverini, Dean 1 In This Issue . . . COVER STORY 4 TechKNOWLEDGEy – The Fusion of Innovation and Education Technology is changing how students learn and how faculty members teach at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Dental students still look at the caliber of a school’s faculty and its programs. But now, they also evaluate a school’s technology and how they can use it to enhance their education. At the U-M School of Dentistry, technology is being used in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. This “TechKNOWLEDGEy” is a fusion of innovation and education. 4 – New Software, New Technology Revolutionizing the School of Dentistry 6 – School of Dentistry and Apple Computer in Partnership 9 – DentalUM Now on the Web 10 – A Technology Sea Change - How a Dental Student and Staffer Sparked Innovation 15 – Innovative Technology, Pioneering Research 18 – axiUm – A Gain for Students, Faculty, Staff, and Patients 24 – Making Sure “It” All Works, The Indispensable Role of “Tech Support” 27 – The Digital Learning Laboratory – “The Ultimate Core Facility” 29 – DAMS – Digital Video on Demand 30 – A New Approach to Continuing Dental Education Design by Chris Jung. FEATURES 32 32 Faculty Profile — Dr. Josef Kolling After earning his dental degree from the U-M School of Dentistry, Dr. Josef Kolling never thought about becoming the president of any dental organization. But in May, he became the School’s first faculty member in nearly a quarter century to lead the Michigan Dental Association. 40 Bay Cliff Health Camp – The Experience of a Lifetime 40 It was a week they will always remember. Three dental students and two pediatric dental residents provided oral health care to the developmentally disabled at the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The five will remember their experiences with patients as well as seeing the smiles on the faces of 27 teens who were dressed up for a formal dinner and a prom. 44 6,345 Patients...12,312 Procedures How much of a difference is the School of Dentistry’s outreach program making in communities across Michigan? During a 10-month period, fourth-year dental students treated more than 6,000 patients at eight different sites across the state. 46 Alumnus Profile — Dr. Joel Egnater A vacation safari to South Africa two years ago had a profound impact on Dr. Joel Egnater. Stunned with what he saw during a brief visit to Soweto in Johannesburg, he returned to Michigan vowing to do something. This year, four influential groups in that country gave him the go ahead to open a group of dental clinics to provide oral health care to patients with HIV/AIDS. 46 2 DentalUM Fall 2005 Fall 2005 55 Lunch & Learn Program Offers Insights into Life after Dental School Dr. Daniel Edwards, a member of the School’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, is giving fourth-year dental students opportunities to learn more about what to expect in “the real world” before they actually receive their dental degree. The program was so well received its first year that it’s being offered again. 57 Graduation Day Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello returned to Ann Arbor this spring to deliver her fourth commencement address to School of Dentistry graduates. In her inimitable speaking style, she congratulated, counseled, and challenged students. 55 62 Lollipops May Help Pediatric Dentists Will a lollipop have a place in a pediatric dentist’s office in the future? It may, thanks to the collaboration between a U-M School of Dentistry pediatric dentist and the Mott Children’s Health Center. DEPARTMENTS 36 Faculty News 57 49 Development 49 – Dr. Raymond Gist Gifts $100,000 for Dental Student Scholarships 50 – Drs. Jed Jacobson and Wayne Colquitt Spearhead Creation of the H. Dean Millard Scholarship Fund 53 – Dental Students Seek Mentors 64 Dental Hygiene 67 Department Update Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry 62 71 Research News 71 – School #2 in NIDCR Grants 71 – Microarrays – Linking Laboratory Science and Technology 73 – School of Dentistry Researcher Inspired by Death of Family Member 74 – The Dziewiatkowski Award, Recognizing the Next Generation of Scientists 76 – Scientists Discover More about How Cancer Cells Form and Grow 79 Alumni News 71 DentalUM Fall 2005 3 New Software, New Technology Revolutionizing Everyone Affected- S Dr. Lynn Johnson Director, Dental Informatics Keary Campbell ignificant investments in technology at the University of Michigan School of Dent- istry in recent years are benefiting students, faculty, staff members, and patients. Sparked by rapid changes in hardware and software, the explosive growth of the Internet, and faster and novel ways of delivering information, the new technology appeals to students who are as comfortable using laptop computers, iPods and MP3 players, personal digital assistants, and cell phones as their parents were with transistor radios, eight-track tapes, electric typewriters, and rotary telephones. Under the direction of Dr. Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics, the changes have been grad- ually rolled out following extensive collab- oration among department administra- tors, faculty, and staff mem- bers through- out the dental school. Students are also playing an active role. They have been 4 4 using technology in a way that caught the attention of one of the world’s major technology companies, Apple Computer. How technology is being used throughout the School is described in detail in this issue of DentalUM. “Our investments in technology are enhancing student learning, enabling faculty to become more creative in their teaching, and helping our billing office get more comprehensive and timely statements to our patients. As a result, dentists in our clinics will also be able to provide more timely information to patients when they provide care,” Johnson said. Technology: Very Important to Dental Students Students considering the U-M School of Dentistry not only look at the caliber of the School’s faculty and programs “they are also considering, as never before, what kind of technology we offer and how they can use that technology in ways that supports or enhances their education,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter whether they’re studying for a dental degree or a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene, a master’s degree in one of our specialties, or a doctorate.” Johnson’s statistics prove her point. As Figure 1 illustrates, nearly all first-year U-M dental students own a computer. Nearly two-thirds own a laptop computer, a figure nearly 20 percentage points more than the students who made the same claim in 2002 (Fig. 2). Meanwhile, the number of students who say they DentalUM Fall 2005 the School of Dentistry Students, Faculty, Staff, Patients In the Roberts Preclinical own a desktop computer has declined sharply. High-speed connections to the Internet are Laborator y, for example, i n s t r u c t o r s a re u s i n g also important. This summer, more than 80 percent of first- computers, the Internet, year dental students said they use high-speed DVDs, an intraoral camera, connections (cable and DSL) to connect to the a telestrator, and other Internet from home. The use of telephone (dial- devices as instr uctional Fig. 1 up) to connect to the Internet fell sharply from 60 tools. Previously, students gathered percent from 2002 to about 5 percent in 2005. around an instructor who would “Waiting 15 or 20 seconds demonstrate a procedure. Then to download an the dental students returned to illustration, a their seats to try to replicate document, or what they observed. anything else, is Technology now gives an eternity to them each dental student a front and to faculty too,” row seat to watch any and Johnson said. “They all procedures up close. want the same speedy Wi t h a f l a t - s c re e n access at home they monitor at each of 110 have here.” workstations, students The changes can watch described in the Fig. 2 instructors following pages are only televise live demonstrations the beginning. “With technology, you can never stand still,” using mannequin heads to illustrate she continued. “You either move ahead or you preparing teeth for restoration, don’t. We are a leader in many areas and want crown preparation, or other to lead in our innovative use of technology to procedures. To emphasize a point, enhance student learning, patient care, and the faculty member can use small television cameras and zoom in research. We don’t intend to be left behind.” on an object, zoom out, or rotate New Technology: Roberts Preclinic the camera up to 360 degrees. Some of the new ways technology is being used [DentalUM, Spring & Summer have been described in earlier issues of DentalUM. 2004, pages 11-14.] Fig .3 DentalUM Fall 2005 5 i U-M School of Dentistry and Apple iTunes Music Store to Per Kjeldsen Celebrating the launch of a partnership between the School of Dentistry and Apple Computer on Sept. 19 were Dr. Lynn Johnson (left), the School’s director of Dental Informatics; John Couch, vice president of dental education for Apple Computer; and Dean Peter Polverini. A special poster created for the event was designed by the School’s graphic artist, Chris Jung. The University of Michigan School of Dentistry and Apple Computer have entered into a partnership that is designed to provide dental students with access to education-related content virtually anywhere, any time. The venture may be the first of its kind with any professional school in the nation. The program was officially launched Sept. 19 during a program at the School of Dentistry. Using a special iTunes Music Store interface from Apple Computer, students will use their Macs or PCs to download classroom lectures, transfer the information onto an iPod or an MP3 player, and then listen to the lectures in their apartments, walking around on campus, or even while jogging or working out. Access is for students with valid University of Michigan names and passwords. Future collaboration with Apple may result in new study aids, such as videos, photos, and other educational material, being added to the School of Dentistry’s iTunes Store. 6 A Major Shift Dr. Lynn Johnson, the School’s director of Dental Informatics, said the approach taken by the School in collaboration with Apple Computer is a major shift in how technology is used to support and enhance student learning. The learning issue was raised last year by Jared Van Ittersum, now a second-year dental student, who wanted to reinforce what he learned in the classroom by listening to recordings of classroom lectures as his schedule allowed. He collaborated with a staff member in the School’s Office of Dental Informatics, Trek Glowacki, to see what could be done to help him and hundreds of other dental students. During the past year, Van Ittersum and Glowacki conducted three pilot studies with as many as 60 dental students to ask for their ideas and feedback. The overwhelming majority of students said they preferred listening to audio recordings of classroom lectures using their iPods or other portable listening devices. Students Per Kjeldsen Rick Getchell (left) explains to John Couch, Apple’s vice president of education, how dental students such as Chen Chen (lower right) are using technology in the new Roberts Preclinic to enhance their education. Also listening are Lynn Johnson and Steve Rychly, the company’s regional manager of higher education. DentalUM Fall 2005 t Computer in Partnership Help Provide Information Access 24/7 said the portable devices gave them maximum flexibility that allowed them to listen to lectures at their convenience and regardless of location. However, Johnson emphasized that listening to classroom lectures does not replace going to class. “Being physically present in the classroom is the starting point, the foundation,” she said. “Listening to the lectures on the iPod allows you to build on that foundation.” “ The Michigan Difference” Johnson said the initiative “is another example of ‘The Michigan Difference’ in three important respects.” The first is the approach that was taken. “Until now, one would take a new technology and see how it can be used to enhance teaching and learning,” she said. “We reversed that. We started with a learning challenge and then researched various options until we arrived at a solution that uses new technology.” The second major difference, Johnson noted, is that the initiative was driven from the bottom- up, not the top-down. “Students started the project, supported it, and showed faculty and staff its potential. To have as many as 60 students involved in a pilot study and giving constant feedback during the past year, given their class schedules, is absolutely incredible,” she said. “It clearly demonstrates they knew there was a need and that they would take an active role in coming up with a solution that would benefit them and other students throughout the School.” Finally, the third difference is that the project involved not only collaboration among dental school students, faculty, and staff, it also involved the University’s Information Technology Central Services unit. “As we worked with ITCS and kept them posted on our progress, we also discussed DentalUM Fall 2005 Per Kjeldsen Apple to Offer Discounts to Students, Faculty, Staff, and Alumni Following a special program that launched the partnership between the School of Dentistry and Apple Computer, second-year dental student Kyung- Hong Kim (right) and Apple’s U-M representative Joshua Tishhouse discuss how technology can enhance learning. how this approach might be used elsewhere throughout the University of Michigan,” Johnson said. James Hilton, U-M associate provost for academic, information, and instructional technology, said, “The School of Dentistry has always strived to provide our students with the best education possible. That includes the latest technology and resources. Apple Computer,” he continued, “has developed an innovative and powerful resource for the School, and I look forward to seeing how it will expand teaching and learning.” John Couch, Apple’s vice president of education, praised the School of Dentistry for its initiative and leadership. “You’ve created a digital learning environment for this generation of students. We look at technology as a tool, but they see it as an environment,” he said. The University of Michigan School of Dentistry’s partnership with Apple Computer extends beyond the classroom. Apple is offering dental school students, faculty, staff, and alumni discounted prices on its desktop and laptop computers, iPods, and other products. To take advantage of the discounts, visit the School’s Web site, www.dent.umich. edu/itunes. Then click “store” to place your order using a valid credit card. 7 i “Wi-Fi” in the School This sign shows the location of wireless “hot spots” in the School of Dentistry. The Student Forum is not only a place for students to have lunch and socialize, it’s also one of several locations in the School where they can use a wireless connection to log-on to the Internet. Jerry Mastey 8 As cellular telephone use has skyrocketed in recent years, a similar trend has emerged among millions who are logging on to the Internet without using a cable or other “wired” connections. At the U-M School of Dentistry there are several “hot spots” where students, faculty, and staff no longer need to be in an office sitting at a desktop computer to connect to the Internet. One is the Student Forum. Others include the library and some research laboratories. At each location, anyone with a properly equipped portable computer or personal digital assistant can access the Internet using wireless fidelity or “Wi-Fi.” The “Wi-Fi” concept is similar to what’s used for cellular telephone conversations or radio and television broadcasting. However, unlike radio or TV signals, which can travel hundreds of miles, the range of a Wi- Fi signal is much shorter, typically 100 to 300 feet. In areas known as “hot spots,” a user within range of an Wi-Fi antenna can connect to the Internet to check e-mail, visit Web sites, or download documents. To prevent unauthorized access or guard against potential security breaches, safeguards such as user authentication and data encryption are used. There are also restrictions on who can use the network and what information can be obtained. Outside the School, there are Wi-Fi hot spots in coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores, hotels, and at airports. Many homeowners have also installed it. The Student Forum has been a “hot spot” as a social venue. Now it’s a hot spot in another way – a place where one can wirelessly connect to the Internet. DentalUM Fall 2005 t School’s Alumni Magazine Now on the Web DentalUM First of Several Publications to be Added The School of Dentistry’s alumni magazine, DentalUM, is now available on the School’s Web site, www.dent.umich.edu. The publication is the first of several that will appear online in the future. The School’s approach to posting the magazine’s contents is different than the methods used elsewhere. Too often, readers have to click the online version of a publication one page at a time to find a story of interest. Typically, this frustrates readers, especially if a magazine is lengthy. Since the Web is different than print, the School took the print version of the magazine and adapted it to make it easier for those going online to find stories and features that interest them. What’s New At the top of the DentalUM Web site are pictures of the major stories that are in the Table of Contents section with direct links to those stories. After clicking a picture, a PDF (portable document format) file is sent to a user’s computer. Or, visitors can scroll down to see a list of major stories in the Table of Contents that appear on the left. Beneath each headline is a one- or two-sentence narrative describing each major story. What’s Different However, if individuals want to see a list of all the stories in the publication, they do that by looking at the frame on the right. There, they will find a subject label for each group of stories. The stories are grouped into categories such as “School News,” “Alumni,” “Faculty News,” etc. When a subject label is clicked, a PDF file is sent to the user’s computer containing all the stories. Individuals can also go directly to an article DentalUM Fall 2005 without scrolling through others in a particular section. More Efficient “It’s a much more efficient way of getting the information you’re interested in than what you typically see,” said Dr. Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics. Richard Fetchiet, director of Alumni Relations, said, “This approach will allow our alumni new opportunities to both read the publication online and pass along items of interest to colleagues who are not affiliated with our School, or even young men and women who are thinking about studying at Michigan to earn a dental, dental hygiene, or a specialty degree.” An added benefit of having the magazine appear on the Web is that most of the pictures on the Web site are in color. In the magazine, pictures on the inside appear in black and white to minimize printing costs. www. dent. umich. edu/ alumni/ dentalum/ 9 i A Technology Sea Change Per Kjeldsen How a Dental Student It’s a project unlike any other in recent memory at the School of Dentistry. It was the result of a suggestion from a dental student who once ran his own software company, collaboration between the student and a part- time staff member now working for his master’s degree at the School of Information, feedback from 60 dental students, as well as support from dental school administrators and faculty. The student-led initiative also caught the attention of one of the world’s premier technology companies, Apple Computer. “We’re seeing a significant change in how learning takes place in courses where information is often presented in different ways and how technology can be used to help students become better learners,” said Dr. Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics. Trek Glowacki discusses the results of three pilot programs he conducted with dental students that allowed them to download audio files of classroom lectures from the Internet to their iPods and MP3players. Thirty students participated in the first two pilot programs. That number doubled to 60for the third and final pilot program. 10 What’s Different “Previously, the typical approach was to take a new technology to see how it could be used in teaching and learning,” she said. “Here, that approach has been reversed. We started with a student learning dilemma and solved it using technology.” Instead of a top/down approach, this one is driven from the bottom up. “What we’re seeing at Michigan is that students, in efforts to improve their learning, are working together and developing novel solutions that use technology to address a range of learning issues and challenges. It’s a significant shift,” Johnson said. The central figures in this story are twenty- somethings – Jared Van Ittersum and Trek Glowacki. Van Ittersum, a second-year dental student from Spring Lake, Michigan, earned a bachelor’s degree in general psychology from U-M in 2002. After graduating, he took a two-year sabbatical to establish a software company. It was a bold decision that would benefit those in business and in academia. Van Ittersum’s ability to help corporations with their technology needs would help him develop a keen eye for identifying problems and developing solutions at the dental school. However, prior to earning his bachelor’s degree, Van Ittersum worked part time as a research assistant for Dr. Helena Ritchie, an assistant professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics. “I’ve always wanted to be a dentist, and talking to family, friends, and working in Dr. Ritchie’s lab convinced me that this was the best school in the country to attend to get a dental degree,” he said. Van Ittersum, who often uses an electronic notebook to take notes during lectures, began his dental studies last summer. Glowacki, a Michigan native, was an English and communications studies major who earned his bachelor’s degree in 2003. He never set foot in the School of Dentistry until he applied for the part-time position. However, he did work at the U-M computer store in the Michigan Union and also ran the largest U-M summer program for the U-M Housing Department. Just as Van Ittersum displayed initiative by establishing his own business, Glowacki was also proactive. “I needed another job so I could eat and pay my bills,” he said with a laugh. “I was willing to do just about anything, even stocking shelves DentalUM Fall 2005 t and Staffer Sparked Innovation at a store.” Glowacki found his opportunity in the fall of 2003 in the School of Dentistry’s Digital Learning Laboratory. “The atmosphere was different than other places,” he said. “I thought Dan Bruell and Sarah Brittain would be great people to work with. What really appealed to me, though, was the variety of assignments I would have.” Initially, Glowacki helped faculty with scanning and other technical needs. Later, he helped Bruell film classroom Integrated Medical Sciences lectures. The IMS lectures were established to help first- and second- year dental students see the connections between dentistry and various medical disciplines. [DentalUM, Fall 2004, pages 60-61.] An Instructional Problem Leads to a Technology Solution Glowacki and Van Ittersum crossed paths last fall, nearly three years after Apple Computer introduced a revolutionary piece of hardware – the iPod. The device allows individuals to download music from Apple’s Internet site (iTunes) and then play back those recordings whenever and wherever they choose. Van Ittersum, a first-year dental student last year, recognized the challenges he and other dental students faced. He suggested videotaping lectures might help students with their studies. Based on his business background and technology experience, Van Ittersum told Johnson it could be done and that it would be popular with students. This is what Johnson meant when she talked about reversing the traditional approach to learning and technology – starting with a student need and ending up with a solution using technology. DentalUM Fall 2005 “Typically, schools will give students a computer or another type of technology and say, ‘See what you can do with it.’ Then they will find an instructional problem that the technology will solve. It’s like giving someone a hammer and saying, ‘Go find a way to use it’,” she said. “But that is not what we wanted to do. Nor is it what we did. We took the opposite approach. We wanted our students to be better learners. So we investigated if technology, specifically videotaping lectures, could help students become better learners.” Johnson assigned Glowacki to work with Van Ittersum to determine what needed to be done. “I thought this could be a great opportunity for us to develop a content management system, a library, if you will, that mimics Apple’s popular iTunes music store,” she said. Per Kjeldsen “The typical approach was to take a new technology to see how it could be used in teaching and learning. Here, that approach has been reversed. We started with a student learning dilemma and solved it using technology.” Dr. Lynn Johnson Jared Van Ittersum, seen here taking notes on an electronic notebook in a School of Dentistry classroom, realized the learning challenges facing dental students and proposed a solution. 11 i “But instead of downloading music from an Internet site, we would have an electronic library of classroom lectures that could later be expanded to include videos and images.” Johnson approached Dr. Dennis Lopatin, senior associate dean, who agreed to become the first dental school faculty member whose lectures would be recorded and Internet accessible. However, the lectures would be available only to students after entering their personal identifier and a password. Surprising Results of Pilot Program Glowacki began videotaping Lopatin’s lectures last October and hosted a focus group to get student reaction. After each lecture, Glowacki spent nearly nine hours a week making technical adjustments so the information could be available in three different ways — as a video, as a PowerPoint presentation with accompanying audio, and as an audio recording only. But to make the information available in the three formats, Glowacki had to teach himself how to use AppleScript. “I was teaching myself a whole new set of skills, he said. “Learning that was essential because it’s ‘the glue’ between many different applications.” The results of the pilot program surprised everyone. Of the 30 students who participated in the pilot program, nearly 70 percent said they preferred listening to audio of the lectures because it was quicker to download from an intranet site. There was another reason the audio was preferred – Apple’s iPod. It’s portability and ease of use helped students to better manage their time. “Every minute of every day counts for every dental student,” Van Ittersum said. “So we take 12 advantage of those learning opportunities when they arise, whether it’s in a car, at the breakfast table, going to and from classes, or even working out in the CCRB (Central Campus Recreational Building),” he said. The iPod also offered another distinct advantage to students – a speed up/slow down feature. With it, students can slow down portions of a lecture to hear remarks that are important to them. But they can also quickly bypass sections of a lecture they already understand. A second test pilot program involving 30 students began a month later, in November. Since students in the first pilot program overwhelmingly preferred audio, the second pilot program was “audio only.” Students were equally divided about using an iPod or MP3 player to download lectures from a Web site. By the time the third pilot program began in this January and ended in April, the number of students who were participating doubled to 60. Lectures Now Available in Four Minutes For the third pilot, Glowacki wrote software that allowed students to record lectures and put the audio files on the Internet. Once again, students moved the project forward. Glowacki was no longer recording lectures and posting them on the School’s Web site. However, the time he spent making technical adjustments so students could retrieve the information dropped more than 97 percent – from nine hours a week to 15 minutes. Students could download a lecture only four minutes after a lecture ended. Meanwhile, the volume of lectures students can now listen to has increased five-fold from 3- 1/2 hours to 15 hours. DentalUM Fall 2005 t Per Kjeldsen “ Not Designed to Replace Going to Class” However, everyone is emphatic about one point. “Listening to a recording of a classroom lecture is not designed to replace going to class,” Van Ittersum said. “Students must attend to get a basic understanding of a thought or concept that’s being conveyed.” Johnson agreed, saying, “Being there, being physically present in the classroom is the starting point, the foundation. The audio allows you to build on that foundation.” Van Ittersum, Glowacki, and Johnson said they have been impressed with the way the University of Michigan embraces technology to enhance learning. Apple Computer was too. In September, the School and Apple launched a partnership. [See story, pages 6-7.] Other Enhancements New technology and new ways of using existing technology allows dental students to not only retrieve lectures from the Internet, but to also “subscribe” so lectures are automatically delivered to them. One application is “podcasting” (as in iPod). Instead of a student retrieving or “pulling” a lecture from a Web site, the lecture would be automatically “broadcast” or “pushed” to the student’s iPod or MP3 player. Another application is the use of RSS or “Really Simple Syndication.” Basically, an RSS feed is a communications tool that allows a user to collect information from various Web sites. The information is automatically made available to individuals, based on their preferences, in an easy-to-use and understandable format. The information can range from a headline DentalUM Fall 2005 Among those attending the announcement of the partnership was U-M President Emeritus James Duderstadt who is seen here with Apple’s vice president of education, John Couch. Duderstadt directs the U-M Millennium Project, a collaborative educational research “incubator” where creative students, faculty members, and those outside the university are exploring innovative approaches to education. to sentences or paragraphs of information, or an audio recording of an entire lecture. “It’s a new way of delivering information to students that will become more popular because students can customize the types of information they want to receive and when,” Johnson said. “For our current students, their preference is clear – they prefer to receive audio recordings of lectures by downloading and through RSS.” The trend is clear. Technology and how it is used now, and how it will be used in the future, is playing an important role in the education of students at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Look for students to continue being in the vanguard. “What we’re seeing at Michigan is that students, in efforts to improve their learning, are working together and developing novel solutions that use technology to address a range of learning issues and challenges.” Dr. Lynn Johnson 13 i Photo courtesy of Jared Van Ittersum Students Give Audio of Lectures “Thumbs Up” Below are some of the comments received from dental students about a pilot program allowing them to listen to classroom lectures on portable audio devices. Among the students participating in the iPod pilot program were (L to R): Elise Boncher, Matt Palazzolo, Sarah Miller, Adam Osga, and Justin Pearson. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. It gives you the opportunity to listen actively in class instead of worrying about taking every little note down. ...Also, if you don’t understand a concept, you can replay it a couple of times. This has helped me a lot. Photo courtesy of Jared Van Ittersum It’s nice to go back and listen sometimes, when I have time, because I don’t always catch everything during lectures. The audio recordings are the reason I have received A’s on my last four exams. ...I listen to every lecture and then review and study my notes afterwards. This method has helped me tremendously. I frequently revisit lectures and listen to them at high speed, and then stop and rewind them to catch main ideas. It’s a useful tool that I am amazed I hadn’t used before. ...It allows you to burn in your memory, phrases and ideas the prof wanted you to take away from the lecture. Katie Beougher (left) and Elise Boncher listen to a classroom lecture on their iPods while working out at the CCRB. I think these recordings are some of the most beneficial study tools we have. I was very skeptical of the idea, but after using them on two exams, I think they are better than scribe notes. I can really focus and review my notes thoroughly each day to make sure I wrote everything down and understand it. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. I LOVE IT. 14 DentalUM Fall 2005 t Innovative Technology, Pioneering Research Measuring Changes by the Pixel A new tool at one School of Dentistry site may one day help dentists and specialists get precise information about the smallest of changes in a person’s bone mass, tissue densities, and height of structures in the oral cavity. Dentists have been limited in their ability to precisely measure those changes. Typically, two or more x-rays are taken and the dentist then places “before” and “after” radiographs near a light to see what changes, if any, have taken place. “It’s an important tool,” he emphasized, “because it will allow us to precisely quantify changes before they’re apparent. For example, if we know there’s been a specific amount of change in a patient’s bone mass over a period of time, we may then be able to tell a patient, ‘based on what has already happened, this is what you can expect to happen weeks or months from now’,” he said. Being able to precisely see and measure changes that are taking place could give the dentist an opportunity to provide low-cost or Photo courtesy of Dr. Christoph Ramseier These three photos illustrate the same area before therapy (left), after therapy (center), and how subtraction radiography can be used to show bone mineral density gain. Using digital technology, the School’s Michigan Center for Oral Health Research may help change that practice. Exquisite Digital Imaging The Center is enhancing a technique known as “Digital Subtraction Radiography” so dentists can precisely quantify changes that occur. The technique may one day be used in all School of Dentistry clinics. “I call this ‘exquisite digital imaging’ because we will be able to see changes as small as a pixel on a computer screen,” said Dr. William Giannobile, MCOHR director. He said the procedure will allow dentists to see changes ranging from fractions of a milligram in bone mass or density to microns in height. DentalUM Fall 2005 minimally invasive procedures before a patient’s oral health further deteriorates, Giannobile said. “This would be very valuable information to have in treating patients with long-term problems, such as periodontal disease.” Seeing What the Eye Can’t Helping Giannobile develop the technique is Dr. Christoph Ramseier, a visiting professor from the University of Bern, Switzerland. “With this digital imaging technique, we hope to be able to see changes that the human eye can’t,” he said. “Having this precise information could lead to modifying current intervention techniques, or even developing new ones, in specialties that include periodontology, cariology, orthodontics, or even implant dentistry.” 15 i Per Kjeldsen Digital Imaging – the Paperless Office With help from dental assistant Theresa Bogarin, Dr. Christoph Ramseier gets ready to place a transmitter into the mouth of a patient that will send an electronic image to a computer for storage and analysis. The shrinking size of electronic components has allowed Giannobile and Ramseier to capture and measure those minute changes. Digital images are captured using electronic components that are about the size of a quarter. On the left is the sensor. In the center is the battery that transmits the images. How it Works A small transmitter, about half the thickness of a 9-volt battery, is covered with a thin film of plastic and then inserted into a patient’s mouth. The transmitter is attached to a rod several inches long. At the end of the rod is an “O” ring. An x-ray cone placed near the “O” ring allows for more precise targeting of the area the dentist wants to check initially and, if necessary, during follow-up visits. As the x-rays are taken, the transmitter in the patient’s mouth not only captures images of the patient’s oral cavity, it also sends those images to a computer for electronic storage and retrieval. There’s another advantage, according to Ramseier. “The radiation from the digital x-ray is only one-tenth the level of a conventional x-ray, which, I think will also interest dentists,” he said. Per Kjeldsen 16 When it opened earlier this year, the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research (MCOHR) began using technology in a novel way. Dr. William Giannobile, MCOHR director, wanted the facility to become a “paperless office.” That dream is becoming a reality. In each of the four operatories is a computer monitor that allows a clinician to display a patient’s digital radiographs as well as intraoral images. That’s a major change from the past when information was available on photographic negatives. But that’s only the beginning. In the future, digital videos being developed by the School’s Digital Learning Laboratory will be used. The videos, for example, could show patients the proper way to brush and floss their teeth. Other videos may display a new scientific procedure. “We’re trying to use new technology in ways that will benefit not only patients who come here, but also members of our staff,” Giannobile said. “We’d like to use the digital technology so that paper records will not have to be physically transported between the Center and the School of Dentistry on the U-M Central Campus.” Located at Domino’s Farms on Plymouth Road near U-S 23, the Center provides patient services that are central to clinical research, including oral exams, some oral surgeries, and major restorative procedures. The 3,500 square foot facility the dental school is sharing with the U-M Health System can handle as many as 7,800 patient visits and conduct between 15 and 20 studies annually. DentalUM Fall 2005 t Meeting Dr. Ash “A Big Moment for Me” Says Visiting Professor Per Kjeldsen Professor Niklaus Lang. Dr. Major Ash. Both names came up when Dr. Christoph Ramseier was being interviewed and photographed for the story about subtraction radiography (pages 15 and 16). Ramseier earned his dental degree from the University of Bern, Switzerland in 1995 and graduated with a master’s degree in periodontics in 2004. Currently a visiting professor in the Department of Periodontics, Prevention, and Geriatrics, he is working with Dr. William Giannobile at the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. “Professor Lang, my mentor at the University of Bern, strongly suggested I come here if I wanted to advance my career,” Ramseier said. Lang, a clinical instructor and assistant professor at U-M in the 1970s, has been a professor at the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Bern since 1980. In January, he returned to Ann Arbor as guest speaker for the annual Kenneth J. Ryan Memorial Seminar. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, p. 23.] “I’m glad I listened to him,” Ramseier said, “because this dental school is doing some exciting things.” Following the summer photo session, Ramseier showed some of his pictures of Switzerland to School photographer Per Kjeldsen. “Do you know Dr. Major Ash?” Kjeldsen asked Ramseier. “He would really be interested in seeing these,” Kjeldsen advised. Ramseier said he didn’t know Ash personally, “I only know of him from the books he’s written that I read during my dental studies.” In September, Ramseier had the opportunity to meet his mentor’s mentor at MCOHR offices. DentalUM Fall 2005 Lang was also present as he began his three- month sabbatical in Ann Arbor. “Major was my mentor and it was good to see him again. He’s one of a few who have received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern,” Lang said. Ash received the honorary degree in 1975 for his contributions to dentistry. “To finally meet Dr. Ash was a privilege I couldn’t think of when I was a dental student studying the concepts of occlusion ten years ago,” Ramseier said. “I knew about the connection between Dr. Lang and Michigan, but seeing him now with his mentor, Dr. Ash, was a big moment for me. I could feel the transfer of knowledge from mentor to mentor.” Ash said it was a pleasure meeting Ramseier. “His Swiss-English style and genuine interest in people and places reminded me of the time of my first sabbatical leave at the University of Bern where the Swiss people like him were so helpful to me and my wife, Fayola,” Ash said. Some might call it “The Swiss Connection,” and why not? Dr. Christoph Ramseier (left), from the University of Bern, is now a visiting professor at the School of Dentistry. Dr. Niklaus Lang (center), a former U-M professor who has been at the University of Bern since 1980and is on sabbatical leave at U-M, urged Ramseier to come to U-M to further his career. Ramseier said meeting Dr. Major Ash (right) “was a privilege I couldn’t think of when I was a dental student.” Ash was awarded an honorary degree in 1975 from the University of Bern for his contributions to the dental profession. 17 i axiUm A Gain for Students, Faculty, Staff, and Patients Keary Campbell available to individuals with authorized access would save valuable time and lead to greater efficiencies benefiting everyone – patients, dental students, residents, clinical faculty members who supervise the students, and staff. Fitzgerald, who is also vice chair of the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics, is a member of a committee that, for the last five years, has been investigating how the software, known as “axiUm,” can be customized for use by different departments and clinics throughout the School. The School’s 2Blue Comprehensive Care Clinic is the site of a pilot program that may lead to a change in how information about a patient’s treatment history is provided. Instead of paper records, virtually everything would be stored and retrieved electronically. Dr. Donald Heys (left), director of the 2Blue Clinic, and Dr. Mark Fitzgerald review a chart on a computer screen in the clinic. Fitzgerald is a member of a committee that has been investigating how the “axiUm” software can be customized for use throughout the School. 18 “O ur ultimate goal is to have a computer at every chair, in every cubicle, in every clinic at the dental school,” said Dr. Mark Fitzgerald as he talked about a new software program being tested this summer in one of the School’s comprehensive care clinics. A similar test is also underway in one of the School’s graduate clinics. If the pilot programs succeed, use of the software system could transform the process of how patient care is provided at the U-M School of Dentistry. Paper records would be a memory. In their place, information about virtually everything – records of a patient’s visits, the care and treatments they received, payment history, account balances, radiographs, and more – would be stored and retrieved electronically. Having a wealth of information instantly A Thoughtful, Methodical Approach The School of Dentistry has taken a series of measured steps in moving toward its ultimate goal of a paperless environment, beginning with the Clinic Billing Office and several other facilities in May 2001. The work has involved extensive collaboration, not only within the dental school, but also with another dental school that is using the system. [See page 23.] “AxiUm has been used in other ways elsewhere throughout the School in recent years,” Fitzgerald said. “But now it’s time to get this great resource into the hands of the end users, the students and the faculty, who are in our clinics providing patient care.” [See axiUm Timeline, page 21.] Developed by Exan Academic, a Canadian software company, axiUm is a niche product being used by about two dozen dental schools across North America, including, the U-M School of Dentistry. Following a two-year search by a School committee, a contract was signed with Exan Academic in October 2000 to provide the software system. DentalUM Fall 2005 t Eventual Goal – Paperless Office Major Benefits Why axiUm? Several reasons. Perhaps the overriding one is that no single system was available to meet the various needs of many departments throughout the School. AxiUm does. Another important reason is that the core academic mission of the School, educating and training dental students to provide care in clinics, did not have to change. Instead, what did change were inefficient clerical and administrative processes. Another strong feature of the software system was axiUm’s ability to deliver a comprehensive package of data – billing and collection information, patient records, financial management, and more. How that information is delivered can also be customized. Dr. Donald Heys, professor of dentistry and director of the 2 Blue Comprehensive Care Clinic, said axiUm allows students to see a patient’s treatment record and give them an idea of the patient’s payment record. “Our comprehensive care clinics are designed to mimic a private practice, where everyone works together,” he said. “In addition to providing care, part of being a dentist is the business side, the finances. The two go hand-in-hand. Sometimes you have to talk finances with a patient and with your staff. I think axiUm will help dental students see those connections and help them long after they graduate.” Finally, security can be customized, allowing only certain individuals to see specific items of information. AxiUm’s rollout began in May 2001, at several locations including the Clinic Billing Office, all DentalUM Fall 2005 front desks, Central Records, Hospital Dentistry/ Oral Surgery, and graduate clinics. Since then, it has been introduced elsewhere throughout the School. Comp Care Clinic Pilot Program This summer and fall axiUm became “more visible” with the launch of two pilot programs in two clinics – the 2 Blue Comprehensive Care Clinic and the Robert W. Browne Orthodontics Clinic. Heys said axiUm has been tested in 14 cubicles in his clinic. In 12 cubicles, students use their laptop computers to schedule patient appointments and retrieve patient treatment records. Different hardware is being tested in the other two cubicles. A touch screen, similar to those at checkout lines in grocery stores, is being tested in one. A “privacy monitor” is in the other. A student and/ or faculty member must stand directly in front of it to see the information they are retrieving and entering. If they’re off to the side, even slightly, none of the information can be seen. The information that can be retrieved includes patient treatment plans and appointment schedules. Eventually, digital images will be added. “These are steppingstones in the School’s efforts to eventually becoming a paperless, all- electronic environment,” Heys said. The pilot program in the comprehensive care clinic will try to answer two questions, Fitzgerald said. The first – what equipment works best for accessing information on axiUm in a clinical environment? Laptop computers? Something else? The second involves ergonomics – what is “The information that can be retrieved includes patient treatment plans and appointment schedules. Eventually, digital images will be added.” Dr. Don Heys 19 i Keary Campbell Third- and fourth-year dental students have been trained to use axiUm. Dr. Donald Heys shows fourth- year student Crystal Marciniak a chart of a patient’s treatment plan that can be electronically retrieved. the best way to use the system that causes the least amount of strain or physical discomfort on dental students and clinical faculty members who supervise the students? Security is another issue as required by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). What items of information about a patient an individual can see is carefully controlled. “Students using their computers in the clinic will find that their units are simply a conduit to retrieve and send information. They will not be able to store and leave the clinic with any sensitive patient information on their laptops,” Fitzgerald emphasized. Training Program The first efforts to train students to use axiUm to schedule appointments began last summer 20 with fourth-year dental students. Following the training, students took a competency test. This summer, the two-hour training session was expanded to include third-year dental students. Mary Garrelts, a patient care coordinator and member of the Clinical Implementation Task Force, said nearly all the students who went through the training did so without any major problems. “They’re comfortable using computers and were able to quickly learn what they needed to know.” As a patient care coordinator (there are four, one for each clinic) Garrelts is an intermediary between students and patients. She works with clinical directors to ensure that patients receive the care they need and that students get the support they need. One of the major advantages students realize is that scheduling appointments will become more efficient. “Currently, students must walk to another part of the building and hand in an appointment card for each patient. However, if a patient cancels an appointment, the student has to turn in a second card. That’s another trip, another inconvenience,” she said. “Being able to do all of this electronically saves a lot of steps and a lot of time.” First- and second-year dental students may also learn how to schedule appointments using axiUm. But that’s probably a year or two away. Clinical faculty will also be taught to use the system, she said. “They’ll need to learn how to use axiUm because they will have to review the work of students, check to make sure all data has been entered correctly, and then sign off on a student’s work.” DentalUM Fall 2005 t Ortho Pilot Program The pilot program in the Robert W. Browne Orthodontics Clinic began following a successful six-month “test drive” of axiUm in the orthodontics area of the Dental Faculty Associates Clinic in the School. Clinical faculty in the DFA entered information at chair side or after an appointment. They also noted any problems with treatment, key clinical findings, and analyzed results. Dr. Siew-Ging Gong, who worked with the technical support staff to help set up axiUm in both the DFA clinic and the graduate orthodontics clinic, said 22 orthodontics residents are currently trying the system compared to only three in the DFA. She cited several benefits using axiUm in the orthodontics clinic. “Since it’s a common system used throughout the School, our residents will have a better idea about other dental treatments a patient may have had,” she said. That information will be useful in scheduling patients who will be treated in the clinic over an extended period of time, typically two or three years. “More timely information will be available, including a patient’s payment history, when they were treated, the treatments they received, and more,” she added. “Knowing that will lead to more efficient scheduling and treatment planning which will be good for patients, residents, and staff.” That’s something Dr. Sunil Kapila is eagerly anticipating. “We’ve been using two different software programs – axiUm, for financial purposes, and the other, an orthodontic-specific program, to DentalUM Fall 2005 schedule patient appointments,” said Kapila, chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry. “It’s very inefficient because there’s so much- double entry of information as a person shifts from one program to another. AxiUm will allow us to eliminate that which, in the end, will lead to a more efficient way of doing things,” he said. Like Heys, Fitzgerald, and Gong, Kapila said that the ultimate goal is to have a completely digital clinic so that residents not only schedule appointments, but also retrieve digital x-rays and other visual data. Digital x-ray technology was being introduced in the orthodontics clinic during the summer. However, digital images have been used for some time at another facility, the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. [See sidebar, page 16.] Praise for Tech Support Making sure the axiUm software works as it should is the responsibility of Roger Gillie and his five-member Programming Services unit. “We’re like the mechanic who’s under the hood of the car tweaking the engine to try to find ways to make it run even better,” he said. “We’re working with different groups of people throughout the School to make sure that the system works the way they want it to work so they can do their jobs better.” Jean Thompson, administrative associate in the School’s Office of Patient Services and a member of the Implementation Task Force, praised Gillie and Rick Getchell, leader of the School’s Desktop Support unit. “I can’t praise Rick and Roger and their teams enough for the work they’ve done,” she said. “It seems we give them challenges every single day axiUm TIMELINE • October 2000: School of Dentistry signs contract with Exan Academic for axiUm. • May 2001: Initial rollout – Clinic Billing Office (all functions), Appointment Office, front desks, Central Records, Hospital Dentistry/ Oral Surgery, and graduate clinics. • Early 2002: Dental Inform- atics, Financial Services, and Clinic Billing Office develop Oracle-based financial reporting tool for offices and department administrators. • Summer 2004: D4s trained to use “Scheduling” feature. • Fall 2004: Dental Faculty Associates (orthodontics section). • January 2005: Digital radio- graphs in Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. • February 2005: Patient check-in at Information Desks. • June 2005: D3s and D4s trained to use “Scheduling” feature. • June 2005: 2 Blue Clinic chairside pilot program. • June 2005: Orthodontics Clinic, chairside pilot program. 21 i Per Kjeldsen “A Vast Improvement,”Says Clinic Billing Office Manager Diane Nixon 22 The School of Dentistry’s Clinic Billing Office was one of the first units in the School of Dentistry to use axiUm, beginning in May 2001. “It’s a vast improvement over what we were using before,” said Diane Nixon, CBO manager whose office handles nearly $8 million in payments annually. “It’s so much easier for everyone in this office to use,” she said. “We can see a patient’s complete record – treatments, payment history, insurance company reimbursements or rejections, payment adjustments, and more.” Having that information instantly available, and in an easy-to-understand format, benefits everyone. “When patients call with questions about their bills, we can give them immediate answers to their questions,” she said. Nixon and 18 others in the CBO receive approximately 750 incoming calls weekly from patients with billing questions. The office also electronically files more than 350 dental and medical claims with insurance companies daily and follows up on approximately 400 inquiries and 800 rejections each month from insurance companies. Each month, the office mails more than 14,000 statements to patients. This summer, the Clinic Billing Office began mailing a redesigned statement that is easier for patients to understand. The new statement better explains the procedures a patient received, the charges for those services, insurance payments, and the amount owed the School of Dentistry. and they deliver every time. They’re a great group to work with.” Fitzgerald also praised the support he and others have received from Johnson and her working relationship with the software program’s m a n u f a c t u re r, Exan Academic. “Lynn played a very impor- tant role in advocating a controlled approach to testing and measuring the results of what we were doing before upgrading features and considering new ones to add,” he said. “Because of her ‘hands-on’ approach, Lynn and her technical support team were able to create a stable, predictable, and flexible computer server environment. That has allowed the School to expand its use of axiUm while simultaneously improving its reliability to the end user,” he continued. What’s Ahead? These first steps, however, are just the beginning. The ultimate long-term goal is a paperless office. In the months head, axiUm will be unveiled in other clinics. It may also be used to track laboratory and clinical equipment and supplies in a manner that resembles the way Federal Express and UPS track packages for their customers. DentalUM Fall 2005 t Per Kjeldsen The Importance of Dental School Collaboration Student grading and evaluations may be another option. “ The system has a lot of flexibility,” Heys said, “and part of deciding what we might want to do from here on will be based on feedback from students, faculty, and staff.” Funding will also be a factor. “It’s probably going to cost one- to two-thousand dollars to equip each cubicle with a computer, to say nothing of replacing that equipment every three- to five-years due to wear and tear,” Fitzgerald said. Additional equipment may also be needed. “If digital imaging and digital radiography are used in all the clinics, that’s going to put significant demand on our network and servers which will mean more hardware,” he added. But the benefits could be more significant. “The more axiUm is integrated into the School’s daily activities, the more efficient we become,” Fitzgerald said. “That connection, between what we do here and ‘real world dentistry,’ I think, will resonate with not only our current students, but prospective students who may ultimately decide to come to Michigan to get their dental education.” DentalUM Fall 2005 There has been significant collaboration among administrators, faculty, and staff members throughout the School of Dentistry prior to the rollout of axiUm. Staff and faculty from the School also worked extensively with their counterparts at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. “There were substantial benefits to everyone,” said Roger Gillie, director of programming services. The major benefit was financial. “By working together, we were able to save a considerable amount of money as well as reduce the amount of trial and error we probably would have also experienced,” he said. Gillie and Dr. Mark Fitzgerald toured clinics at the dental school in Maryland and talked to administrators, computer programmers, and others prior to launching the chairside program at Michigan. “In short, we didn’t have to re-invent the wheel,” Gillie said. “They gave us details on the challenges they faced, what we were likely to face, what they did to make their system work at the chairside, and what we had to do to make axiUm work in our clinics.” In return, Gillie gave his counterparts at the Maryland dental school templates of complex financial reports from Michigan so they wouldn’t have to begin their efforts from scratch. Collaboration between the two schools was important...and will become increasingly important in the future...said Dr. Christian Stohler, dean of the University of Maryland dental school and former chair of the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences at U-M. “The market for software used by dental schools is a very limited market,” he said. “Dental schools need to share their experiences as well as their vision for what they want that software to do in a clinical environment, otherwise we could face more significant problems in the future. If we don’t collaborate, our curricula may soon become limited by software constraints.” Roger Gillie 23 i Making Sure “It” All Works – Hard The Indispensable Role of Most Common Requests for HELP 12% – registering computers to use on the dental school network 11% – how-to/ technical advice 10% – user account issues (passwords, creating accounts, etc.) 10% – new computer setup 8% – axiUm related 8% – install/upgrade software 7% – printer trouble- shooting/setup 6% – failed hardware 6% – virus/software 22% – Miscellaneous (other programs, other software) 24 So you think keeping your personal computer running properly is a challenge? How would you like to be in Rick Getchell’s shoes? Or Roger Gillie’s? They have more than 800 units to worry about. Getchell and Gillie head teams that are responsible for making sure that computers throughout the School of Dentistry and those at off-campus sites, and the software that runs those computers, function smoothly and that if something goes wrong, the problem is quickly fixed. But computers are not their only concern. They’re also responsible for collecting mountains of data generated daily, storing it, transferring it, making sure it’s accessible only to authorized users, protected from loss, and unassailable by hackers. Collectively, these responsibilities are labeled “technical support.” Getchell heads a six-person Desktop Support unit responsible for the reliability of the network, all server hardware, and the operating system on desktop computers and servers. Gillie leads a five-member Programming Services unit responsible for making sure all the applications software that runs on the hardware and the network functions as it should. His team also works with students, faculty, staff, and administrators to make sure software systems, such as axiUm, continue to improve. Responsibility for some of the desktop and server software is shared by Desktop Support and Programming Services. Collaboration Essential In essence, their interrelated roles remind one of the classic conundrum: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or, in this case: can hardware run without software? Or, can software run without hardware? Neither group has the luxury of working in a vacuum. “Many times we find issues or problems overlap, so quite often one group relies on the other for their expertise to address a problem,” Getchell said. Both groups not only respond to problems. They also pride themselves on being proactive and anticipating problems. Gillie puts it this way. “If my team is too visible, it usually means there’s trouble,” he said with a smile. Requests for “technical support” can range from 15 to 20 on a “slow” day, to as many as 50 on a busy day. The requests arrive by phone, e-mail, and in face-to-face conversations. The problems the groups deal with also vary. They range from registering computers so they can be used on the dental school’s network, to technical advice, installing and/or upgrading software, or removing viruses and spyware. “Depending on the workload, we try to fix these problems as soon as they’re brought to our attention,” Getchell said. Often the problems are quickly resolved, typically in less than a day. However, in more complex cases, more time is needed. DentalUM Fall 2005 t ware, Software, and Security Data security is a paramount concern at the School of Dentistry. Rick Getchell frequently researches digital technologies in an effort to stay ahead of potential threats. Per Kjeldsen DentalUM Fall 2005 Roger Gillie (right), and members of his team discuss progress being made in introducing axiUm throughout the School of Dentistry. Working with him are members of his team (left to right): Luchuan Cai, Lane Hoy, Mike Bleed, and Ed Steinman. Jerry Mastey Experience and Low Turnover “We’re able to quickly solve many of the problems because of our group’s experience,” Getchell said. He said another factor is working in his group’s favor – low turnover. At some places technical support staffers spend a couple of years at an organization and then leave. But that’s not the case at the School of Dentistry. “John Squires has been providing technical support for nearly twenty-five years, Matt Vuocolo has been doing it here for seven years, John Strode for five years, Mark Personett for two years, and Oral Molden, almost a year, and I’ve been doing it for about eight years,” Getchell said. “Each one of us brings a certain set of skills to the table that enables us to solve just about any problem that’s brought to our attention.” Gillie concurs about his group – “Ed Steinman is a veteran of fourteen years; Lane Hoy, five years, and supports both teams; Luchuan Cai, four years; and Mike Bleed supports the newest programming effort for grants and research projects.” Not long after arriving at the dental school more than a year ago, Gillie said he was surprised to learn 23 different software systems were in use. “It seemed there was a different software program for just about every different job or function,” he said. “We had to streamline our systems so we could be more efficient and work across different units at the School. AxiUm allowed us to do that. We are actually increasing the program’s functionality, improving support, decreasing costs, and retiring old and sometimes broken systems.” Per Kjeldsen “ Tech Support” Members of the Tech Support team also fix computer hardware when the need arises. John Strode reinserts memory in a computer and reinstalls connections prior to startup. 25 i Paperless Office Getchell’s group and Gille’s group also pride themselves on their ability to work together to serve faculty, students, staff, and patients within the School of Dentistry and at sites off campus. A good example involved preparations at the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. 26 Per Kjeldsen John Squires’ familiarity with products from Apple Computer makes him a valuable resource for students, faculty, and staff. Here he offers dental student Tyra Jefferson some tips on how to get the best use of an Apple notebook computer. Per Kjeldsen After installing a new software program on her computer, Oral Molden provides Dr. Marilyn Lantz, associate dean for academic affairs, with instructional suggestions on various applications of the software. Jerry Mastey One of the most common services the School’s Technical Support staff offers is providing “how to” advice. Here, Matt Vuocolo is on the telephone explaining to a staff member how to create a portable document format (PDF) file that can be e-mailed. As Getchell’s Desktop Support team was setting up the hardware in the new facility, Gillie’s Program Services unit was simultaneously working on a challenge from the Center’s director, Dr. William Giannobile, to create a paperless office. After extensive collaboration, a software system was set up allowing those with authorized access to retrieve a patient’s digital x-rays. It’s the first time this has been done there. The group also devised a system allowing access to paperless patient records by authorized individuals. “Rick and his team spent a lot of time designing the hardware setup and the network to make sure they worked,” Gillie said, “and that made our job of installing the software and making sure it ran properly that much easier. Instead of our group needing two months to complete its work, we finished in less than a week.” Giannobile said Getchell and Gillie “were instrumental in getting us network and IT capabilities at this off-site clinical location.” He praised both Getchell’s and Gillie’s teams for their efforts. “Roger and his programming staff played key roles in setting up electronic patient charts through axiUm and linking it to the digital radiography system as well as setting up digital imaging capabilities.” As this issue of DentalUM was going to press, both teams were evaluating the results of the axiUm pilot programs in the Blue Clinic on the second floor and in the orthodontics clinic. If the past is any measure, don’t be surprised if Getchell, Gillie, and members of their teams find new ways in the future that will help students, faculty, staff, and administrators become even better at what they do. DentalUM Fall 2005 t DLL The Digital Learning Laboratory hat used to be a television studio on the third floor of the dental building has been transformed in recent years. Constructed at the time the “new” dental school building was being built in the early 1970s, the 1,800 square foot studio was the site where hundreds of videos on dental education and oral health topics were produced. Then came desktop computers, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and digital photography. In the mid-1990s, Dr. Paul Lang began investigating ways faculty could use the Internet and World Wide Web to help students access course syllabi, notes, and selected readings for particular courses. He also looked at how dentists were using what was then “new” technology, such as e-mail and video conferencing, to see if these technologies could be used to supplement classroom education. Lang also created the School’s first Web site. It has been substantially improved, most recently earlier this year. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, pages 6-7.] In 1999, Dr. Scott Pelok, a clinical assistant professor, assumed responsibility for what was known as “dental informatics,” the dissemination of dental information using technology. With technology advancing at a breakneck pace, different hardware and software systems often made communications difficult. After spending a year resolving hardware and software issues, he also had to look to the future, including developing an intranet for the School of Dentistry. Unlike the Internet, where information is accessible to anyone with a Web browser, obtaining information from an intranet site, by design, is restricted. A firewall prohibits individuals from obtaining confidential or proprietary information such as course materials, clinical handbooks and DentalUM Fall 2005 Jerry Mastey W “The Ultimate Core Facility” manuals, syllabi, or newsletters. Only persons with special accounts and passwords can obtain the information. Using the TV Studio Since hardware and software updates were rapidly coming to market, and the production of new television videotapes all but abandoned, Pelok in late 2000 suggested a new use for the former TV studio – as an instructional computing center – where faculty and students could learn how to use new technology. Today, about two-thirds of the 1,800 square foot facility is being used as a “Digital Learning Laboratory.” Faculty, students, and staff learn to use new software programs, scanners, digital cameras and digital videotape recorders to enhance clinic and classroom instruction. Two full-time staffers, Sarah Brittain and Dan Bruell, and one part-time employee, Trek Glowacki, help those throughout the School who come to the third floor to use the equipment. “It seems that more students use the equipment, but they don’t need a lot of help because they’re already so comfortable using technology,” said Brittain, who also manages the School’s Web site. A major portion of the old television studio in the dental building is now being used as a Digital Learning Laboratory. Faculty, students, and staff can get help to prepare lectures or other materials, or use hardware and software they may not have on desktop units in their offices. Services • Scanning (slides, radiographs, papers) • Videotaping and editing • DVD creation • Web services • Database development • Photography, illustration, graphics • Desktop publishing • Large format printing • Consulting services Equipment • 3 workstations (12 Macs, 1 PC) • 1 flatbed scanner • 2 slide scanners • 2 DVD recorders • 2 digital video cameras • 1 digital still camera • Sound booth 27 i Sarah Brittain moves study model casts into position as Dr. Michael Ignelzi prepares to take digital photos that he will use in a classroom lecture. About two- thirds of the 1,800 square foot television facility is being used as a “Digital Learning Laboratory.” Faculty, students, and staff learn to use new software programs, scanners, digital cameras, and digital videotape recorders to enhance clinic and classroom instruction. 28 “Most of the faculty who come here to use the equipment are also pretty comfortable with it, but there are cases, where we may have to do some hand holding,” she said. Brittain said faculty often come to the facility to use the equipment to prepare PowerPoint graphics for classroom instruction or scan radiographs or periodontal charts for classroom use. “The Digital Learning Lab offers side-by-side attention to those users,” said Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics. “Sarah, Dan, and Trek help faculty members and others gain proficiency using the resources that are here so that the faculty or staff can ultimately do the work by themselves.” Digital Video Use Growing Digital video is increasingly being used. Bruell worked closely with Dr. Samuel Zwetchkenbaum to develop a novel continuing dental education course that gives oral health care providers an opportunity to learn about treating patients with developmental disabilities from their home or office using a high-speed connection to the Internet. Several hours of video were digitally recorded and edited. Streaming technology allows those taking the course to view seminars and demonstration of techniques. [See story, page 30.] As more students, faculty, and staff learn about the equipment that’s available in the Digital Learning Lab and the personalized support that is available, use of the facility is expected to increase. “Currently, we are seeing growing demand for digital video, but we know that technology and learning needs will always be changing,” Johnson said. “We’re always listening to the needs of students and faculty so we can meet those needs.” DLL Per Kjeldsen One Faculty Member’s View: “It’s The Ultimate Core Facility” Dr. Michael Ignelzi is a big fan and a frequent user of the Digital Learning Laboratory. “It’s the ultimate core facility,” he said. “The people there – Dan Bruell, Sarah Brittain, and Trek Glowacki – are incredibly helpful, competent, and very service oriented. They make the technology available in a useful and user-friendly way.” An associate professor of dentistry in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Ignelzi said he often uses the lab to make digital photos and digital videos. He also scans materials and has converted hundreds of 35-mm slides into other formats for use in his lectures. The digital video clips seem to have the biggest impact on students. “It’s one thing to talk about or describe a procedure in a classroom. But when you show it, it reinforces what you said,” Ignelzi said. The approach has paid dividends. In 2002, Ignelzi received the Charles Craig Teaching Award, the highest honor bestowed by Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society, for his innovative teaching methods to educate and motivate students to become life-long learners. “The Digital Learning Laboratory is the best of both worlds,” he said. “I don’t have to stay on top of all the latest developments in technology. I can focus on what I enjoy doing, teaching. With ideas from Dan, Sarah, and Trek, I can use technology to be an even better teacher.” DentalUM Fall 2005 t DAMS We’re all familiar with locating information on the Internet using one or more of today’s popular search engines. Type in a word or phrase and you get documents or pictures that match, or nearly match, what you were looking for. But consider this situation. A faculty member is preparing a lecture on a particular topic, for example, how to properly administer local anesthesia to a five-year-old. Short of actually going into a pediatric dental clinic, what is the best way the instructor could visually convey the correct way to perform the procedure? Also, could that procedure be displayed in different ways, such as in a video clip or a computer animation with an audio description? In the not-too-distant future, that could be possible because of the efforts of Dan Bruell and others with something called the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS). Since digital content is being created daily, effectively managing it and harnessing it for use throughout the School is an issue that must be addressed. Applying Internet Searching in a New Way DAMS mimics the approach used to search for information on the Internet. However, in the case of DAMS, the items that are searched, retrieved, and delivered to the desktop would not be text. Instead, they would be videos, audio files, and images. All would be “tagged” so that only rightful users would have access. Bruell, in the Digital Learning Laboratory, is leading the School’s efforts in a project that involves other schools and colleges on the U-M campus: Education, Pharmacy, LS&A, Nursing, Social Work, the University Library, and DentalUM Fall 2005 Digital Video on Demand Information Technology Central Services. “Although we have hundreds of videotapes that were produced here and used extensively during the past 20 or 30 years, many of them are no longer useable today,” Bruell said. The reason? Nearly all of the videotapes are “old” technology, that is, analog. Digital is today’s coin of the realm. In addition, many of the old videos do not reflect today’s realities, for example, dentists must wear masks and surgical gloves when working on a patient. Bruell said that in addition to developing new digital videos, efforts are also underway to develop audio transcripts for each video. One way the Digital Asset Management System will be used is for showing procedures during classroom instruction. In this example, an instructor types in a phrase of a procedure he or she wants to show a group of students. Instead of using the entire video, the instructor will be able to electronically edit the video to the 15or 20seconds that will be viewed. Although the video has been electronically edited, the original remains intact for future use. The Present and a Look into the Future “When portions of a video become a part of DAMS, each segment is analyzed and a track of text is generated which can then be searched,” he 29 i A New Approach said. “In the future, one might be able to do both a video and a text search.” Copies of the original video are automatically created for the user that would allow him or her to connect to the Internet at different speeds (cable, DSL). The benefits of developing a transcript that accompanies each video may not be apparent, but they are not to be underestimated. For example, if an instructor has an 8- or 9-minute video about a particular subject, but only wants to use 15 or 20 seconds for a lecture, DAMS would allow the instructor to locate the entire video, isolate the specific segment he or she wanted to use, electronically edit that segment, and then use the finished version in the lecture and possibly e-mail it...all without altering the original video. “We’re still trying to get some of the kinks out of the system we’re experimenting with that involves trying to develop transcripts from the video,” Bruell said. “For example, the phrase ‘dental plaque’ might appear in a transcript as ‘dental flag.’ Obviously, that’s not correct, but it’s an example of what still needs to be worked on.” A demonstration of DAMS was “a smashing success” at this spring’s meeting of the American Dental Education Association, said Dr. Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics. “Dentistry is highly visual and dental schools have always struggled with storing and retrieving images and video. The reaction we received at ADEA shows that we are leaders in solving this problem.” 30 A new continuing dental education course now being offered by the School of Dentistry could become a model for similar courses in the future. The course, Dental Care for People with Disabilities, gives dentists, specialists, and other oral health care providers an opportunity to learn from their home or office using a high-speed connection to the Internet. Although the School currently offers five online courses, this course breaks new ground by blending content with technology in several ways that are all interrelated. Major Benefits One of those major benefits is that all course materials are immediately available on the Web (www.dent.umich.edu/con_ed) after registration. Instead of signing up and then waiting several days to receive study materials that must be physically delivered to a home or office, one can immediately begin taking the course after successfully registering. A second major breakthrough is that video for the course is streamed. Several hours of video have been recorded and digitally edited. Streaming technology allows participants to view seminars and demonstrations of techniques. Interactive Case Studies Another unique feature of the course involves four case studies. DentalUM Fall Fall 2005 DentalUM 2005 t to Continuing Dental Education After viewing each case study, participants are asked, based on what they have seen and heard, to develop a treatment plan for each patient. Participants electronically submit that plan to course director, Dr. Samuel Zwetchkenbaum, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry. A f t e r re v i e w i n g t h e re s p o n s e s , Zwetchkenbaum e-mails his evaluations to each participant one or two business days later. If a section is successfully completed (scoring 70 percent or higher), the course participant can proceed to the next case study. For all Dentists “I would encourage all dentists to take this course to learn more about the best way to treat disabled patients,” Zwetchkenbaum said. “By watching each case study, submitting their own treatment plans, and having each plan individually evaluated, dentists have an opportunity to see how they can improve, or at least consider treating these patients with special needs if they’re not doing so already.” Zwetchkenbaum said the course will benefit dentists whose patients have cerebral palsy or other motor impairments. “It may also provide guidance when working with patients with acquired neurological conditions, such as Huntington’s disease or closed head injuries,” he added. DentalUM Fall Fall 2005 DentalUM 2005 Extensive Collaboration What also makes this course unique, according to Dr. Lynn Johnson, director of Dental Informatics, is the extensive collaboration that has taken place. “Our department has been working with the Office of Continuing Dental Education and the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery to provide an educational experience that goes beyond the typical classroom experience and can be made available to every practicing dentist,” she said. “I hope they take advantage of the unique opportunity this course offers.” Working with Zwetchkenbaum to develop the course were Dr. Daniel Jolly, a professor of clinical dentistry at Ohio State University and Dr. Clive Freedman, an associate clinical professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. Jolly and Friedman are past presidents of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health. Course Overview In his pioneering report on oral health in America issued in 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General noted disparities in oral health and care for those with developmental disabilities. Caring for these individuals is challenging for practitioners. However, successfully meeting those challenges can provide a great deal of satisfaction to everyone involved. Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities covers subjects important to oral health care practitioners including the philosophy of care, informed consent, examinations, and the use of protective restraints. Per Kjeldsen Much of the content for the continuing dental education course offered on the Internet, Dental Care for People with Disabilities, was developed in the School’s Digital Learning Laboratory. Dan Bruell (seated) and Dr. Sam Zwetchkenbaum review a section which allows participants to submit their treatment planning suggestions. 31 31 Keary Campbell Faculty Profile Dr. Josef Kolling First School of Dentistry Faculty Member in Nearly 25 Years to Serve as MDA President When he graduated with his dental degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry twenty-four years ago, Dr. Josef Kolling said he never gave any thought to becoming the president of any dental organization, much less a state-wide group. In May, Kolling became the first U-M School of Dentistry faculty member in nearly a quarter century to become the president of the Michigan Dental Association. The last dental school faculty member to lead the statewide organization was Dr. Robert Doerr who assumed the presidency of the MDA in April 1981. At the time, Doerr was a professor of dentistry and an associate dean. Since earning his DDS in 1981 and a master’s degree from Michigan three years later, Kolling has been active in dental organizations at local, state, and national levels. Before becoming MDA president, Kolling was president-elect, vice president, secretary, and served on both the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees. [See Selected Highlights, page 35.] “So I’ve had plenty of time to get ready for the issues I’ll be facing,” he said with a laugh during an interview shortly before his term as president began. How it Began “Getting involved in organized dentistry was something that was expected of me when I began working with my mentor and practice partner, Dr. Hugh Cooper (DDS 1951; MS, prosthodontics, 1954),” Kolling said. “Since then, I have found that being involved in organized dentistry has been a great way for me to give something back to the profession.” 32 DentalUM Fall 2005 The first member of his family to earn a college degree, Kolling said his interest in dentistry was sparked by his family dentist, Dr. Sidney Weber (DDS 1948), of Bloomfield Hills. “When I was 12 or 13, he gave me an opportunity to look over his shoulder as he worked on my younger brothers who came to him for their appointments. By the time I entered Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods, I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life,” Kolling said. Also influencing his decision was “the enjoyment I got out of working occlusion; Dr. Sig Ramfjord, who taught periodontics; Dr. Brien Lang, who taught removable prosthodontics; and Dr. Gerald Charbeneau, who taught operative dentistry. They were just a few of the giants of the profession who taught here when I was a student.” Kolling said others instructors who influenced him included Drs. Robert Lorey, George Myers, and Joe Clayton. “I credit both Drs. Lorey and Myers for encouraging me to become a clinical instructor, and Dr. Clayton for urging me to become involved in academic dentistry, even if for only a few hours a week,” he said. Daniel Edwards (DDS 1997) and Dr. Deborah Lisuall (BS, dental hygiene 1979; DDS 1983). Edwards, who is a member of the School’s Board of Governors, also teaches part-time at the School of Dentistry. [See story, pages 55-56.] “It’s the best of both worlds,” Kolling said about his dual role as a clinical instructor and private practitioner. “Many times I find that I can apply what I’ve learned or taught in one setting in the other environment, and that works out nicely for everyone involved,” he said. “Getting involved in organized dentistry was something that was expected of me when I began working with my mentor and practice partner, Dr. Hugh Cooper. Since then, I have found that being involved in organized dentistry has been a great way for me to give something back to the profession.” with my hands and fixing small appliances around the house. That gave me opportunities to diagnose problems and develop creative solutions, which is what dentists do all the time.” Kolling entered the U-M School of Dentistry in 1977 prior to completing his studies for a degree in chemistry at the University of Detroit. Great Teachers at Michigan “Looking back, what continues to amaze me is the caliber of the instructors we had,” he said. “At the time, I don’t think many of us who were students fully appreciated who was teaching us until we got out into the real world and began talking to colleagues who then became a bit jealous of our good fortune when we told them where we went to school.” He said the list of instructors “included Dr. Major Ash who taught DentalUM Fall 2005 What made a lasting impression on him, Kolling said, “was the way they all taught and how they treated students and patients. They treated everyone with respect and were always sharing their knowledge with those of us who were new to dentistry. Their example, in turn, inspired me to do the same in my role as a clinical instructor,” he said. Watching Change Unfold Three days a week, from 9:00 a.m. until noon, Kolling teaches prosthodontics to third- and fourth- year dental students in the 3 Blue Clinic. When he’s not there, he’s practicing general dentistry in Ann Arbor. After practicing downtown with Cooper for 24 years, Kolling established a new practice this summer, Oak Valley Dental Associates, in southwest Ann Arbor. With him are two U-M graduates, Dr. Teaching at the School of Dentistry has also given Kolling a front-row seat to watch the continuing evolution of the profession. The changes are something he has mentioned on many occasions. “Dentistry is now more diverse than when I was a student,” he said. “Today you see almost as many women as men entering our School studying to become dentists. You also see the number of minority students entering the profession is higher than it was before, and you also see how technology continues to evolve and how it’s applied in novel ways in classrooms and clinics. As a faculty member who sees this taking place day in and day out, I often tell our members, ‘this is the reality of what’s taking place now, so as an organization, let’s be prepared for the future’.” 33 Keary Campbell Acknowledging School of Dentistry Leaders In his MDA Presidential acceptance speech, Dr. Josef Kolling paid tribute to administrators and faculty members who have mentored him. Excerpts of his remarks are below... I also need to acknowledge the support and encouragement given to me by Deans Bernie Machen, Bill Kotowicz, and Peter Polverini, as well as my department chairs Brien Lang, Christian Stohler, Robert Bradley, and Paul Krebsbach who were my bosses at the U-M dental school for the past eight years I served on the MDA board. I have been a part-time faculty member . . . and these men all assured me that my involvement with MDA was important, and it would never jeopardize my teaching position. Without that support, I could not have done this. So for all who believe that full-time faculty and school administrators don’t care about organized dentistry, I can tell you that they do. I also want to thank my students who were impacted by my absences from the clinic. I know it was inconvenient for them, and I would like to think they understood. My current students think it’s pretty cool having the MDA President as an instructor. I think it’s pretty cool seeing so many former students in this House of Delegates. I must acknowledge and thank Dr. Hugh Cooper who has been my biggest mentor and friend for 24 years. He accepted me into his practice as an associate right out of dental school in 1981. I was the last in a long line of associates who worked for him while completing graduate studies at U-M... Hugh urged me to become involved in organized dentistry. ...Thank you, Hugh, for everything you have done for dentistry, and for me. I doubt I would be standing up here today if you had not become a part of my life and started me on this path. I want to thank my wife, Barb, and my children, Joe and Christina, who understood the importance of a dentist’s active participation with the profession and supported my decision to get involved with the MDA. 34 Prior to starting an initial clinical examination of her patient, dental student Kathy Verhay reviews the patient’s medical and dental history with Dr. Joe Kolling. Don’t Wait Kolling is aware of the challenges he faces as MDA president. One is workforce issues that involves dentists who are retiring or about to retire, as well as those who are entering the profession. Another is disparities in oral health care. Others include how the state’s finances and budget cuts will affect the dental school’s programs, personnel, and its ability to attract highly qualified students to Michigan. Kolling’s philosophy is straightforward. “My attitude is: If there’s an important problem that needs to be addressed, deal with it now, don’t wait,” he said. Not only does he hear about the challenges facing dentistry from those at the dental school and other dentists across Michigan, but Kolling also gets a different professional perspective from his wife, Barbara, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in dental hygiene from U-M in 1983. She served for six years on the Board of Directors of the School’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association, including a one- year term as president. “We met at a dance group in Detroit the summer before I began dental school and not long after she finished high school,” he said. “But it wasn’t until after we began dating that we learned we both were interested in a career in dentistry.” Kolling said his wife has provided some valuable insights about the dental profession, but from the perspective of a dental hygienist. “Those are insights I may not have received, and they’re helpful because they are always focused on what’s best for the profession and the patient,” he said. “The dental profession has its share of challenges now, and there will be challenges in the future,” Kolling said. “But students here at Michigan have many opportunities ahead of them. It’s a great time for a student to become a dentist, just as it was for me in 1981.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Dr. Josef Kolling Professional Achievements Selected Highlights Education • Doctor of Dental Surgery, University of Michigan School of Dentistry (1981) • Master of Science; Restorative Dentistry, Crown and Bridge; University of Michigan School of Dentistry (1984) Academic Appointments • Clinical Instructor, U-M School of Dentistry (1981-1982) • Assistant Professor, U-M School of Dentistry (1984-1991) • Adjunct Assistant Professor, U-M School of Dentistry (1991-1996) • Adjunct Associate Professor, U-M School of Dentistry (1996 to present) Professional Affiliations and Leadership Roles • Senior Dental Class Officer, Vice President (1980-1981) • Omicron Kappa Upsilon, Chi Chapter (1981 to present) • American Dental Association (1981 to present) - Alternate Delegate from Michigan to ADA House of Delegates (1995, 1997, 1998) - Delegate to ADA House of Delegates (1999-2005) - Chair, Michigan Delegation to House of Delegates (2004) • Michigan Dental Association (1981 to present) - Peer Review Committee (1990-1996), Chairman (1995-1996), Consultant (1996-1997) - Chairman, House of Delegates Credentials Committee (1995) - Finance Committee (1999-2002) - Board of Trustees (1997-2005) - Executive Committee (2002-2005) - Secretary (2002-2003) - Vice President (2003-2004) - President-elect (2004-2005) - President (May 2005 to May 2006) DentalUM Fall 2005 DentalUM Fall 2005 • Washtenaw District Dental Society (1981 to present) - Chairman, Public Relations Committee (1987-1988) - Executive Board liaison to Committee on Insurance (1993-1995), Peer Review Ethics Committee (1993-1995), Membership Committee (1994-1995) - WDDS Delegate to MDA House of Delegates (1991-1996); Chairman, WDDS delegation (1992) - Chair, Nominations Committee (1997-1998) - Treasurer (1993-1994) - Secretary (1994-1995) - President-elect (1995-1996) - President (1996-1997) • F.B. Vedder Society of Crown and Bridge Prosthodontics (1984 to present) - Chair, Local Arrangements Committee (1993-1994) - Treasurer (1995-1996) - President-elect (1996-1997) - President (1997-1998) Honors and Awards • Clinical Instructor of the Year Award, Class of 1990 • Alumni of the Year Award, Alpha Chapter of Delta Sigma Delta (1991) • Clinical Instructor of the Year Award, Class of 2001 • American College of Dentists (1998) • International College of Dentists (October 2005) 35 35 Faculty NEWS Jan Hu New Director of Pediatric Dentistry Dr. Jan Hu recently became the new director of pediatric dentistry following the retirement this summer of Dr. Lloyd (Bud) Straffon. Dr. Sunil Kapila, chair of the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, made the announcement this spring. “With her exceptional research and teaching credentials, I am certain Dr. Hu will lead the pediatric dentistry section of our department to even greater heights,” Kapila said. “I look forward to working closely with her to continue building on our already strong clinical and academic programs and to further develop our department’s research.” Education Background Hu received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from National Taiwan University in 1985. Three years later, she received a specialty certificate in pediatric dentistry from USC and, in 1990, a PhD in craniofacial biology from the same school. Following her training, Hu was a postdoctoral fellow in craniofacial molecular biology and a clinical assistant professor at USC. In 1993, she joined the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Six years later, she was named an associate professor with tenure. She came to Ann Arbor in 2002 as an associate professor with tenure. Research Interests and Service Hu’s research focuses on the regulation of tooth formation and genetic mutations associated with dental structures. Her clinical interests are in the area of craniofacial anomalies and special patient care among pediatric dental patients. In addition to her research and teaching, Hu holds several positions in professional societies, including the Science Affairs Committee of the American Association of Pediatric Dentistry, and on two editorial boards, the Journal of Dental Research and the Journal of Pediatric Dentistry. Hu is board certified by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and is a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the national dental honor society. This spring, Hu received one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for dental research, the Gies Award, for the best paper published in the Journal of Dental Research. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, pages 62-63.] Straffon Praised Kapila praised Straffon for his years of service to the School of Dentistry. “I want to thank Dr. Straffon for his 37 years of selfless service, dedication, and contributions to our department and the dental school,” Kapila said. Straffon said he and his wife plan to continue to live in the Ann Arbor area, but may venture to a warmer climate during the winter months. Some travel, both in the U.S. and overseas may also take place, including trips to the Denver area to visit their two sons. 36 Dr. Jan Hu Johnston to Receive AAO Award Dr. Lysle Johnston will receive the Louise Ada Jarabak Memorial International Orthodontic Teachers and Research Award next spring. The award will be presented during the AAO’s 106th annual session that runs from April 28 to May 3. The award from the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation honors individuals who have made significant contributions to teaching and research during their careers as orthodontists. This spring, Johnston received the School’s Distinguished Service Award. [See story, page 59.] DentalUM Fall 2005 Bagramian External Examiner in Singapore D’Silva in ADEA Leadership Institute Dr. Robert Bagramian spent two weeks in Singapore this June as one of three external examiners at the National University of Singapore. He was invited by the school to help test a group of 35 graduating dental students. The other two external examiners were from Maryland and London, England. “Graduating dental students at the National University of Singapore take a series of rigorous examinations, including a written exam, a clinical exam, and a combination oral and clinical exam,” he said. “It’s a pretty intense period of time for the students since the exams are spread out over two weeks.” However, it wasn’t Bagramian’s first time at the National University. In 1992, he spent three months there as a visiting professor and returned on several occasions years later. Nor was it the first time Bagramian was a national examiner in Asia. He participated in a similar event at the dental school in Malaysia in 1997. Nisha D’Silva, an assistant professor in the Department of Oral Medicine, Pathology, and Oncology, will be participating in the ADEA’s Leadership Institute during the next year. She was selected for the 12-month course in March. The program, now in its sixth year, is designed to develop the nation’s most promising dental faculty to become future leaders in dental and higher education. Three years ago, D’Silva collaborated with others to create the School’s “Digital Microscopes” Dr. Nisha D’Silva initiative. Using the World Wide Web, the School of Dentistry’s intranet, and a computer, dental students use their monitors as surrogate microscopes and view images of more than 50 different tissues. The tissues, which had been collected from patients who have been treated for an array of maladies at the School’s clinics since 1940, can be viewed at any time and at any place there’s a computer, rather than during a designated three-hour lab session. This approach to education has saved significant time for students and faculty and has also eliminated the need for physical laboratory space and saved money since microscopes no longer need to be repaired or replaced. D’Silva also has a major role in the Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant as director of the head and neck cancer tissue core. In this role, she co-manages development of a patient database and the collection, storage, and distribution of patient tissue and blood samples to gain a better understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind malignant tumor behavior. The first phase of the leadership program began in June with a self-study on organizational theory and leadership in higher education. The second phase, which began in September, focused on legislative issues affecting dental education and included visits to congressional and senate offices. The third phase, which begins in mid-January, will address administrative skills needed to become effective leaders. The final phase takes place next spring at the ADEA’s annual program in Orlando, Florida. “The Leadership Institute will provide me with tools I will be able to use presently and in the future as my career develops,” D’Silva said. “I am excited to be a part of the program and to be mentored by Drs. Peter Polverini and Marilyn Lantz.” Dr. Robert Bagramian DentalUM Fall 2005 37 Faculty NEWS Ma Featured in Whitaker Foundation Annual Report The research being conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Ma, an associate professor in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, was featured in this year’s annual report from the Whitaker Foundation. The foundation is the country’s largest private sponsor of biomedical engineering and biomedical research and education. The story features Ma’s work that involves creating synthetic scaffolds. The feature is available on the Web at: www.whitaker.org/news/peterma. html. T aylor on IADR/AADR Publications Committee Dr. George Taylor has been elected as an AADR representative to the IADR/AADR Publications Committee. As a member-at-large, Taylor and other committee members review the quality and financial status of the Journal of Dental Research and other publications owned jointly by IADR/AADR. His term ends in 2008. 38 Oral Cancer Campaign Urges Detroiters to Get Checked Under the leadership of Dr. Amid Ismail, a professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics, the Detroit Oral Cancer Prevention Project has launched a citywide campaign to lower the oral cancer death rate in that city. Detroit has one of the highest rates of oral cancer in the nation. According to a recent study, 46 percent of all deaths from oral cancer in Michigan occur in the Detroit area. In African-American men, Detroit reported an oral cancer rate of 31 cases per 100,000 people, which was the highest rate reported among all states. With one of the highest incidence and mortality rates of oral cancer in the state, the Detroit area had only 35 percent of its oral cancer cases detected at an early stage. “Our best hope for decreasing the rate of oral cancer is to get Detroiters in for a screening,” Ismail said. “If caught early, oral cancer has a 90 percent cure rate.” By contrast, the effects of later-stage oral cancer treatments can be devastating. Some patients require full or partial removal of the tongue, teeth, gums, or oral tissues. Among the risk factors of oral cancer are tobacco use, moderate or heavy alcohol use, a diet low in fruits and vegetables, lack of access to early screening and dental care, and poor oral hygiene. The Detroit Oral Cancer Prevention Program seeks to reduce the death rate for oral cancer by half in the next five years. The campaign, Get Checked Before It’s Too Late, includes billboards, radio, and newspaper ads all urging Detroiters to call a toll-free number (877-7CHECKED) for an oral cancer screening. The screenings provided through the project are painless and free of charge. “Bottom line, we want everyone to know that oral cancer is preventable. It’s treatable,” Ismail said, “but it must be caught early.” Funding for the oral cancer project has been provided by a five-year grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Per Kjeldsen DentalUM Fall 2005 125 Get Fitted at Annual Mouth Guard Clinic Jerry Mastey Dental and dental hygiene students worked with School of Dentistry faculty members in mid-July to make mouth guards for 125 student athletes from across Michigan. Third-year dental student Erica Frando who coordinated the event, said more than 60 registered during the first 10 minutes. Student athletes five and older came from Ann Arbor, Saline, Whitmore Lake, Belleville, West Bloomfield, and other communities. They plan to use their customized protective gear this fall and winter for sports including football, soccer, and ice hockey. U-M students who participated in the annual event said they enjoyed providing the service to the community. “I’m doing this because I enjoy volunteer work, and this seemed like it would be a fun thing do,” said third-year dental student James Powell. Another third-year dental student, Kim Dao, said this was her first time helping at the annual clinic. “I heard it was fun and I wanted to be involved,” she said. Parents were equally enthusiastic. For Sheila Monroe’s son, Andrew, it was the third time he had been to the clinic to be fitted for a customized mouth guard. “He plays travel ice hockey, and the other two he’s had made here in the past have worked out, so we’re back again,” she said. Also during the event, the dangers of using spit tobacco were mentioned to the young athletes. In addition to a poster board displaying adverse effects from using spit tobacco, Joan McGowan, associate professor of dental hygiene, talked to the student athletes and answered their questions. DentalUM Fall 2005 Third-year dental student Gwendolyn Buck tells 13-year-old Royce White how his mouth guard will be made after taking his impression. Jerry Mastey Third-year dental student James Powell prepares the compound that will be used to take an impression for a student athlete. Jerry Mastey For Andrew Monroe, this summer’s mouth guard clinic was the third time he has been to the U-M School of Dentistry to be fitted. Fourth-year dental student Emily Da Silva shows him his oral impression and explains how the mouth guard will be made. 39 Bay Cliff Health Camp Jerry Mastey I t was a week they will always remember. Three fourth-year dental students – Erin Kloostra, Jennifer Larson, and Aimee Snell – and two third-year pediatric dental residents – Dr. James Thomas and Dr. Aleco Tujios – will never forget providing oral health care to physically disabled children and adolescents at the Bay Cliff Health Camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The memories of their experiences, however, will include more than the care they provided in the camp’s three operatories. They will also remember the good-natured banter with patients... conversations with counselors and patients on many topics in the camp’s 18,000 square foot dining facility referred to as “The Big House”...and seeing smiles on the faces of more than two dozen teens nattily attired in tuxedos and dresses for a formal dinner at a nearby landmark and prom in the camp’s gymnasium that was transformed into a dance hall in late July. About 30 minutes northwest of Marquette, the Bay Cliff Health Camp 40 The Experience was originally built as a dairy farm in the early 1900s. Abandoned d u r i n g t h e G re a t Depression, the 180-acre site was purchased by Bay Cliff and reopened in 1934 with the intent to serve malnourished children who lived in the Upper Peninsula. With the outbreak of polio in the 1940s, the camp adopted a mission of improving the lives of children and young adults with orthopedic, speech, hearing, visual, or other physical disabilities. That mission continues today. “For seven weeks, from mid June to early August, more than 160 persons with disabilities, ranging in age from 3 to 17, come here for an opportunity to develop the skills they need to become independent and to learn to live a fuller life,” said camp director, Tim Bennett. M o re t h a n 1 2 5 i n d i v i d u a l s , including staff members, therapists, physicians, nurses, pediatric dentists, and dental students provide services at the site. The Personal Touch “About 80 or 85 percent of the children who come to Bay Cliff only see the dentist when they are here. So, for most of them, this means receiving oral health care only once a year. That’s why it’s important for us to work hard to try to address all their oral health needs during the short time we are here,” said Tujios, who was at the camp as a dental student in the summer of 2002. Kloostra, Larson, and Snell each treated between four and six patients daily. “The pace here is different than at the clinics in Ann Arbor,” Larson said. “Depending on what needs to be done, here you can treat patients rather quickly. But if you need help or have a question, the residents are only a few feet away.” Talking to the kids in language they understand is important. One morning, 10-year-old Dylan sits down in a dental chair. As Larson moves the chair into a reclining position, Thomas tries to explain to Dylan what will happen. “We’re going to fix a big hole in one of your teeth caused by the sugar bugs,” Thomas says. “If we don’t take the sugar bugs out, your tooth will hurt, just like your finger does when it gets a sliver. Does that make sense?” “Uh-huh,” Dylan responds. The work begins. But there are moments of humor too. After Thomas finishes his work, he positions the dental chair so Dylan can now sit up and leave. But Dylan says he feels dizzy. “I hear you, Dylan, but I think you’re dizzy because you put your shoes on the wrong feet,” Thomas says with a grin. DentalUM Fall 2005 Jerry Mastey of a Lifetime Jerry Mastey Tim Bennett, executive director and camp director, Bay Cliff Health Camp. Dylan smiles, sits for a few moments, gets up, and then leaves. Hanging Out with the Kids The repartee is an important way of connecting with patients. “But it just doesn’t take place in the office,” Kloostra said. “We make it a point to hang out with the kids and talk to them at breakfast, lunch, and dinner so they see us as regular people, not just someone who only works on problems they have in their mouths.” B e n n e t t , t h e c a m p d i re c t o r, agrees. “Part of what we try to do is to get the kids to see dentists as people. That’s why they sing with the kids, have lunch with them, or toast marshmallows around the campfire with them at night,” he said. That approach pays off. One morning, 7-year-old Cody, wearing an orange shirt and pink DentalUM Fall 2005 shorts, opens the door to the dental office and walks in a few minutes before her scheduled appointment. Thomas, who’s looking at the day’s schedule, turns around to extend a hand. As he does, Cody slaps it and begins talking to Kloostra who says, “You’re going to be seeing Miss Aimee today.” Cody casually walks a few steps to the entrance of the clinic where Snell is working on a patient and asks, “What ya doing?” Snell replies, “I’m getting the sugar bugs out of John’s mouth.” Cody smiles, shrugs her shoulders, and walks away. Afterwards, Kloostra says, “My experiences here at Bay Cliff are exactly geared for what I want to do and what Aimee wants to do after we receive our dental degrees.” The final week in July, however, was different than earlier weeks. A buzz was in the air as teens began talking about “the big night,” going to the prom on July 28. Formal Wear, Dinner, and Prom Around mid-afternoon, the young men and women begin getting dressed in formal wear provided by a local clothing store. Bennett, the camp director, arrives and looks at them and says, “This is your big night, gentlemen. How do you feel?” “Good” they reply in unison. Twelve-year-old Brittany is all smiles after being treated by dental student Jennifer Larson. Lending a hand were dental residents Dr. Jim Thomas (left) and Dr. Aleco Tujios. After giving some advice about the corsage each will give to his date, Bennett smiles, gives them a thumbs up, and says, “This is your night. Have fun.” The young men proceed one at a time to a nearby building to meet their dates. As they do, they are first greeted by younger girls who are screaming and women who are applauding. Noah, who’s leading the men, grins from ear to ear. “I’m excited,” he says. When the young men meet their dates and present them with corsages, the couples are directed to a bus that will take them to the nearby Thunder Bay Inn for dinner. The Inn was the site of filming the 1950s movie, “Anatomy of a Murder” which starred James Stewart, Lee Remick, and Ben Gazzara, and was directed and produced by Otto Preminger. Some couples walk arm-in-arm towards two camp buses. Others ride side-by-side in their wheelchairs holding hands or interlocking one or more fingers. All are smiling and are greeted by applause from the dental students, camp staffers, and others. But as the couples leave, a female counselor in the background shouts in jest to the men, “What time will you be home with my girl tonight?” Laughter echoes across the camp. At dinner, Andy Rhoden and his 41 For More Information about Bay Cliff Health Camp: Web site: www.baycliff.org E-mail: baycliffhc@aol.com Write: P.O. Box 310, Big Bay, MI 49808 Phone: (906) 345-9314 Jerry Mastey “For many of these kids, this is the only time in their lives that they will have an opportunity to get dressed up, go to a formal dinner, and then go to the prom,” said camp director Tim Bennett. Jerry Mastey date, Emily Gretens, talk about “the event” – dinner and the prom. It was a “first” for both. Andy, who is 15, has been coming to Bay Cliff for 12 years. “But this is the best year yet because of the prom,” he says smiling. After dinner, the couples return to the gymnasium which has been transformed into a dance hall. “ Walk ing without a Walker” Upon entering the gym, each couple is greeted by applause from nearly 30 individuals. The couples are instructed to pause briefly so they can 42 be introduced by name and have their pictures taken. As the couples enter, flashes from dozens of digital cameras pierce the darkness. The flashes of light from the cameras remind one of the paparazzi taking pictures of Hollywood movie stars. However, Hollywood movie stars can’t hold a candle next to the smiles of these kids who are absolutely radiant and enjoying their all-too-brief moment in the spotlight after working day in and day out for years to combat their physical disabilities. “For many of these kids, it will be the only time in their lives that they will have an opportunity to get dressed up, go to a formal dinner, and then go to the prom,” Bennett says. As 17-year-old Ryan Scaggs enters the gym with his date, Bennett’s eyes begin welling with tears. “He reached his goal. All week he practiced for this moment. It was the first time he walked without his walker and with a pretty girl in his arms,” Bennett says. School of Dentistry Alumnus and Wife Help Watching with more than passing interest is School of Dentistry alumnus, Dr. Bud Kipka (DDS 1973), and his wife, Kris. “I came to Marquette to start a dental practice after spending two years in the Navy,” he said. “They needed a dentist to help at the camp, so I said I’d be willing to lend a hand. I’ve been at it ever since.” Kris, a Saline native with a background in food service, became the camp’s baker not long after Bud became the camp’s dentist. She was also instrumental in designing Bay Cliff ’s new dental offices which opened earlier this summer. During the past 30 years, the couple has provided dental care, served as consultants, and helped recruit staff. Bennett hopes Bay Cliff Health Camp can be open more than five or six months. To make that dream a reality, a $7.5 million fundraising campaign is underway. Funds will be used to winterize the camp’s facilities so they are usable 12 months a year; upgrade facilities to meet all requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act; update and renovate all of the camp’s therapy, living, and camping facilities; and expand the number of Michigan residents who can be served. As they discussed their experiences, Kloostra, Larson, Snell, Tujios, and Thomas offered nothing but praise for the camp’s administrators, counselors, and patients. Thomas perhaps summed it up best. “As a dental student, I thought Bay Cliff was the best outreach program the dental school could offer,” he said. “My experiences here prompted me to consider a career as a pediatric dentist.” Thomas graduates in January and will become an associate at a practice in Seattle. He would also like to return to Bay Cliff every four or five years for one week to provide care. “He’ll be welcome with open arms,” said Bennett. “So too will others from the University of Michigan dental school.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Photo courtesy of Dr. Richard Mathewson Professor Emeritus Richard Mathewson Recalls Experiences at Bay Cliff In this photo, taken during the summer of 1964, Dr. Richard Mathewson (left) works on a youngster at the Bay Cliff Health Camp. Note the lift insert, made from wood and canvas, under the child. For more than forty years, the U-M School of Dentistry has been providing oral health care services to the developmentally disabled at the Bay Cliff Health Camp just outside of Marquette. A School of Dentistry alumnus, Dr. Richard Mathewson (DDS 1959), was one of those who provided care during the summer of 1964. “It was a wonderful clinical experience and a turning point in my pediatric dentistry profession,” he said. From 1963 to 1965, Mathewson was a Mott fellow in pediatric dentistry. In the summer of 1964, Mott Children’s Dental Clinic asked him to go to the camp to expand the screening program that emphasized “dental repair,” that is, first treating those needing emergency care and later correcting other oral health problems. “The first time I provided dental care to these children with developmental disabilities I was apprehensive internally, but kind and confident outwardly,” Mathewson said. “And although I was using what is now considered primitive equipment, the approach I adopted bolstered my enthusiasm and confidence and became a lifetime clinical philosophy.” Memories of the Experience Still Vivid The experience at Bay Cliff is still etched in Mathewson’s mind. “After forty-plus years, I can close my eyes and still see the clinical setup,” he said. Mathewson said an opthalmologist donated the original large “dental chair” that was used. “To adjust the height of the children who were in the chair, a lift insert, made from wood and canvas, was used. We also used a beautiful donated cherrywood mail cabinet from the post office to store dental supplies.” A portable x-ray unit was used, as was a new procedure – using a lead apron at the time x-rays were taken. “To develop the x-rays,” Mathewson said, “we made a ‘developing tank’ from an old truck motor battery and used a bathroom as our ‘dark room’, ” he added. Mathewson’s experiences at Bay Cliff Health Camp were memorable for another reason. He and his wife, Alice, a registered nurse, premedicated those needing extra help and, after completing the dental care, “she would take the children next door to our ‘suite’ and care for them.” At the end of the summer program in 1964, Mathewson and his wife returned to the Lower Michigan. “During the fall and winter, the staff that lived in the Detroit area had several potluck reunions and had a great time recalling our experiences.” “The Bay Cliff Health Camp dental patient care experiences, and camp experiences with the staff, influenced the life-long care I provided for children and adults with developmental disabilities,” he said. This spring, Mathewson, a professor emeritus of pediatric dentistry, was honored by the Oklahoma Association of Pediatric Dentists and the faculty of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry for his contributions to the profession and that university’s dental school. DentalUM Fall 2005 43 During the academic year, fourth-year dental students provide oral health care at eight community clinics across Michigan as a part of their education. AEGD residents provide oral health care in Jackson. • Baldwin (Baldwin Family Health Center) • Grand Rapids (Cherry Street Health Services) • Grand Rapids (Ferguson Street Health Services) • Jackson (Center for Family Health) • Muskegon (Hackley Community Care Center) • Saginaw (Bayside Dental Clinic) • Saginaw (Wadsworth Dental Clinic) • Traverse City (Dental Clinics North) Traverse City Baldwin Muskegon Grand Rapids Saginaw Jackson 6,345Patients... School’s Outreach Program Helping H ow much of a difference is the School of Dentistry’s outreach program making in communities across Michigan? Consider the numbers. From July 2004 through April 2005, fourth-year dental students treated 6,345 patients and performed 12,312 procedures at eight different sites across Michigan. Procedures included general restorative dentistry, emergency care, extractions, sealants, and more. During a presentation to members of the School’s Alumni Society Board of Governors this spring, Dr. Stephen Stefanac, associate dean for patient services, whose responsibilities include supervising the outreach program, said the program is very popular. “Even before being admitted to Michigan, prospective dental students want to know how they can participate in the community outreach program,” he said. Dental students now in the program, he said, are so enthused that the amount of time they spend providing oral health care outside the School’s clinics in Ann Arbor may increase from three weeks to four weeks. Why the Program is Popular There are many reasons the program is popular. One is demographics. “Our students frequently provide 44 oral health care to patients they typically don’t see in clinics here in Ann Arbor,” Stefanac said. “So they get broader-based, real world experiences that prepare them for what they will experience once they graduate.” The program is also successful because of “the two-way evaluations that are conducted at all the sites. Students evaluate the sites and the people they work with. In turn, the people at the sites evaluate our students,” he said. Earlier this year, Dr. Robert Bagramian, a professor of dentistry who directs the Summer Migrant Dental Clinic Program in the Traverse City area, visited the eight sites to evaluate each site and get feedback from clinic administrators. Tremendous Confidence “Dental students who return to Ann Arbor after being at these clinics come back with a tremendous amount of confidence,” he said. “They take charge and become more productive.” J.P. Miller, the student’s representative on the Board, agreed. “The students I know who have been to these sites do great work and help two to three times more patients once they return,” he said. Miller, who graduated in May, is now a public health dentist in Philadelphia. DentalUM Fall 2005 Keary Campbell Dr. Stephen Stefanac, associate dean for patient services, thanks community outreach partners from across Michigan for participating in the School’s outreach program. 12,312Procedures Those in Need “I think the reason I’m now in public health dentistry is because of my outreach experiences in Traverse City and Saginaw,” he said. “It was a valuable experience for me. I hope it gets other students to consider careers in public health dentistry.” The program is also popular among those who are at the clinic sites. Stefanac said he often receives requests from officials at community clinics asking if they can become sites where U-M dental students can help. “However, before we say ‘yes,’ we ask these officials to come here to see what we do and how we do it,” he said. “We also tell them there are certain bedrock principles that we have and certain things that will be expected of an outreach site before they’re officially added.” More outreach sites may be added in the future. The outreach program offers an array of experiences for all levels of students within the dental school, including dental, dental hygiene, and graduate students. The School of Dentistry is involved in other community outreach initiatives during the year. Once the academic year ends, dental students also have an opportunity to participate in other outreach initiatives including the Summer Migrant Dental Clinic in the Traverse City area and the Bay Cliff Health Camp northwest of Marquette. [See story, pages 40-43.] DentalUM Fall 2005 Outreach Partners Praised It’s the highlight for many dental and dental hygiene students as well as AEGD residents during their studies at the U-M School of Dentistry – treating patients at community clinics throughout the state. That sentiment was voiced to the School’s community outreach partners during a retreat last fall at the Michigan League. The annual event gives both School and outreach administrators an opportunity to discuss the highlights of the program as well as ways to enhance the program so that the experience is even more meaningful for students, outreach clinic administrators and their staff, and patients treated at those clinics. Among those participating in the one-day program were clinic administrators from Muskegon Heights, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Traverse City, Jackson, and Baldwin. “You’re very important to our dental education program,” said Dr. Stephen Stefanac, associate dean for patient services, who is in charge of the outreach program. He said the program gives dental school students new opportunities to meet and treat a different demographic of patients than they typically encounter at the School’s clinics. Dr. Marilyn Lantz, associate dean for academic affairs, told the outreach partners,“Your cooperation is incredibly important to our School and our students. In fact, when they return after being at your site, our students rave about their experiences. We can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing.” She noted that some students have changed their career paths as a result of their experiences. [DentalUM, Fall 2004, pages 22-25; Spring 2003, pages 15-17.] Fourth-year dental students treat patients at clinics at selected sites across Michigan in three, one-week rotations. Dental hygiene students are also involved, participating in a single, one-week rotation. 45 45 Alumnus Profile Joel Egnater DDS 1983 Reaching Out... in Southeast Michigan and South Africa Dr. Joel Egnater will be very busy between now and March 2007 if he hopes to realize his dream of opening a group of dental clinics in South Africa to provide oral health care to AIDS/HIV patients. His dream received a major boost this spring when it was endorsed by four very influential groups in that country — the government of South Africa’s Department of Health and Human Services, the Lions Club of South Africa, the Community Dentistry branch of the University of Western Cape, and the University of Stellenbosch Dental School. The two universities are approximately 5 and 25 miles, respectively, from Cape Town. “My dream is coming true!,” he exclaimed when he learned of their endorsement. “They want the clinics to be up and running around the time I will be completing my course requirements next fall for my master’s in public health here at the University of Michigan,” he said. Egnater not only wants to establish the clinics and run them, but eventually teach in the doctoral program at the University of Western Cape. Photo courtesy of U-M School of Public Health and Peter Smith 46 DentalUM Fall 2005 Egnater, who earned his DDS from the U-M School of Dentistry in 1983, is a man in perpetual motion. In addition to working on his master’s degree in public health, he also runs a full-time solo practice in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and is the director of the Southeast Michigan HIV/AIDS Coalition. He was nominated to the board of directors last year. From Huntington Woods to South Africa Since several of his friends have died from HIV/AIDS, Egnater said he has tried to help these patients as much as he does his other patients. Over the years, friends as well as other dentists from across Michigan have referred HIV/AIDS patients to him. However, Egnater’s work extends beyond Southeast Michigan. It now reaches to South Africa. About every three months, he boards a plane for South Africa to provide oral health care, usually for two or three weeks, to help patients with the same malady. A safari vacation Egnater took two years ago spurred him to action. During the first day of the vacation, Egnater went to Soweto in Johannesburg. “I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “The lack of services for people in need, the destitution, the poverty, they were all overwhelming. Most of those in Soweto live in shacks that have tin roofs, dirt floors, and no indoor plumbing.” After the safari ended, Egnater traveled to Cape Town. He found it to be an area full of contrasts. Purchasing a Home in Cape Town The geography and beauty of the area were offset by the living conditions. “A family of four lives on about $50 a month, so the chances of living a better life are pretty slim for most people,” he said. A plan to do something about what he had seen was already percolating because before leaving, Egnater purchased a home in Cape Town. “Seeing the conditions, I wanted to return and find a way to make a difference,” he said. Searching the Internet back in Michigan, Egnater was dismayed to learn that little, if any public health dentistry was available to those needing it most. “I decided I would try to do something, no matter how small,” he reservations, dustbowl towns in the Midwest, and some of the poorest urban areas of large American cities. I began thinking the same approach could work in South Africa,” he said. To provide the care he envisioned, Egnater had to create a foundation. “I didn’t have a clue about how to set one up,” he said with a smile, “so I began asking a lot of questions of people I knew. Fortunately, one of the courses I’m taking for my master’s degree addresses some of those issues, such as writing grant proposals.” In time, Egnater developed the framework of a plan that would provide emergency dental care, dental maintenance, and early prevention of dental disease. “ This is not the first dental intervention project proposed in the Cape Town area,” he said. “Clinics already exist to serve the poor. Unfortunately, “This is the kind of dentistry I love to do. It’s so rewarding, especially when I’m working with impoverished people and I can see the difference I’m making.” DentalUM Fall 2005 said. “As I began thinking about it more, I thought about some of my experiences here and the feeling I had knowing that I was making a difference in someone’s life, especially those with HIV/AIDS, who were coming to me for help.” As the months passed, Egnater’s plan began taking shape. Developing a Plan to Provide Oral Health Care “I remembered that mobile vehicles for dentistry were used extensively in America, especially Appalachia, during the Great Depression, and that they were later used at Native American even simple transportation and geographic unfamiliarity, as well as social bias toward HIV infected individuals, have left many of the poorest and unhealthiest South Africans without any dental care at all.” University, Government, Community Collaboration What his plan attempts to do is involve a group of diverse organizations – universities, government agencies, community leaders, and others – that will work together to provide basic and emergency dental treatment to people in their own neighborhoods. 47 Photos courtesy of Dr. Joel Egnater Dr. Joel Egnater he said he was so struck with the poverty he saw in Soweto that he decided to establish dental clinics in South Africa to provide oral health care to patients with HIV/AIDS. Egnater’s plan has five major goals: • Introducing dentistry to people who have not received oral health care. • Alleviating dental crisis situations. • Allowing public health researchers opportunities to gather inform- ation about the oral health care of those being treated. • Involving dentists and dental students in a program that exposes them to people in socio- economic situations they may not have experienced. 48 • Bringing community volunteers together to gain experience in establishing and running oral health care clinics in their communities. When he presented an outline of his plan to officials at the two universities, Egnater said “they were amazed” with the concept and the scope of what he was trying to achieve. So too were government officials and the leaders of the 18 different chapters of the Lions Club he addressed. With their approval, Egnater will spend time meeting community leaders when he returns to South Africa. “They have credibility with the local population that will help create awareness of the program and encourage them to come for the care they need.” He estimates the cost to r un the program will be about $40,000 annually. Funds will be used to purchase and equip vehicles, maintain them, as well as purchase needed dental equipment and supplies. His Cape Town home may also be used. “It has enough space to create an administrative office, if needed, and will be able to house visiting dental staff as well,” he said. “ It’s So Rewarding” In addition to recruiting dentists and dental assistants from the two universities, Egnater wants to recruit volunteers worldwide from dental organizations in the U.S., Africa, and other parts of the world. “I would love to set up more foundations like this elsewhere and teach others to do what I am doing,” he said. “My fondest hope is that if people see this program succeeding, then others will be inspired to create similar programs elsewhere.” Despite geographical distances, Egnater finds there is a common thread in volunteering to provide oral health care to needy patients in parts of Southeast Michigan and South Africa. “This is the kind of dentistry I love to do. It’s so rewarding, especially when I’m working with impoverished people and I can see the difference I’m making,” he said. “I’ve also noticed that people who go beyond their personal comfort zone and volunteer to help others are always happier than if they do something only for themselves.” Will Egnater slow down? If the past is any indication, the best response to that question is summed up in two words: no way. “Being this busy is not a hardship at all. In fact, this kind of dentistry is a source of joy, whether I’m helping in South Africa, the Cass Corridor in Detroit, or helping with the Ryan White Foundation,” he said. DentalUM Fall 2005 DentalUM Fall 2005 DEVELOPMENT Dr. Raymond Gist Gifts $100,000 for Dental Student Scholarships Remembering the past and trying to make a difference in the future. Those are the reasons Dr. Raymond Gist (DDS 1966) has gifted $100,000 to the U-M School of Dentistry for scholarships. Gist, who earlier served a one-year term as President of the Michigan Dental Association and was recently elected to a four-year term as an ADA Trustee, said he began considering the gift last fall. “I was the first in my family to go to college and graduate, so I know from personal experience about student debt. Except today, the amounts are so high they’re staggering,” he said. Gist said minority students will be the recipients of the scholarship that bears his name. “I want minority students to have the same chance I had, or even a better chance, of realizing their dream of becoming dentists and, in turn, go on to help others, especially those here in Michigan,” he said. In addition to running a private practice in Flint, Gist has been extensively involved in organized dentistry locally, state wide, and nationally. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2003, pages 29-32.] In October, he began service as the ADA’s Ninth District Trustee. During his four-year term, Gist will represent Michigan and Wisconsin. He has also returned to the dental school on many occasions including delivering the keynote address to first- year dental students at their White Coat Ceremony in the fall of 2003. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2004, pages 65-67.] DentalUM Fall 2005 Per Kjeldsen Dr. Raymond Gist addressed first-year dental students at the School of Dentistry’s White Coat Ceremony in 2003. “ Dramatic Differences” Addressing that group of students and talking to many of them afterwards made a lasting impression on him. “I was struck by what I saw,” he said. “There was a dramatic difference in the number of minority students and women aspiring to become dentists compared to when I was a student. I want my gift to continue encouraging diversity at the dental school.” 49 DEVELOPMENT Former Students Create H. Dean Millard “He was a great mentor who opened doors of opportunity that I probably wouldn’t have had without his help.” Dr. Wayne Colquitt H e made an indelible impression on students and faculty members who worked with him and for him. That’s why they wanted him to be recognized and remembered forever at the School he loves. Earlier this year, Drs. Jed Jacobson and Wayne Colquitt created the H. Dean Millard Scholarship Fund. Millard, who earned his dental degree at Michigan in 1952, and who was the first to receive a master’s degree in oral diagnosis in 1956, taught at the School of Dentistry from 1952 to1989. [See sidebar, page 52.] Serving Two Purposes The idea of creating the scholarship fund surfaced about four years ago. “When Wayne and I got together to talk about our days at the dental school, the conversation inevitably turned to the rising cost of dental education and the difference Dr. Millard made in our lives,” said Jacobson (DDS 1978, MS 1982) who is now vice president and dental director for Delta Dental Plans of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. “We thought establishing a scholarship in his name that would help students meet some of their financial obligations, as well as honor the legacy of a man who was a great person and a great instructor, was the perfect way to do both,” Jacobson said. Colquitt (DDS 1968, MS 1975), a professor emeritus who practices part-time near the dental school, agreed. “Opened Doors of Opportunity” “He had a significant impact on my life,” Colquitt said. “But I never thought of Dean Millard as my boss. To me, he was a great mentor who opened doors of opportunity that I probably wouldn’t have had without his help.” One of those opportunities was with Project Hope. “Dean arranged for me to take a year’s leave of absence from the dental school from 1975 to 1976 so I could go to Egypt and teach at dental schools at the University of Cairo and the University of Alexandria as a part of Project Hope,” Colquitt said. “Interestingly, both universities were using the textbook on oral diagnosis that was written by Dean Millard, Major Ash, and Don Kerr.” Jacobson recalled how Millard played a similar role in his professional growth. “In 1986, I received a Robert Wood Johnson postdoctoral fellowship for health services research at UCLA,” he said. “His enthusiasm and support for me are something I will never forget. Even though he knew he would be losing a faculty member for two years, Dean Millard phoned, wrote letters on my behalf, and told me that he wanted me to take that fellowship because it was in my best interest.” Colquitt said another overseas opportunity later affected one of his children. In the late 1970s, graduate students in Nigeria invited Millard to be an external examiner in oral diagnosis and radiology. “After Dean finished the first of three years there, he asked me if I would Photo courtesy of Dr. Wayne Colquitt 50 DentalUM Fall 2005 Scholarship Fund Photo courtesy of Dr. Wayne Colquitt Brooks said that Millard’s confidence in her was well founded, enabling her to take over for Professor Albert Richards when he retired. “I’m still teaching those courses 25 years later,” she said. In this 1970s photo, Dr. Wayne Colquitt teaches Egyptian students how to take panoramic x-rays. be willing to take his place for the next two years. I agreed,” Colquitt said. “My experiences in Egypt and Nigeria helped me to grow personally and professionally,” he said. “In fact, both of my children who went with me to Egypt later joined the Peace Corps. My son is working for a company doing work in Third World countries. It may not have happened without Dean Millard.” Dr. Sharon Brooks, a professor of dentistry, shared that sentiment. “He was very supportive of the people in his department,” she said. “Without him, I probably wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had.” Recalling a radiology instructor who retired in 1978, Brooks said, “Dr. Millard pointed at me and said, ‘You’re going to teach the graduate courses.’ But when I protested and said I didn’t know the subject matter, his response was, ‘You’ll learn’.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Comprehensive Care B ro o k s a n d J a c o b s o n s a i d M i l l a rd ’ s contributions to the profession are substantial. Until then, she said, dentists were mostly trained to treat caries. “Dr. Millard changed the way dentists practiced. Traditionally, they were mostly trained to treat caries,” she said. “With him saying there was another dimension, a larger dimension, to a patient’s health that involved not just treating caries, he laid the groundwork for something all of us in the profession embrace today, comprehensive care. It’s a cornerstone of what we do and teach here because it emphasizes the well-being of the whole patient.” Jacobson agreed, adding, “Dr. Millard developed the first oral medicine and oral diagnosis departments in the country. He raised the profile of the dental school and the University of Michigan with his involvement in Project Hope. He helped Michigan gain global attention with his World Workshops on Oral Medicine,” he said. “Dean Millard also saw that the University of Michigan and the School of Dentistry were not just institutions that could make an impact in Ann Arbor, or the State of Michigan, or even the United States,” he continued. “His view was “We thought establishing a scholarship in his name that would help students meet some of their financial obligations, as well as honor the legacy of a man who was a great person and a great instructor, was the perfect way to do both.” Dr. Jed Jacobson Per Kjeldsen 51 DEVELOPMENT A Pioneer – “He was very supportive of the people in his department. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have had the career I’ve had.” Dr. Sharon Brooks Per Kjeldsen that Michigan and the dental school could have an impact worldwide.” Helping Future Generations of Students “The scholarship will be a wonderful way to help future generations of dental students,” Millard said. Looking back at how he financed his dental education, Millard said, “I was fortunate because I was able to fund my education with help from the G.I. Bill after World War II. With the costs of dental education continuing to rise, every bit will help and Jed and Wayne deserve a lot of credit for getting this started. I’m honored.” To make a gift to the fund, contact the School of Dentistry Office of Development at (734) 763-3315. Gifts to the H. Dean Millard Scholarship Fund Dr. Jed Jacobson Dr. Wayne Colquitt 52 $25,000 $10,000 Dr. H. Dean Millard: Seeing Links between Oral and Systemic Health During its 130-year history, the U-M School of Dentistry has had many pioneers who have advanced the profession. You can add the name of Dr. H. Dean Millard to that list. Throughout his 37-year clinical and teaching career, that included practicing general dentistry one summer at the state prison in Jackson, Millard recognized that dentistry was not just about teeth. He saw a need for a broader approach to dental education. He did something about it. Not long after he began teaching at the School of Dentistry in 1952, Millard developed a program that helped dentists see interrelationships between oral and systemic health. In 1956, he became the first person to receive a master’s degree in oral diagnosis. Two years later, he became chair of the Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology and served in that position for nearly thirty years. The relationship between oral and systemic health that Dr. H. Dean Millard helped to establish what eventually became a cornerstone of the first-ever report on oral health issued by the U.S. Surgeon General in 2000. It also became the cornerstone of what’s known today as “comprehensive care.” A Global Reputation Millard’s work transcended U-M and Ann Arbor. His work and his reputation were recognized globally. He served aboard the S.S. Hope in Sri Lanka in 1968 and was a consultant for Project Hope’s dental program, first in Ethiopia in 1973, and three years later, in Egypt. During a sabbatical in Scotland that began in 1976, Millard worked with Sir David Mason, a professor of oral medicine and later dean of the dental school in Glasgow. In 1988 they developed the first of three World Workshops on Oral Medicine. In March 2000, Millard was presented with a Fellowship in Dental Surgery, ad eundem (in kind), by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Scotland. As he reflected on his career and his work for an article that appeared in the Fall 2000 issue of the School’s alumni magazine, DentalUM, Millard said,“There’s not an institution in the world like the School of Dentistry. It’s rewarding to look back with pride at building upon an already excellent reputation that resulted from the dedication of so many clinicians and researchers. But there’s more to do.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Dental Students Seeking Mentors Dental students are asking U-M School of Dentistry alumni to serve as mentors. At their spring meeting, members of the School’s Alumni Society Board of Governors learned that nearly three-quarters of second-, third-, and fourth-year dental students expressed an interest in shadowing a dental school graduate in their private practice. More than 88 percent of the members of the Class of 2008 expressed interest in job shadowing. Dental students Rajeev Prasher and Matt Martin said dental students are interested in shadowing general practice dentists and specialists. “We need the help of dental school alumni to serve as mentors and to help us develop networks with other professional colleagues,” Prasher said. “This would broaden our experiences and help us with job opportunities or associateship possibilities.” Prasher is president of the Alpha Chapter of the recently resurrected dental fraternity, Xi Psi Phi. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, page 70.] In an effort to connect students and alumni, the School’s Office of Multicultural Affairs joined forces with the Michigan Dental Association several years ago to launch a mentoring program for dental students. Led by Dr. Todd Ester, OMA director, and Dr. Raymond Gist, who was MDA president at the time, students and potential mentors were given the option to participate in the program. Thirty-five students belonging to the Student National Dental Association participated according to Dr. Marilyn Woolfolk, assistant dean for student services. The OMA/MDA program solicited mentors through a mailing to alumni who were involved with the MDA and in programs sponsored by the OMA. During the Board of Governors meeting, both students and Board members agreed developing a questionnaire to send to alumni who would complete the form and returning it to the School of Dentistry would be a way to help dental students. The information would be compiled and made available to students. If you are interested in mentoring, please take a moment to complete the form and return it to the School of Dentistry. DentalUM Fall 2005 You Can Be a Mentor Your name: ___________________________ Degree(s) and year(s) received: _______________________ Address: ____________________________ E-Mail: _____________________________ Preferred daytime telephone number: ______________________ I am willing to.... Allow students to shadow me at my office. Talk to students on the telephone about careers. Other _________________________ _________________________ Please return to: University of Michigan School of Dentistry Office of Alumni Relations 1011 N. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078 53 Looking for Leaders! Alumni Society Board of Governors Here’s your chance to make a difference. In September 2006, five new members will be elected to the U-M School of Dentistry’s Alumni Society Board of Governors. The group will include four dentistry graduates and one dental hygiene graduate. All will serve a three-year term. During the past two years, the Board has heard, first hand, from School administrators, faculty, and staff about a range of projects and initiatives. This is a perfect opportunity for you to become involved with the School, build relationships with students, faculty, and staff, and perform a worthwhile and satisfying public service. If you’re interested in serving, or if you would like to nominate someone, send in the form below. In the event more than 10 individuals are nominated, the Board’s nominating committee will select a representative slate. Nomination Ballot Please I nominate for the Board: __________________________________________________ clip and Class Year(s) ________________________________________________________ mail Address (if known) _____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 2nd Name ___________________________________________________________ Class Year(s) _________________________________________________________ Address (if known) ______________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ If you nominate yourself, please send your biography (45 words or less) on a separate sheet of paper. However, because of time constraints on our staff and limited space in the magazine, we cannot accept a CV. Instead, please take a few moments to highlight what you consider are major achievements, whether personal or professional. Return the ballot, and your biography if you’re nominating yourself, to: Amy Reyes Office of Alumni Relations University of Michigan School of Dentistry 1011 N. University Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078 Nominations must be received at the School of Dentistry by December 31, 2005. 54 54 54 DentalUM Fall 2005 DentalUM Fall 2005 DentalUM Fall 2005 Lunch & Learn Program Offers Insights into Life after Dental School Dr. Daniel Edwards Organizes Program Popular with Students Per Kjeldsen A member of the School of Dentistry’s Alumni Society Board of Governors is giving fourth-year dental students opportunities to learn more about what to expect in “the real world” before they actually receive their dental degree. Dr. Daniel Edwards (DDS 1997), created a Board of Governors-sponsored Lunch & Learn Program last summer to help students become more familiar with some of the “outside the classroom” experiences they are likely to encounter after graduation. As chair of the Board’s Student/ Alumni Relations Committee, Edwards invites individuals from outside the School to discuss an array of nuts- and-bolts issues that are uppermost in students’ minds. A question-and- answer session follows. The program was so well received its first year that it’s being offered again. Residency Programs On July 12, Edwards and two School of Dentistry graduates talked about their experiences, as well as the advantages of GPR and AEGD programs. Dr. Emily Shwedel (DDS 1998), said the year she spent in the GPR program in Texas “gave me well-rounded experiences in areas that included dentistry, anesthesiology, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. Because of that, I found I enjoyed dentistry a lot more DentalUM Fall 2005 As part of the Lunch & Learn Program, Drs. Emily Shwedel (left) and Sara Collins Schneidwind talked to dental students this summer about their experiences in residency programs following graduation from the U-M School of Dentistry. afterwards and highly recommend it.” you’re looking for with a program Another benefit she cited was that because all have differences,” she the residency program allowed her to said. defer repaying her student loans for a year while also offering continuing Other Factors to Consider Edwards agreed. “There isn’t a education credits. Dr. Sara Collins Schneidwind perfect program. You have to decide (DDS 2000), who spent a year in “Dental students love to hear people from outside the GPR program the School talk about their experiences in the real a t the Ve t e ra n s Administration world. Their response to this program has been Hospital in Ann awesome.” Dr. Daniel Edwards A r b o r, s a i d t h e program “gave me a great opportunity to work with great which is best for you,” he said. mentors, ask questions, and have a But he also suggested students great dialogue with a diverse group of think not just about a program, but also about the community where the professionals.” She also told students to do some program is being offered. serious self-evaluation. “Decide what “I looked at programs in 17 different 55 Per Kjeldsen Dr. Dan Edwards, a member of the School’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, created a Board of Governors-sponsored Lunch & Learn Program last summer to help students become more familiar with some of the professional experiences they are likely to have after graduation. The program was so popular last year that it was offered again. Per Kjeldsen One of those taking notes, on an electronic notebook, during the program was dental student Jared Van Ittersum. 56 communities and, from experience, I can tell you that it will be a difficult year with many challenges. When you have the opportunities, you’ll want to take advantage of them, so be sure the community environment matches some of your interests, whether they involve sailing, mountain climbing, or something else,” he said. Edwards, who works in two private practices and teaches part time at the School of Dentistry, said, “a year’s residency gives you an opportunity to build your skills and improve yourself. And after that year, you’re more confident.” As a former assistant director of the GPR program at the Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, Edwards also offered some other advice. “Your letters of recommendation are very important, especially from clinical, classroom, or faculty members that you have worked with on a daily basis,” he said. When he was assistant director, Edwards said he looked for “common themes in the letters – things like being a team player or being well organized.” He also emphasized the importance of a strong opening paragraph in a student’s personal statement. “You have to begin with a strong statement in your first paragraph so that the person wants to read on.” Positive Response Jill Johnson, one of nearly 60 dental students who attended the July 12 program, said it was helpful. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after graduation and have been looking at several possibilities since April. It can be overwhelming at times to think about the different programs and the different options, so this helped me sort some of that out,” she said. Although she hasn’t made any final decisions, Johnson said she’s currently leaning toward an AEGD or GPR program. She suggested that future programs be held earlier, perhaps in early- to mid-June, so students have more time to evaluate the information before finally deciding what to do. Drew Eason, assistant executive director of membership services for the Michigan Dental Association who was present for the event co-sponsored by the MDA, said he thinks the Lunch & Learn Program provides useful information to students. “They have so many questions and being able to connect names and faces with the information that’s presented is very helpful to them,” he said. A July 19 program focused on private practice valuation. A July 26 program addressed associateships and how to review a contract. Two other programs are held during the year, some in the fall, and others in the spring, including one program for dental hygienists. Edwards said he is always seeking speakers and sponsors for the Lunch & Learn Program. Programs can be sponsored with a gift of $300. Those interested should contact him via e- mail at: dewards@umich.edu. “Dental students love to hear people from outside the School talk about their experiences in the real world,” Edwards said. “Their response to this program has been awesome.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Graduation Day – May 7, 2005 Novello Delivers Rousing Commencement Address Keary Campbell Dean Peter Polverini welcomes Dr. Antonia Novello to the School of Dentistry’s spring commencement. Graduation on the Web You can listen the remarks of graduation speakers on the School of Dentistry’s Web site: www. dent.umich.edu. On the homepage, click the headline “Listen to Graduation 2005.” You will see headlines and photographs of the speakers. The times for each audio segment are listed. You can listen in any order you choose. It’s safe to say that everyone listens when Dr. Antonia Novello speaks. In May, the New York state health commissioner, who was the first woman and the first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Surgeon General (1990-1993), returned to Ann Arbor to deliver her fourth commencement address to School of Dentistry graduates at Hill Auditorium. After earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico, Novello completed her internship and residency in nephrology at the U-M Medical Center. She remained at Michigan (1973-1974) on a fellowship in the Department of Internal Medicine. In a quick-tempo, 30-minute address, Novello congratulated, counseled, and challenged students. “This is a great occasion,” she told graduates, their families, and friends. “Not only are you celebrating your graduation, but you’re also celebrating the 130th anniversary of the creation of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. Hail to you, Michigan, the best and the brightest.” Saying “the future is already here,” Novello joked, “Tomorrow you start paying your student loans.” Counsel and Challenges Turning serious, Novello said she was impressed with the graduates, especially their community service. “There’s no more noble mission in life than helping others,” she said. She counseled graduates that they will have to be life-long learners. Citing advances in science and technology in recent years, she said that knowledge will continue to advance and that change will be constant. DentalUM Fall 2005 57 Graduation Day – May 7, 2005 Keary Campbell Dean Peter Polverini congratulates graduates during spring commencement ceremonies at Hill Auditorium. The Class of 2005 Includes those who completed formal requirements and those to receive degrees or certificates after completing formal requirements. 106 – DDS degrees 29 – BS degrees, Dental Hygiene 23 – Master’s degrees 3 – Certificates 3 – Oral Health Sciences, PhD 58 “You have demonstrated that it’s never too late to learn,” she said, “because the average age of your class is 26 and the oldest graduate is 40.” She challenged students to set lofty goals as professionals and to serve their communities and their profession. “Riches, fame, and power will not make you totally happy. The happiest people are those doing good for others without asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’,” she said. “A heartfelt ‘thank you’ from a patient, the smile from a kid whose teeth you fixed, a discovery in the laboratory, the dental profession offers many paths to happiness.” In her remarks, Novello presented five challenges to graduates. The first, to effectively respond to the health care needs of an increasingly diverse population whose demographics are quickly changing. The second, to eliminate disparities in oral health that affect minorities. The third, to find ways to rapidly respond to meet the oral health care needs of those in rural areas and inner cities. The fourth, to integrate oral health care into the mainstream of total health care, including insurance. The fifth, to be professional, “which means putting the interest of patients first.” “ Never Forget” “As you leave today, may you seize this day and those that follow to bring honor to your alma mater, joy to your family and friends, and true happiness to yourself,” she said. “But above all, I pray that you never forget who you are, where you came from, who is responsible for you to be here and, above all, don’t ever forget the impact of this great institution in molding your life and your professional future.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Dr. Lysle Johnston – Distinguished Service Award Keary Campbell A legend in the field of orthodontics was honored by the University of Michigan School of Dentistry at spring graduation ceremonies. Dr. Lysle Johnston, who chaired the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, and who directed the orthodontics program from 1991 until his retirement last year, received the Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to U-M, the School, and orthodontics. Dr. Eli Berger (DDS 1957; MS, orthodontics, 1961), chairman of the School’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, presented the award. Berger said that when he asked Johnston what accomplishments he was proudest of during his career, Johnston replied, “Just say I contributed to the education of more orthodontists than any other teacher in the country.” “ The Brightest Resident I Taught” Johnston earned his DDS from U-M in 1961, and a Master of Science degree in orthodontics in 1964. Berger, who taught for more than three decades in the orthodontics department, said of Johnston, “He was the brightest resident I had the honor to teach during my 35 years on the faculty. Later, he became my boss, showing that the student often exceeds the accomplishments of his teacher, which is as it should be.” Of Johnston, Berger added, “He’s been an ambassador of the best in dentistry. He has brought great honor to the School of Dentistry with his DentalUM Fall 2005 extensive, writing, teaching, lecturing, and research.” During his career, Johnston has been a member of numerous local, state, regional, national, and international orthodontic and dental associations; has published chapters for more than 50 books; and has given nearly 400 lectures worldwide in countries on nearly every continent. In 1994, he received a plaque of recognition from the Crown Princess of Thailand for his work. After receiving the Distinguished Service Award, Johnston told graduates, “Experience tells me there’s a silver thread that draws Michigan alumni back home. In my case, it drew me back to the Department of Orthodontics and brought me back here to receive this wonderful award for which I am truly appreciative.” Dr. Eli Berger (left), chairman of the School of Dentistry’s Alumni Society Board of Governors, presents the Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Lysle Johnston at graduation ceremonies at Hill Auditorium. 59 Graduation Day – May 7, 2005 Keary Campbell Dr. Kelly Cottrell Paul Gibbons Award Dr. Kelly Cottrell The Dental Class of 2005 presented the Paul Gibbons Award for outstanding teaching to Dr. Kelly Cottrell, an adjunct clinical assistant professor in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry. The award honors an instructor the students deem to have had the greatest influence on them during their four years in the predoctoral program. In presenting the award, class president Justin Smith said that Cottrell “pushed us every day in the oral surgery clinic, academically and clinically. She demanded excellence and taught us the importance, as doctors, of treating the entire person, not only their mouth and teeth.” Excerpts of her remarks to students appear in the “Department Update” feature on pages 67-68. They can also be heard on the School of Dentistry Web site: www.dent.umich.edu. Janet Souder Wilson, DH 1973 Outstanding Alumnae Award The University of Michigan School of Dentistry’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association presented its Outstanding Alumnae Award to Janet Souder Wilson during graduation ceremonies. The award honors a graduate of the dental hygiene program that the association believes has made significant contributions to the profession. A more detailed story appears in the “Dental Hygiene” section beginning on page 64. The remarks of DHAA president Jemma Allor, who presented the award, and Wilson can be heard on the School of Dentistry Web site: www. dent.umich.edu. Keary Campbell 60 DentalUM Fall 2005 School News The Class of 2008’s “Summer Sendoff” Photo courtesy of Paul C. Lopez Dental students gathered for this “summer sendoff” picture not long after finishing the first year of their dental studies. “This is our summer sendoff,” said Paul C. Lopez as he finished taking pictures of his first-year classmates in the School of Dentistry courtyard in late June. “We decided to do something different to celebrate the end of our first year before returning in August to begin our D2 year.” Lopez and more than 100 students, all members of the Class of 2008, gathered for a group picture wearing blue, yellow, and pink t-shirts with the words “Prophy Camp” on the front. The backs of the t-shirts were personalized. While many students had their first name or a nickname over a giant “05,” others were more creative. The back of one t-shirt read “Survivor,” another “Cavity Creep.” According to Lopez, two dental students, J. Hershey and David Lipton, came up with the idea. One student, Michael Hoffman, was unable to attend since he was at Officer Training School in Texas. A few enterprising classmates mounted a picture of his head on a piece of cardboard and included his image in some of their pictures (front row, third from left). Lipton was also unable to attend since he was overseas. DentalUM Fall 2005 Dental Students Win Awards Dental students Kelly Misch and Marvin Jabero recently won awards from two academies that represent a significant number of implant dentists in the U.S. The School of Dentistry’s pre-doctoral implant program, which began last summer, allows third- and fourth-year dental students to gain additional knowledge about the subject and obtain some limited clinical experience. Students attend lectures and participate in a four-hour lab session where they prescreen, plan, and diagnose patients, as well as observe residents in clinics and fabricate crowns. However, the predoctoral students do not place implants in patients in School clinics. [DentalUM, Fall 2004, page 63.] Since the implant subject matter was being presented for the first time to the predoctoral students, both Misch and Jabero who were already fourth-year students, found themselves doing “double duty.” They had to learn material taught during the third year of the predoctoral curriculum, meaning they had to attend lectures and lab exercises. In addition, they also had to take their fourth-year classes. Once they finished the third-year course material they were able to work with residents who actually placed the implants in patients. Their efforts paid off. Misch received an Outstanding Dental Student Award from the Academy of Osseointegration. Jabero also received an Outstanding Dental Student Award from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry. The academies gave both students free membership in the organization for one year, free access to the academy’s annual meeting, and a free one-year subscription to their respective journals. The Academy of Osseointegration also presented Misch with a cash award. Dr. David Sarment, a clinical assistant professor who was a member of the committee that developed the implant curriculum for the predoctoral students, and Dr. Howard Hamerink, adjunct associate professor who mentors students in the implant program, expressed pride in the students. “Both Kelly and Marvin displayed a great commitment to personal learning and professional growth,” they said. 61 School News Brandon Park Wins $50K Fellowship Award Per Kjeldsen A graduate student in periodontics is the first from the U-M School of Dentistry to receive a major fellowship in implantology from the American Association of Periodontology Foundation. Dr. Brandon Sang Park, a third-year resident, won the $50,000 Richard J. Lazzara Fellowship Award in advanced implant surgery this spring. Park will use the award to learn the most current techniques in implant dentistry, both in the classroom and in clinics. The Fellowship is named for Richard J. Lazzara, one of the specialty’s innovators whose works have been published and who has lectured worldwide on surgical and prosthetic applications of implant dentistry. Lazzara is a clinical associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Dentistry and associate clinical professor at the University of Maryland’s Periodontal and Implant Regenerative Center. Park, who earned his dental degree at the University of Toronto three years ago, said he was attracted to U-M because of its “well known integration and balance between basic science and clinical training.” He said his mentors in Toronto spoke highly of U-M’s programs and the number of articles published by researchers showed “this School as one of the leaders in our profession,” he said. After earning his master’s degree, Park will spend 12 months studying at U-M as required by the Lazzara Fellowship. Park’s research background focuses on tissue regeneration around dental implants. Only one Fellowship is awarded annually. The program began in 2003. 62 Lollipops May Help U-M Dentist Will a lollipop have a It may, thanks to the collaboration between a U-M School of Dentistry pediatric dentist and the Mott Children’s Health Center in Flint. However, when it is, it won’t be your typical lollipop. The pediatric dentist, Dr. Heather Gormley, was searching for a way to help dentists safely and effectively deliver a sedative to young children who need extensive dental care, but who are unable to cope with the stress that’s associated with a dental procedure. Pharmacists in Flint formulated the lollipop used in Gormley’s research. Her study followed up another study conducted several years earlier by Vanessa Velilla, another graduate of the U-M pediatric dental program. Both used an ingredient in the sucker, fentanyl, that has sedative effects. A flavoring agent was also included. Although lollipops are commercially available for youngsters prior to painful medical procedures, these were the first times they were tried in a pediatric dental setting. During Gormley’s two-year study, more than 30 youngsters between the ages of 3-1/2 and 5 were given the lollipop after a parent or guardian approved. The children took the “medication” willingly and most of them finished it within 20 minutes. There was significantly less crying in the young patients when they were given the fentanyl. While drowsy, all patients could respond to verbal commands. Some youngsters reported mild nausea, but only one vomited. This was attributed to the addition of the anti-emetic, Vistaril. The sole incident is much lower than the rate of post-operative nausea and vomiting noted in studies using the lollipop alone. DentalUM Fall 2005 Pediatric Dentists Cites B enefits at National Meeting place in a pediatric dentist’s office in the future? Photo courtesy of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Heather Gormley was recognized by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry for a presentation describing her work that seeks new ways to help pediatric dentists administer anesthetics to young dental patients. With her is Ralph McDonald, past- president of AAPD. For her work, Gormley received the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s Ralph McDonald Award as the best graduate student research presentation during the organization’s annual convention in Orlando in May. A $500 cash award was given to the School’s pediatric dental unit. Dr. Jan Hu, director of pediatric dentistry at the School of Dentistry, said, “Heather’s research demonstrates that it is possible to develop a sedative that pediatric dentists can use to help their young patients that is safe and effective and one that is also acceptable to parents.” Gormley’s mentors were Dr. Daniel Briskie, the director of pediatric dentistry at Mott Children’s Health Center in Flint; Dr. Michael Ignelzi, associate professor of pediatric dentistry; Dr. Robert Majewski, adjunct clinical assistant professor at the School of Dentistry and director of the graduate program in pediatric dentistry at Mott; and Dr. Paul Reynolds, chief of pediatric anesthesiology at the U-M Medical Center. DentalUM Fall 2005 Two Other Pediatric Residents Recognized Two other pediatric dentists from the U-M School of Dentistry were recognized during the AAPD’s annual meeting. Dr. Shannon Butler received an award from the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry for achieving the highest score of all candidates who completed the ABPD’s comprehensive written section examination last year. Dr. Catherine Hong also received an award from ABPD for being in the top three percent of those who took the exam. About 150 to 200 pediatric dentists take the exam which is administered twice each year. 63 DENTAL HYGIENE Graduation 2005 Janet Souder Wilson Receives Outstanding Alumnae Award Professional Service • Board of Governors, U-M School of Dentistry (1992-1995; 2004 to present) • Board of Directors, Washtenaw Children’s Dental Clinic (1981-1986) • President, Board of Directors, Washtenaw Children’s Dental Clinic (1987-1995) • Executive Board member, U-M Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association (1985-1990) • Michigan Delegate to the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (1985-1990) • Officer, Michigan Dental Hygienists’ Association (1984-1990) • President, Washtenaw District Dental Hygienists’ Association (1981-1983) Keary Campbell Jemma Allor (left), president of the School of Dentistry’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association, details Janet Souder Wilson’s contributions to the profession at this spring’s commencement ceremonies. Keary Campbell Dental hygiene graduates Lindsay Thompson, Melissa Wasley, and Alaina Whitefoot chat with Professor Wendy Kerschbaum, director of the dental hygiene program, prior to graduation ceremonies at Hill Auditorium. 64 “She exemplifies what a graduate of this program should be – bright, hard working, active, dedicated, and most important, caring,” said Jemma Allor shortly before presenting the Outstanding Alumnae Award to Janet Souder Wilson (BS, DH 1973) during spring graduation ceremonies. The award, presented by the School’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association (DHAA), honors a person the group feels has made significant contributions to the dental hygiene profession. Allor, DHAA president, said that Wilson, in addition to being employed as a clinical dental hygienist in a private practice for the past 32 years, has been active in dental hygiene organizations, served as president of the Michigan Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association, served for 15 years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Washtenaw Children’s Dental Clinic including two terms as president, and is serving her second term on the School of Dentistry’s Alumni Society Board of Governors. Wilson, who said she was humbled to receive the award, urged graduates “to keep serving and giving back. Always make the effort to give back to your profession, to your community, and to your school,” she said. DentalUM Fall 2005 Carla Harrel Named Outstanding Instructor Keary Campbell Call for Members Your help is needed. The U-M School of Dentistry’s Dental Hygienists’ Alumnae Association is looking for volunteers to serve on its executive board in 2007. Dental hygiene students acknowledged the efforts and contributions, both personal and professional, of one of their instructors. Class President Gracie Buhagiar (right) presented Carla Harrel, a lecturer in the Department of Periodontics, Prevention, and Geriatrics, with the Outstanding Instructor Award during spring graduation ceremonies. “She’s been caring, compassionate, and her door has always been open,” said Buhagiar. Harrel, who said she was “surprised, speechless, and honored to receive the award,” teaches in classrooms and clinics and coordinates the pediatric dentistry rotation for hygiene students and second-year dental students. She also supervises dental hygiene students and provides direct patient care in the MDENT program. DentalUM Fall 2005 Among its activities, the association arranges homecoming activities, selects a recipient of the Outstanding Alumnae Award that is presented at spring graduation, and brings important information about the profession to the attention of association members, faculty, and students. If you’re interested in serving, please call Amy Reyes in the School’s Office of Alumni Relations at (734) 764- 6856. 65 DENTAL HYGIENE DH Student Awards Gracie Buhagiar – Pauline Steele Student Leadership Award Named for the second director of the dental hygiene program at the School of Dentistry (1969-1988), this award recognizes a senior student who demonstrates outstanding leadership skills while at U-M. Buhagiar was class president (2004-2005) and was instrumental in organizing and conducting the first Advancement Ceremony for dental hygiene students. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, pages 53-54.] She was also a student teacher in both oral anatomy and clinic with first-year dental hygiene students. Jennifer McNamee – Washtenaw District Dental Hygienists’ Society’s Community Service Award and the American Association of Public Health Dentistry’s Special Interest and Achievement in Community Dentistry/Dental Public Health Award The award recognizes a graduating dental hygiene student who has been active in community service during the three years they were a student in the School’s dental hygiene program. McNamee chaired the Class of ’05s fundraising drive. Ninety-seven percent of the class raised more than $4,500. [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2005, page 59.] She was class representative to the Student American Dental Hygienists’ Association and active in Give Kids a Smile, Dental Health Day, and the March of Dimes Health Fair at the School of Dentistry. She participated in the first Diabetes Expo in southeast Michigan and coordinated a dental clinic for battered women. Marianne Jabero – Colgate Oral Pharmaceutical Student Total Achievement Recognition (STAR) Award The recipient of this award has demonstrated dedication to the dental hygiene profession, displays compassion in patient care, exhibits enthusiasm for community service, and realizes the contributions a dental hygienist can make in providing oral health care to patients. Jabero demonstrated outstanding qualities in all areas. She was a member of the School’s Honor Council for three years, participated in a research project her final year and won a second-place award during the School’s Research Table Clinic Day program earlier this year. Nicole Beadle, Melanie Lemanski, Alaina Whitefoot – Sigma Phi Alpha (Nu Chapter) Graduating dental hygiene students are selected for this national dental hygiene society based on their academic achievements and potential for future professional growth and contributions to the profession. All three excelled academically. Beadle also worked with Dr. George Taylor on a research project examining the relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease. She also was a student teacher in the clinic with first-year dental hygiene students. Lemanski was co-chair of the Class of ’05s fundraising drive and also served as a student teacher in clinics. Whitefoot was a student teacher in preclinic and clinical courses for first-year dental hygiene students. Kelly Hresko and Melissa Wasley – The Hu-Friedy Outstanding Clinician Award This award is given to students who excel in patient care. Hresko and Wasley were selected by dental hygiene clinical faculty for exemplifying the highest qualities and skills as dental hygiene students. Both demonstrated a thorough understanding and application of the science and art of dental hygiene care. 66 DentalUM Fall 2005 DEPARTMENT UPDATE Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry Keary Campbell Dr. Joseph Helman, Chair Excerpted Remarks by Dr. Kelly Cottrell after Receiving the Paul Gibbons Award T he Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry has had some notable achievements that I’m proud of and want to bring to your attention in this report. Those achievements have involved every aspect of our department’s mission – education, patient care, and research. Kelly Cottrell Receives Paul Gibbons Award Dr. Kelly Cottrell (DDS 1999, OMFS Class of 2002), and former director of the predoctoral oral surgery clinic at the School of Dentistry, received the Paul Gibbons Award from graduating dental students in May. The award honors the instructor students believe has had the greatest influence on them in the predoctoral program. Presenting the award at this spring’s graduation, Justin Smith, president of the Class of 2005, said of Kelly, “She pushed us every day, both academically and clinically. She demanded excellence and taught us the Keary Campbell Addressing the chair of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: Thank you to the chairman of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Dr. Joseph Helman, my mentor. Sir, thank you for entrusting in me the responsibility to guide the surgical education of this class. It has been an outstanding and unforgettable experience. Dr. Kelly Cottrell addresses School of Dentistry graduates after receiving the Paul Gibbons Award from them. DentalUM Fall 2005 importance, as doctors, of treating the entire person, not only their mouth and teeth.” After receiving the award, Kelly expressed her “deepest appreciation” to the class for bestowing the award. Excerpts of her remarks appear on this page and the next. You can also listen to her remarks on the School of Dentistry’s Web site, www.dent.umich.edu. Others Receive Awards Dr. Brent Ward, residency program director of oral and maxillofacial surgery, recently received the Faculty Educator Development Award from the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. The award is given to only four young surgeons nationwide who have demonstrated potential for professional impact as clinicians, researchers, and academic leaders. Dr. Stephen Feinberg, associate chair of research, was awarded the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation’s Research Recognition Award last year. The award is given to the most prominent and productive investigator within the specialty. He has also been appointed co-chair of the Research Committee of the International 67 Department Update Acknowledging the contributions of others: Thank you to Dr. Lina Karam who has done a wonderful job as new clinical director. And while it is my name on that plaque, I absolutely must honor and share this award with four of my dearest colleagues who have helped me to provide the foundation of your oral and maxillofacial surgery education – Dr. Maximiliano Diamante, Dr. Kyle Pullen, Dr. Allen Weiss, and Dr. Sheldon Mintz. Acknowledging the parents of the graduates: Parents, thank you for sharing your sons and daughters with us. I do not have to tell you, you have raised them well. And we have been carefully helping them to build upon the foundation that you have helped to establish. We hope you are pleased. To graduating dental students: As a representative for the oral surgery department, I speak for all of the faculty and staff when I say it has truly been our pleasure to work with you. We are so proud. You have inspired us, challenged us, challenged us, and challenged us. (Laughter.) And we have admired the way in which you have grown and the way you have matured personally and professionally. ...I offer my congratulations, my gratitude for your commitment, for challenges conquered, for goals achieved, and for goals surpassed. You will always be a part of the Michigan family and, as such, we will follow your careers with genuine interest. 68 Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Committee on research and technology assessment of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Regenerative Medicine Initiative in the Technology Transfer Office here at U-M, and is also a member of the Biotechnology Advisory Board, AO-ASIF (Association for the Study of Internal Fixation) Foundation, Davos, Switzerland. Dr. Feinberg and myself were both honored with Guest Professorships with the School of Stomatology, Shanghai Second Medical University in China. I was also inducted recently as Founding Fellow of the International Academy of Oral Cancer. Members of this select group include some of the world’s leading researchers, clinicians, radiotherapists, and surgeons involved in the field of management of malignant tumors. D r. C a r o l A n n e M u rd o c h - Kinch, who is Board Certified in oral medicine and oral and maxillofacial radiology, is in the second year of a NIH funded K12 award, which is a mentored clinical research training program from the Medical School. The principal investigator of this award is David Schteingart (Internal Medicine). Dr. Murdoch-Kinch’s K12 mentor is Dr. Avraham Eisbruch (Radiation Oncology). I also want to add that this year she served as president of the Organization of Teachers of Oral Diagnosis D r. G e o r g e U p t o n recently completed his tenure as president of Keary Campbell Dr. Stephen Feinberg the C.J. Lyons Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, a nationwide academy that requires members to have direct academic lineage from Dr. Chalmers J. Lyons, the first chairman of our department (1917) at U-M. Dr. Steve Edlund, one of our residents and the first recipient of the Ravitz Foundation Research Award under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Krebsbach, presented his findings on The Effects of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins on Oral Cancer Cells at the 6th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Washington D.C. Residency Program An ongoing continuing education lectureship has been established by Dr. Brent Ward, director of our residency- training program. The program, Updates in Oral Surgery, is a weekly course specifically designed for residents and faculty. The course features dental and medical professionals, as well as oral surgeons from the region who train DentalUM Fall 2005 Keary Campbell Dr. Brent Ward fellows, residents, dental and medical students. Three individuals were invited to speak during the last academic year as Chalmers J. Lyons lecturers. Dr. Robert Gorlin, with the University of Minnesota, lectured on the genetic aspect of syndromes of the head and neck. Dr. James Sciubba, from Johns Hopkins Medical School, provided an illustrative and intellectually challenging clinic- pathological conference. Dr. Jeffrey Posnick, from Georgetown University, delivered an overview of cranio- maxillofacial surger y during the residents’ graduation banquet. The two graduating residents from the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) Program are Drs. Sean Edwards and Jeffrey Collins. Sean will continue his education as a Craniofacial Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of Dr. B.J. Costello. Jeff is joining a private practice in Chicago and planning to teach part time at the University of Illinois. We welcomed three new OMFS DentalUM Fall 2005 interns to our residency program this year. Two of them, Matt Pinski and Reynaldo Rivera, earned their dental degrees this spring from the U-M School of Dentistry. The other, Nick Mahoul, earned his DDS this spring from McGill University in Montreal. The Section of Hospital Dentistry says farewell and wishes success to the outgoing general practice residents (GPRs): Drs. Aditi Bagchi, Diane Lee, Irene Renieris, and Erika Tyler. However, we welcomed three new GPRs: Drs. Adam Feinman from University of Michigan, Dahlia Hadad from University of Detroit-Mercy, and Seema Joseph from UT-Houston Dental Branch. Faculty Notes of Interest Dr. Upton continues his clinical research that includes comparing means of rigid fixation associated with LeFort I maxillary osteotomies, and comparing the outcomes of scalpel versus electro surgery in soft tissue symptomatic patients over time. Preliminary data suggests that none of these pro-inflammatory mediators may become reliable objective markers for symptomatic TM joints. Dr. Ward has completed two years on the faculty. He has been actively involved in the clinic and operating room, his research endeavors, and as program director of the residency and Head and Neck Oncology fellowship. As a member of the U-M Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences and the University of Michigan Head and Neck SPORE (Specialized Programs of Research Excellence), his lab is working with nanostructures targeted at head and neck cancer for more effective and safe chemotherapy. This endeavor is being undertaken with the goal of future clinical trials using this technology to enhance patient care. He is also assisting to coordinate the University of Michigan as a site for an upcoming clinical “ Our department continues to be productive and successful thanks to the hard work of our faculty, our support staff, the unconditional help of the adjunct faculty, and last but not least, great support from the University of Michigan.” incisions for orthognathic surgery. He is also trying to identify biomarkers for temporomandibular joint pathology by looking at several pro-inflammatory cytokines: Interleukin 1-Beta, Interleukin 6, and Interleukin 10. Groups looked at included controls, right and left side in symptomatic patients, and trial from Johns Hopkins offering chemoprevention treatment for pre- cancerous dysplasias. Continuing to bridge the work that’s taking place in both dentistry and medicine, Brent has facilitated creation of a pilot program to train medical doctors in dentistry preparing them for 69 Department Update oral and maxillofacial surgical residency so that our dual degree program will one day be a true “two-way” street for students graduating from either the dental school or the medical school. Dr. Murdoch-Kinch is studying oral health in patients after parotid- sparing radiation therapy of head and neck cancer. Unlike patients who receive standard radiation therapy (RT) and suffer from permanent xerostomia, patients treated with parotid-sparing RT developed at University of Michigan experience recovery of salivary function over time. She hypothesizes that this will lead to better oral health for patients. Dr. Lina Karam is our newest faculty addition. She obtained her DMD from the University of Florida in 1999, completed an internship in OMFS at Medical College of Virginia in 2000, and trained in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Sinai/ Henry Ford Residency from 2000-2004 in Detroit. Dr. Karam is in charge of the pre-doctoral teaching program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. In her own words, “I like the students and I love teaching!” She is presently a member of the Curriculum and the International Program Committees. In addition to my duties as department chair, I continue my re s e a rc h f o c u s o n t h e s u rg i c a l management of oral cancer as well as orthognathic surgery in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. I am especially interested in clinical outcome measures. Current projects are recurrence rates in the management of odontogenic keratocysts (OKC), success rates in the surgical treatment of obstr uctive sleep apnea, and maxillofacial findings on patients with 70 Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome (Gorlin Syndrome). In addition, collaborations are also underway with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in areas of proteomics of OKCs as well as proteomics and genomics of oral cancer. Dr. Wen-Xiang Zhang, co-director of our Microsurgical Training Center, continues to train residents and specialists from around the world in the art of vascular and neural microsurgery. He is collaborating on a federally funded research project with Drs. David Humes (Internal Medicine) and Dave Brown (Plastic Surgery) developing an experimental model for a tissue engineered kidney. Dr. Samuel Zwetchkenbaum, the director of our GPR Program, and Dr. Stephen Minehart, assistant program director, are providing didactic training and clinical experience in advanced areas of dentistry, including care of medically compromised and developmentally disabled patients, management of dental emergencies, and restoration of dental implants. Members of our faculty are taking programs that will help our department become even more effective in the future. Dr. Zwetchkenbaum is one year into the Executive Master’s Program in Health Management and Policy at the School of Public Health. Dr. Minehart participated in the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine conference in Denver as we continue to provide services for patients with sleep disordered breathing. Dr. Stephen Feinberg maintains his clinical activities and also has an active NIH-funded research program in tissue engineering. His main project is in the ex vivo development of a human full-thickness oral mucosal tissue that is suitable for intraoral grafting procedures. The long-term objective of his research is to produce a “smart” transduced oral mucosal graft that will be used for reconstruction of major oral defects secondary to oncologic resection, traumatic events or developmental disturbances. The graft would act both as a material for reconstruction and as a repository for in situ transmucosal delivery of recombinant growth factors or cytokines. The goal is also to establish expanded cultures of an enriched population of oral mucosa progenitor/ stem cells, using only physical and pharmacological means, under chemically defined conditions consistent with FDA guidelines that will be the foundation for our advances into cell replacement therapy. His next step is to perform a FDA-approved Phase I/II clinical trial through the U-M General Clinical Research Center in 2006. D r. Fe i n b e rg ’ s o t h e r a re a o f research is in the development of 3-dimensional biomimetic scaffolds for tissue engineering of bone and/or cartilage for reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint. In short, our department continues to be productive and successful thanks to the hard work of our faculty, our support staff, the unconditional help of the adjunct faculty, and last but not least, great support from the University of Michigan. DentalUM Fall 2005 R ESEARCH N EWS School of Dentistry #2 in NIDCR Grants Throughout its history, the U-M School of Dentistry has been one of the nation’s premier research institutions. In recent years, the School has been consistently ranked among the top five dental schools across the country in federal funds awarded for research. New statistics show that during federal fiscal year 2004 (October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004), the School was second in terms of grants awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. “Our research is designed to achieve two objectives,” said Dean Peter Polverini. “The first is to develop new knowledge in oral health sciences and related fields. The second is to apply that knowledge to improve the health and well being of patients.” a nt s to I N DCR Gr itutions t ntal Ins 5 of 46) U.S. D e Top a Fiscal Ye r 2004 ( Amount stitution , Rank In ,273 alifornia $13,146 Univ. of C isco 1 an Franc S ,180 igan, $11,411 . of Mich 2 Univ Arbor 12 nn $9,743,9 A it s In t ute 64 syth $8,334,6 3 For r t e h c o s e . of R ,887,328 4 Univ on $7 t g in h s a niv. of W 5 U DentalUM Fall 2005 Linking Laboratory Science with Technology How School of Dentistry’s Use of Microarrays May Help Patients Per Kjeldsen Dr. Debby Hwang (left) and Taocong Jin look at a “heat map” that shows, in this instance, which gene may make patients more susceptible to certain periodontal diseases. Karl Leif Bates, U-M Life Sciences Communications The days when a dentist diagnosed periodontal disease with nothing more than a probe and a hunch may some day be just a memory. Using the latest tools from biotechnology, U-M School of Dentistry faculty members Drs. Russell Taichman, Cun-Yu Wang, William Giannobile, and graduate student Debby Hwang, are trying to identify a tell-tale genetic signature that would show which patients are more susceptible to the hidden infection at the tooth’s roots. Every patient has 300 to 500 different species of bacteria in their mouth. For about half of these people, the bugs stay in a balanced ecosystem, held in check by each other and by the host’s immune responses (and good hygiene). But in the other half of patients, something gets out of whack and a subtle infection finds a fertile niche below the gum line. The association with obesity, pregnancy, diabetes, smoking, heart disease, and other conditions is an intriguing clue to the underlying nature of periodontal disease, said Taichman, an associate professor of periodontics. But it would be hard to say which condition aggravates the other. “Maybe it’s the same molecular issue behind both,” he speculates. 71 R ESEARCH N EWS Per Kjeldsen Drs. Russell Taichman (left), Debby Hwang, and William Giannobile are using a new technology, called a microarray, that melds high technology and laboratory science to reveal which genes play a role in certain diseases. “What are some of the factors that make people susceptible?” asks Giannobile, the Najjar professor of periodontics and director of the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. “It’s not just certain bad bacteria. It’s clearly genetic.” Trying to Solve the Puzzle The first step in solving this puzzle is to understand the genetic differences that may exist between healthy and diseased patients. All of a person’s genes are present in each of their nearly 100 trillion cells, but only certain genes are turned on or “expressed” at any given time in a particular tissue. Being able to see these patterns of expression in gum tissue and contrast them in healthy and diseased patients should help reveal which genes play a role in periodontal disease, Taichman said. This is easier said than done, of 72 course. The experimental procedure first involves collecting tissue samples from healthy and diseased patients and then extracting and purifying RNA, the message-bearing cousin of DNA, from the samples. The RNA in the solution represents genes that are actively being expressed in the tissue sample because genes that 72 aren’t being expressed don’t make RNA. Next, the researchers rely on a new technology, called a microarray, that melds computer chips and laboratory science. The microarray is a thumb-sized computer chip made with the same sort of lithography that is used to etch computer circuits onto chips. But instead of transistors, the “gene chip” holds a forest of more than 20,000 short lengths of single-strand human DNA with very specific sequences. When single-strand RNAs from the gum tissue meet their complementary DNA on the gene chip, they form a pair, releasing a tiny signal of fluorescence. The dental school’s microarray core facility prepares the samples that Hwang brings from patients and injects them into a small port on the back of the microarray chip. After stirring overnight at 45 degrees Centigrade in a machine that looks like a sped-up hotdog cooker, the chips are placed into a rectangular tabletop machine that reads more than 60 megabytes of data off each microarray chip. The chip reader is looking for spots on the microarray that emit a faint glow, indicating that a length of the unknown RNA has bound to a sequence of DNA on the chip. Specialized software that knows what DNA sequence is at each precise spot on the grid then turns that pattern of tiny splotches into a readout of what genes were found in the sample of RNA. Other studies have found some intriguing clues about the role an immune system signaling molecule called Interleukin-1 in periodontal disease. But clearly, there are more genes at work than just this one, Giannobile said. Better Treatments Ahead? In fact, this microarray study may point out genetic differences that indicate there are several kinds of periodontal disease. Such knowledge would lead not only to better tests, but better treatments, Giannobile said. “We have people that we throw the kitchen sink at, and nothing works,” Taichman said. “Sometimes our response might even be making things worse.” DentalUM Fall 2005 Finding the appropriate patients to test and running the exacting laboratory procedures is taking some time, he said. It is too soon to say where the pattern will emerge. His “early guess” is that some of the genes being expressed in the full- blown disease state will be the same ones that play a role in programmed cell death. Normal cells have a finite life expectancy and self-destruct on cue when their time is up, thanks to these genes. It is also possible that something has gone wrong with the genes that would normally signal the presence of an intruder. Giannobile thinks there is a connection in the similarities between rheumatism and other inflammatory disorders and periodontal disease. He suspects there may be something about the diseased patients that makes their immune system react a little too strongly to an infection, setting off a cascade of damaging inflammation in the gums. Should this first pass at finding a distinct pattern of gene expression fail, the researchers may have to start the experiment over with individual cells that have been tweezed out of tissue samples. “We’re hoping to hit the home run on this approach first,” Taichman said. If a clear genetic signature for disease susceptibility emerges, it would be a natural for a new saliva-testing system Giannobile is working on with a different group. Dentists would have a hand-held device that could provide real-time genetic testing from a saliva sample. DentalUM Fall 2005 Death of a Family Member Inspires School of Dentistry Researcher Brad Henson Wins Dziewiatkowski Award Photo courtesy of Wanda Snyder Dr. Bradley Henson (second, right) received the Dziewiatkowski Award for his research this spring. Jane Damren (right), the daughter of the late Dr. Dominic Dziewiatkowski for whom the award is named, presented Henson with a plaque and $800for his work. Also pictured are Dr. Nisha D’Silva (second, left), Henson’s mentor, and Dr. Paul Krebsbach, chair of the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences. When he was 17, Bradley Henson’s grandfather succumbed to lung cancer. Following the death of his 73-year- old grandparent, Henson, who grew up in Ishpeming, began asking parents, teachers, and others about why that happened and what, if anything, could be done to prevent others from experiencing a similar fate. “The more questions I asked, the more I wanted to know,” said Henson. “An interest in science and a pursuit of knowledge bloomed.” In the years that followed, Henson broadened his scientific knowledge by working as a volunteer in the offices of two University of Michigan alumni, Herbert Remien, DDS (1981) and Lloyd J. Hooper, MD (1981), both of whom practiced in the Upper Peninsula community. After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Northern Michigan University, Henson was accepted at the U-M School of Dentistry and earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2000. He is now a candidate in the School’s Oral Health Sciences PhD program and plans to earn his doctorate this year. This spring, Henson received the Dziewiatkowski Award for his discovery of two cell surface receptors 73 R ESEARCH N EWS that had never been seen in head and neck tumors. These receptors have been shown by Henson and others in the laboratory of Dr. Nisha D’Silva, an assistant professor, to be significantly involved in head and neck cancer cell growth. What the Research Could Mean The discovery may one day play an important role in treating individuals with head and neck tumors. “Our ability to identify the differences between cancers that spread and those that don’t is important, so these receptors may serve as objective biomarkers that help doctors to identify aggressive tumors,” Henson said. “Since these receptors are significant in head and neck cancers, we may later learn that they also play an important role in other cancers in other parts of the body,” he added. “Eight years of clinical training and research investigations have given me an exciting, yet sobering opportunity to profoundly affect peoples’ lives,” he said. “Perhaps most importantly, my work during the past two years has heightened my interest in conducting oral cancer research with a translational focus.” After receiving his PhD, Henson plans to continue his research and to become a faculty member at a dental school. The D ziew i atko wski Award, which recognizes excellence in student research, was first presented in 1989 to honor the memory of Dr. Dominic Dziewiatkowski who directed the Dental Research Institute from 1967 to 1972 and who also was a department chair from 1967 to 1977. 74 The Dziewiatkowski Award Recognizing “The Next Generation of Scientists” “If my father were alive today and had the opportunity to talk to the students who have received the award that was established in his name, I think he would be so pleased to see the caliber of the students who have received this award that honors not just his memory, but also his love of research,” said Jane Damren. Damren is the daughter of the late Dr. Dominic Dziewiatkowski, who taught at the School of Dentistry for 18 years and directed the Dental Research Institute from 1967 to 1972. In 1988, she and her husband, Samuel, established the Dziewiatkowski Award to honor his memory and recognize dental students for their research excellence. In addition to the recognition, recipients of the award receive $800. Before his death in September 1987, Professor Emeritus Dziewiatkowski, “Dr. J,” as he was affectionately known to many, was known nationally and internationally for his research on bone and cartilage metabolism, connective tissue, and the role of complex proteins in bone calcification. He also led many scientific organizations, served on numerous School committees, and was a consultant to state and federal agencies of government. Dziewiatkowski was also among the first 18 School of Dentistry alumni and faculty members who were posthumously inducted into the School’s Hall of Fame in September 2003. [DentalUM, Fall 2003, pages 12-24.] Living and Breathing Research “As a kid, you couldn’t help but live and breathe research because dad was so enthused not only about his research, but also his teaching and mentoring students,” said Damren, a clinical nurse specialist in behavioral health in Detroit. “He was always encouraging them to publish their work and get some recognition for what they were doing.” After her father died, Damren said she and her husband discussed establishing an award with her father’s former colleagues that would honor students for their research. “There were some clinical research awards being given,” she said, “but nothing for basic science research. We thought that an award, given in dad’s name, would be a way to not only carry on his legacy, but also honor students at the dental school for their basic research.” The Damrens have not been disappointed. “I’ve been impressed with the students I have met over the past 17 years. In many ways, I think their work is building on the foundation that dad was establishing,” she said. “These student researchers are the next generation of scientists who will be making important contributions in the years ahead.” Although she doesn’t possess her late father’s research background, Damren said she reads the papers submitted by dental students being considered for the award. DentalUM Fall 2005 Impressed with the Winners “If dad had the chance to talk to the award winners, he would be excited to learn what major advances have taken place in research,” she said. As an example, Damren pointed to DNA sequencing which was only something that was talked about three decades ago, but now is commonplace. “I also believe he would be impressed with Brad Henson, not only for his research, but because their backgrounds were similar in many ways,” she said. Henson, a candidate in the School’s Oral Health Sciences PhD program, received the Dziewiatkowski Award earlier this year for his discovery of two cell surface receptors that had never been seen in head and neck tumors. Dziewiatkowski, the son of Polish immigrants, grew up on the south side of Chicago. After graduating from high school, “which many did not do in the late 1920s or early 1930s,” she said, he attended what is now Western Michigan University and earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology in 1939. “As a student in Kalamazoo, he helped to pay for his college education by working as a janitor and a lab technician,” Damren said. “He knew that kind of hard work would lead to better things, not just for himself, but others later.” In 1942, Dziewiatkowski earned a master’s degree from U-M and a PhD in biochemistry a year later. “Dad grew up in a blue-collar community and earned a bachelor’s degree at another university before coming to Michigan,” she said. DentalUM Fall 2005 “Brad Henson, this year’s award winner, reminds me of dad in some respects. Brad came to Michigan with the intelligence and a strong desire to learn and better himself, which dad would appreciate and would have been very pleased to see,” she said. The Future of the Award Damren said the Dziewiatkowski Award will continue to be presented to an outstanding dental student researcher for the next 10 years. When she and her husband retire, “it will be up to our children to decide if they want to continue funding the award.” Each year, an award is presented to a dental student. A companion award is presented to a student in the Department of Biochemistry at the U-M Medical School. “The success and prestige that has grown to be associated with the award is the result of the commitment and dedication of past and present department chairs and faculty in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences to ensure the highest quality research is recognized,” Damren said. “I appreciate all the help I have received and want to thank John Drach, Christian Stohler, Don Clewell, Robert Bradley, and Charlotte Mistretta for their commitment and dedication. Working with me, they have helped me to recognize, understand, and appropriately award outstanding students for the basic research being conducted at the dental school.” Previous Dziewiatkowski Award Winners Below are the individuals who have received the Dziewiatkowski Award since it was first presented in 1989. When it was established, the award was presented to students in the predoctoral program. However, in recent years, recipients have been those in the Oral Health Sciences PhD program. • 2005 - Bradley S. Henson • 2004 - Andrew M. Fribley • 2003 - Abraham Schneider • 2002 - Domenica Sweier • 2001 - Solaiman Al Hadlaq and Catherine Kuo • 2000 - Dr. Erica DeBoever • 1999 - Dr. Hongjiao Ouyang • 1998 - Dr. Jacques Nör • 1997 - K anwal Chawla (D3) • 1996 - Sandeep Sood (D3) • 1995 - K athryn W. Feng (D2) • 1994 - No award • 1993 - Yan An Su • 1992 - John C. Wataha • 1991 - William C. Robson (D3) • 1990 - James P. Lee • 1989 - M ichael A. Smith (D4) 75 R ESEARCH N EWS AADR Research Fellow- ships to 5 from U-M Five U-M School of Dentistr y students were awarded fellowships at the AADR’s annual spring meeting. They were among 18 from across the country who were recognized for their research. The fellowships give the students an opportunity to continue their research and travel to AADR and IADR meetings. The five School of Dentistr y students, their mentors, and research projects are: • Aisha Akpabio, Christine Klausner, Preventing Early Childhood Caries - Pregnant Mothers’ Knowledge, Attitudes & Behavioral Intentions • Erin Lynn Ealba, James Simmer, Enamel Proteomics • Richard Koh, Gisele Neiva, Finishing Systems on the Final Surface Roughness of Composites • Keyna Peterson, Keith Kirkwood, Squamous Cell Carcinoma-derived RANKL in Osteoclastogenesis • John Thomas, Marita Inglehart, Child Abuse & Neglect - Dental Care Providers’ Knowledge and Actions. Ealba New President of Student Research Group Erin Ealba, now a second-year dental student, was recently elected President of the AADR’s National Student Research Group. She began her one-year term during the AADR meeting in Orlando in March. Her term ends at next year’s IADR/AADR meeting. 76 Scientists Discover More About How Cancer Cells Form and Grow Colleen Newvine, U-M News Service U-M researchers have figured out one more component in cancer cells’ aggressive growth. They hope that knowledge can help kill the cells. In the July issue of Cancer Cell, the scientists explain how cancer tumor cells attach themselves to a protein on the surface of cells lining blood vessel walls. When this attachment occurs, it tells the cancer cell to grow and develop blood vessels which feed the cell. Cun-Yu Wang, senior author of the article, said this discovery could help in the fight against cancer. “The blood supply is key for tumor growth and tumor development,” said Wang, the Richard H. Kingery Endowed Collegiate Professor at the U-M School of Dentistry. “If you cut off the blood supply, you stop cancer development.” Wang collaborated with researchers Qinghua Zeng, Shenglin Li, Douglas B. Chepeha, Jong Li, Honglai Zhang, Peter J. Polverini, Jacques Nör and Jan Kitajewski. Searching for Answers Scientists have extensively studied how cancer cells secrete proteins to form blood vessels. But Wang said when researchers tried to turn off that process, some tumors responded. Others did not. That made him curious about how to develop a better treatment. Rather than simply looking for a better way to interrupt the protein secretion, Wang and colleagues looked for other ways that tumor cells might develop their blood supply, a process called angiogenesis. Wang’s team has studied hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) to better understand its function in forming cancerous head and neck tumors. Part of what HGF does is to get neighboring blood vessels to grow toward the tumor and then into it. What they did not know was how HGF launched angiogenesis. So they looked at head and neck cancer cells to see if growth factors prompted the release of angiogenesis-related proteins. That led to an exploration of direct interaction between the tumor and endothelial cells which line blood vessels. Examining data on the genes HGF activates, the team found a specific gene, called “jagged1,” is among the most expressed. Jagged1 binds to a specific protein on the surface of the endothelial cells. Wang speculated that if jagged1 is not secreted, but found on the surface of tumor cells, then perhaps HGF gets jagged1 levels to increase which then prompts a connection between the tumor and endothelial cells. DentalUM Fall 2005 Per Kjeldsen Dr. Cun-Yu Wang Wang said he that although much research has looked at cancer cells’ secretion of proteins to form blood vessels, notch’s function in cancer angiogenesis has not received the same attention. Notch, Wang said, pulls this whole complex operation together. A Two-Progned Approach? After this contact stimulates angiogenesis, the tumor receives nutrition and grows faster, Wang said. He hopes blocking the signaling pathway can cut off the tumor’s nutrition and stop its growth. If this development pans out as a treatment, Wang said he envisions a two- pronged approach that attacks the protein secretion and the cell contact to kill cancer cells. The next question Wang wants to explore is how these connections lead to metastasis, the spread of cancer throughout the body. He speculates that inflammation could trigger that pathway, and wants to look at the potential for controlling inflammation to stop tumor development. “Head and neck cancer is understudied,” Wang said. “The five-year survival rate hasn’t improved in decades. We want to change that.” DentalUM Fall 2005 77 77 Keary Campbell Helping the MDA Get Ready for 150 16 Recognized for Long-Term Service Sixteen staff members with the School of Dentistry were recognized for their long-term service to the University of Michigan earlier this year. Receiving 10 Year Service Awards were (left to right): Barbara Wolfgang, Department of Periodontics, Prevention, and Geriatrics (PPG); Donita Ehnis, Patient Services; Thomas Davis, Patient Services; Kim Huner, Office of Research; Sywe- Ren Chang, Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics; Vicki Walda, PPG; and Amy Koh, PPG. The School of Dentistry is helping the Michigan Dental Association get ready for next year’s celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the MDA’s founding. This summer, Shannon O’Dell, the School’s Sindecuse Museum curator, and Dr. Michael Maihofer, chair of the MDA’s 150th Anniversary Task Force, spent several hours reviewing dental artifacts in the museum’s storage area. “We have an incredible number of interesting and valuable artifacts in the museum, many of them going back one hundred or more years,” O’Dell said. “So when an opportunity, such as this one, presents itself that allows us to showcase what we have, we’re ready to lend a hand.” About the collaboration, Maihofer said, “All of us at the MDA are excited about partnering with the U-M School of Dentistry’s Sindecuse Museum for this special part of our anniversary celebration.” The dental artifacts will be on display next May during the MDA’s annual session in Lansing. Per Kjeldsen Not pictured were three others who were also recognized for 10 years of service: Vernon Rife, Kristi Ocenasek, and Deanna Nellis. Receiving 20 Year Service Awards were Dan Bruell, Office of Dental Informatics; Wanda Snyder, Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences; and Judy Craft, Patient Services. Three individuals received 30 Year Service Awards: Per Kjeldsen, Educational Resources; Mirian Brockie, Department of Cariology, Restorative Services, and Endodontics; and Marsha Meyer, Patient Services. Shannon O’Dell, curator of the School of Dentistry’s Sindecuse Museum, and Dr. Michael Maihofer, chair of the MDA’s 150th Anniversary Task Force, look at some of the fountain spittoons that were commonly used in late 19th century dental practices. Near the the spittoons are foot pedal dental engines from that era. 78 DentalUM Fall 2005 Alumni News Class Notes Community College in the 1970s, she retired from the field and later worked in the brokerage business. The advice in the book, she said, is based on years of consultations and collaborations with former clients from all walks of life. Bonciel Griffin (DDS 2001) of Forest Park, Illinois, who recently finished an orthodontics residency at Howard University in Washington, D.C., will soon be practicing dentistry with an uncle in private practice in the Chicago area. T i m o t hy J . B u s s i c k ( M S , orthodontics 1997) of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, was recently elected to a one-year term as President of the 150-member Indiana Association of Orthodontics. Raymond Gist (DDS 1966) was elected to a four-year term as ADA 9th District Trustee in May. Gist was President of the Michigan Dental Association from May 2003 to May 2004. HealthCare System as its new vice president of finance. Before joining PHCS, Lefton was chief financial officer at Temple East, a former subsidiary of Temple University Health System in Philadelphia that included Northeastern Hospital and Neumann Medical Center. After earning his dental degree, Lefton earned an MBA from U-M in 1987. Howard Belk in (DDS 1980), a psychiatrist who specializes in psychotherapy and psychopharmacology for adults, adolescents, and children, is currently practicing in Birmingham, Michigan. A Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and an attorney, he has published several articles that have appeared in medical literature and is the author of several chapters in medical textbooks. Thomas Bloem (DDS 1976, MS 1978) of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was recently elected to a one-year term as President of the Michigan Section of the American College of Prosthodontists. Marcia VanderWaude (BS, Dental Hygiene 1967), has written a book, $avvy Women, $mart Choices: 42 Smart Choices Women Can Make in Financial and Estate Planning. After teaching dental hygiene at Grand Rapids DentalUM Fall 2005 & Summer 2005 DentalUM Spring Photo courtesy of The Univ. of Oklahoma College of Dentistry Ray Lefton (DDS 1984) recently joined Princeton Richard Mathewson (DDS 1959) of Norman, Oklahoma, was recently honored by the Oklahoma Association of Pediatric Dentists and the faculty of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry for his contributions to the profession and that university’s dental school. During the spring event, a bronze plaque with his image and a list of his professional achievements was unveiled. The plaque now hangs on a wall in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry he helped establish in 1973. Professor emeritus Mathewson retired in 1995. J ustin Dunmire (DDS 1942) of Lantana, Florida, has had a lot to celebrate in recent months. The dentist turned glassmaker [DentalUM, Spring & Summer 2002, page 42] recently celebrated his 91st birthday, his 62nd wedding anniversary, and 60 years of perfect attendance at Rotary Club meetings. “I ride a bike everyday and continue to work crossword puzzles,” he wrote. 79 79 What’s New with You? Your Classmates Want to Know! Please clip and Send news about your latest personal or professional achievement, award, or honor, along with a picture (black and white or color) to: Jerry Mastey, editor DentalUM, University of Michigan, School of Dentistry, 1011 N. University Avenue, Room 1205, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078. mail Name ___________________________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________________________ City ________________________________ State ______ Zip Code __________________ Telephone __________________________Fax (if available) ___________________________ e-mail __________________________________________________________________ Is this an address change? ____ Yes What type of address change? ____ Home ____ No ____ Office (Please list only University of Michigan degrees and the year earned.) DDS ________ DH Certificate ________ BS ________ MS ________ PhD ________ Specialization __________________________________________________________ News: ___________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Get Involved! _____ I would like to help plan my next reunion. _____ I would like to be considered for the Alumni Society Board of Governors. 80 DentalUM Fall 2005 “Just finished watching the U-Mich dental video. Now I can see (again) why I am so proud to be a Michigan grad and brag about it! I especially enjoyed seeing the ‘dress code’ with white uniforms. I am sure the students must feel professional with their new jackets from day one!” Dr. Hugh Koppel, MS, Pediatric Dentistry 1948 You Can Make a Difference Do you know someone who might be interested in attending the University of Michigan School of Dentistry? If you do, let us know and we’ll send you a copy of the new video that you can give to them. In the video, students, faculty, and alumni talk about why the University of Michigan School of Dentistry is special and the important role it plays in classroom and clinical education, patient care, research, and community service. You can receive either a DVD or VHS video tape by sending an e-mail to Dawn Ford with the School’s Office of Alumni Relations: fordawn@umich.edu. Allow 1-2weeks for delivery.