Bulletin of Dental Education

Roseman University of Health Sciences held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 27 for Utah’s first four-year school of dentistry. The facility features classrooms equipped with multimedia technology, six imaging rooms, two wet labs, conference rooms, and team breakout rooms.

Dr. Richard W. Valachovic, Executive Director of the American Dental Education Association, recently visited the new $112 million building at the College of Dental Medicine at Georgia Health Sciences University. Dr. Valachovic noted that the building will help to attract students, faculty, and patients.

Three universities have planned to work together to fill in the gaps in dental care in eastern Kentucky. The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry is partnering with Morehead State University and the University of Pikeville as part of the Appalachian Rural Dental Educational Partnership Plan.

Even the Tooth Fairy cut back in 2011. Survey results recently released by Visa, Inc., found that this year she leaves an average of $2.60 per tooth, a 40-cent decrease from last year’s $3 per tooth.

Numerous media outlets covered the publication of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Oral Health Access to Services report, Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations, on July 13, 2011. Among them were the Los Angeles Times and Fox Broadcasting stations like KVVU Las Vegas and WTVT Tampa Bay‎.

Dr. Maria Emanuel Ryan and her patient Ms. Joanne Maglares shared the dramatic story of oral health problems foreshadowing Ms. Maglares’s heart attack with millions through the WebMD website. The patient expected a routine repair of a broken tooth, but assessment showed multiple tooth fractures and rapidly advancing periodontal disease.

In an update of a report first issued in 2010, the Pew Children's Dental Campaign published The State of Children’s Dental Health: Making Coverage Matter on May 24, 2011. This new report is intended to assess states' ability to serve insured and soon-to-be-insured children.

The University of Texas at Dallas School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics now offers an undergraduate course in oral histology. In spring 2011 the first class of 35 students began the course, which will help them gain an understanding of the complexities of oral health.