UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry Announces New Dental Hygiene Program Director

Emily Falls, B.S.D.H., M.A.Ed., RDH, accepted the offer to serve as Director of the Dental Hygiene Program at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry (UTHealth Houston SOD), effective Jan. 1, 2026. Prof. Falls brings more than a decade of experience in dental hygiene education, clinical practice and program leadership. 

Emily Falls, B.S.D.H., M.A.Ed., RDH

She joins us from College of the Mainland, a community college in Texas City, TX, where she served as Program Director and Assistant Professor in the Department of Dental Hygiene.

During her tenure, Prof. Falls led the development and launch of a new dental hygiene associate degree program, oversaw curriculum design, faculty recruitment, facilities planning and the construction of a 20-chair dental clinic and instructional lab. She developed curriculum and assessment measures for all 18 courses and successfully submitted accreditation materials to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Commission on Dental Accreditation, earning initial accreditation with no recommendations.

She currently supervises a growing team of faculty and staff, manages a departmental budget of up to $1 million and leads student admissions, marketing and community outreach efforts. Prof. Falls also serves on multiple college-wide committees, including UTHealth Houston SOD’s Faculty Senate and the Faculty Rank and Promotion Committee.

Prior to her time at College of the Mainland, Prof. Falls held faculty appointments at San Joaquin Valley College and Cypress College, where she taught didactic, clinical and laboratory courses across the dental hygiene curriculum. Her clinical experience spans nearly a decade in private practice settings, including work with periodontists and prosthodontists in California.

Prof. Falls earned her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from Wichita State University and her Master of Arts in Education with an emphasis on curriculum design and instruction from the University of Massachusetts Global. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Healthcare Education Leadership at Nebraska Methodist College of Health Sciences.

Courtesy of UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry