Meeting of the minds: Student researchers Sarah Baxter and Lindsey Fox discuss Ms. Baxter’s poster presentation Metabolic and Markers of Caries in Saliva and Plaque of Toddlers at the 50th annual Dental Students’ Conference on Research. Ms. Baxter is a dental student at University of Michigan School of Dentistry.

Gaithersburg, Md.—The 50th Annual Dental Students’ Conference on Research attracted 39 dental students April 13-15 to the ADA Foundation Dr. Anthony Volpe Research Center and the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. cosponsored the conference with the ADA Foundation. The three-day event opened with a welcome reception followed by a dinner where Dr. Volpe was guest speaker.

The students traveled from across the U.S. and Canada to hear from scientists and researchers from the VRC, the ADA, academia, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the oral health industry.

Among the prominent speakers who addressed the students were: Sheng Lin-Gibson, Ph.D., deputy chief, Biosystems and Biomaterials Division Leader, Biomaterials Group, Materials Measurement Laboratory, NIST; Dr. Amid Ismail, dean, Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University; Dr. Mary P. Walker, associate dean for research and graduate programs, School of Dentistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City and an ADA Foundation board member at large; Dr. Teresa A. Dolan, vice president and chief clinical officer, DENTSPLY International; and ADA Executive Director Kathleen O’Loughlin.

ADA Foundation Executive Director Gene Wurth, ADA Foundation President David A. Whiston and Dr. Gary Schumacher, VRC co-director of administration, also were on hand to welcome the students and learn about their individual research projects.

Presenters from among the ADAF Volpe Research Center team included Wojtek Tutak, Ph.D.; Nancy Lin, Ph.D.; Daneli Lopez-Perez, Ph.D.; Diane Bienek, Ph.D.; and Dr. Jeffrey Kim, Ph.D.

Every dental school in the U.S. and Canada is invited annually to select a student representative to send to the Dental Students’ Conference on Research. These students are either actively involved in a research project or have expressed interest in pursuing a career in research. Some participants presented results of completed research projects and engaged in a discussion of their research, presented as posters, at the conference.

Dr. Steven Novella

Organizers designed the 2014 EBD Champions 2.0 Conference: Implementing Science in Practice, held May 9 at ADA Headquarters, so that dental professionals could build on basic EBD knowledge by way of breakout-sessions that delved deeper into the evidence evaluation and the chairside aspects of EBD. Past conference attendees, known as Champions, as well as new participants had their choice of concurrent practical workshops.

More than 170 dental professionals attended the conference to also hear a lineup of experts address evidence vetting and chairside applications, including keynote speaker Dr. Steven Novella. Dr. Novella is a neurologist and assistant professor at the Yale University School of Medicine who also hosts and produces “The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe,” a weekly science podcast, and is the founder and executive editor of Science-Based Medicine,  an organization dedicated to evaluating medical treatments and products of interest to the public.

Silver Spring, Md.—Oral viscous lidocaine solution is not approved to treat teething pain, and health care professionals should not prescribe the drug to treat infants and children with teething pain, warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration June 26 in a drug safety communication.
    
The FDA now requires a Boxed Warning, its strongest warning, to be added to the drug label for oral viscous lidocaine 2 percent solution to highlight its advisory. In addition to the Boxed Warning, the agency now requires revisions to the Warnings and Dosage and Administration section of the drug label to describe risk of severe adverse events and to include additional dosing instructions when the drug is prescribed for approved uses.
    
Too much viscous lidocaine given to infants or young children can result in seizures, severe brain injury and heart problems, and misuse has led to hospitalizations and deaths, the FDA warns. In 2014, the FDA reviewed 22 case reports involving serious adverse reactions to oral viscous lidocaine solution, including six deaths, in infants and young children 5 months to 3.5 years old.
    
The FDA also warns that parents and caregivers should not use over-the-counter topical medications for teething pain because some of them can also harm infants and children. These products are not necessary and are not useful, warns the FDA, because they wash out of a baby’s mouth within minutes.
    
Instead, parents and caregivers should follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation for treating teething pain, the FDA suggests. The AAP advises using a teething ring chilled, though not frozen, in the refrigerator and gently rubbing the child’s gums with a finger to relieve pain.
    
In 2011, the FDA also advised of safety concerns related to use of over-the-counter benzocaine gels and liquids to treat teething pain. A Consumer Update for this related issue is available at fda.gov.
    
Dentists can refer their patients to MouthHealthy.org for more information on safety concerns surrounding over-the-counter benzocaine gels and liquids.
    
The American Dental Association recommends that a dentist examines a child within six months after the first tooth comes in and no later than the first birthday.
    
The ADA Catalog also offers several education materials for parents of babies and young children, including these two brochures:

• Your Child’s First Visit to the Dentist (W110). The six-panel brochure is available to members in packs of 50 for $26 and $39 retail.
    
• Your Child’s Teeth from Birth to Age 6 (W236). The eight-panel brochure is available to members in packs of 50 for $27 and $40.50 retail.
    
Save 15 percent on all ADA Catalog products with promo code 14145 through August 15. These brochures and many others are available at adacatalog.org or by calling 1-800-947-4746.

A new podcast series focusing on scientific topics launched this month on the ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry website.

Dr. Robert Weyant, professor and chair of the Department of Dental Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, hosts the ADA Science Podcasts. Though the EBD Center produces the podcasts, the series won’t solely focus on EBD, Dr. Weyant said.

“EBD will definitely be a topic of great interest, but we would like to cover all topics in the dental sciences.   We also realize that in large part, our audience will consist of busy dentists who we think will enjoy hearing about interesting areas of dental sciences presented in an entertaining and easy to access format, ” he said.

Aside from EBD, the series features guests addressing various elements of science in dentistry, including critical thinking, clinical relevance, state-of-the-art science and more. The podcasts aim to appeal to dental health professionals and dentists in clinical settings, research and academia.

Dr. Weyant in a moment of levity as he prepares to record a new podcast episode on genetics with Dr. Thomas Hart.

Upcoming podcasts will feature Drs. Timothy DeRouen, president of the American Association for Dental Research, and Christopher Fox, executive director of the International Association for Dental Research, on dental research; Dr. Martha Somerman, director of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, on NIDCR; Dr. Edmond Truelove, chair of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, on the CSA; and Dr. Thomas Hart, co-chair of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, on genetics.

The EBD Center plans to add new podcasts every two weeks. The option for listeners to subscribe through the Apple iTunes store also is in the works.

To access the podcasts, visit ebd.ada.org and click the Education tab, and then look for the ADA Science Podcasts on the left and click.

An updated version of “Treatment Options for the Compromised Tooth: A Decision Guide,” a publication of the American Association of Endodontists, is available as a free download to dentists.

The guide encourages dentists to strive to save patients’ natural teeth by assessing all possible endodontic treatment options before recommending extraction. The full-color, revised clinical resource includes 13 new cases and more than 100 images that demonstrate successful endodontic treatment in difficult clinical situations.

“The longer term challenges of tooth loss and replacement are becoming more and more apparent,” said AAE President Dr. Robert Roda. “The AAE’s revised Treatment Options guide is a critical resource for the clinical practitioner who wants to save the natural tooth.”

The guide helps dentists evaluate a variety of conditions using case examples with radiographs and clinical photographs, clinical considerations, and guidance for successful outcomes based on prognosis. It also aims to increase collaboration between general dentists and endodontists to work as partners to develop treatment plans to save natural teeth.

A print copy of the guide may be purchased from the AAE website at www.aae.org/treatmentoptions.

For more information about the AAE, visit the Association’s website at www.aae.org.

Reston, Virginia — Children are not tiny adults. This distinction may get lost chairside — during imaging, for instance. With that reality in mind, a new campaign starting Sept. 24 will urge dentists to Image Gently.

Image Gently is a campaign of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, a united effort involving physicians, radiologists, technologists and physicists, founded in 2007.  The alliance later welcomed dental organizations into the fold, including the ADA.
 
“We’ve had six different campaigns, each in different imaging modalities that a patient would encounter,” said Marilyn Goske, M.D., Image Gently Alliance co-chair. “One of the powers of this 80-organization alliance group is that when we have a campaign the groups have agreed to send out a blast email to their own members so that we can reach about 800,000 professionals. For the dental campaign, we are absolutely thrilled that there are 10 major dental societies, including the American Dental Association, that have agreed to join the alliance and participate in the campaign to inform their members about the campaign.”

The Image Gently in Dentistry campaign spotlights a set of succinct recommendations to help protect kids when radiographs are necessary.

“Every dentist wants to do the right thing,” said Dr. Alan Lurie, the dental alliance steering committee co-chair and past president of American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. “Children are more sensitive to damage from radiation, even small doses, and everything we can do to minimize their radiation dose while maintaining good diagnostic quality of images helps them.”

The six steps that can be taken to protect pediatric patients when imaging is necessary are:

• Select X-rays for individual’s needs, not merely as a routine.
• Use the fastest image receptor possible: E- or F-speed film or digital sensors.
• Collimate beam to area of interest.
• Always use thyroid collars.
• Child-size the exposure time.
• Use cone-beam CT only when necessary.

“The Image Gently campaign has positively impacted on the safety and efficacy of pediatric imaging in medicine, especially imaging with CT and fluoroscopy,” Dr. Lurie said.

The campaign kickoff is scheduled to coincide with the 65th Annual Session of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.

“We will have a presence at the AAOMR meeting as well as the ADA meeting,” Dr. Goske said. “The ADA has just been phenomenal in their support. Dr. Greg Zeller, who is on the Image Gently Dental Campaign steering committee, has been a true leader in getting us engaged with the appropriate people within the ADA and ADA leadership has embraced this. We’re really thrilled with the amount of support that we’re getting.”

Dr. Zeller, associate dean for clinical affairs at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry in Lexington and an active ADA volunteer, said, “The dental steering committee has been working diligently over the last year to create content for this campaign along with promotional and informational materials, such as brochures and ads. The goal is to reduce to the lowest possible dose — as low as reasonably achievable. It’s not the same information for each stakeholder group. It’s different information for different groups.”

Dentists and other dental professionals are familiar with the concept of ALARA — or, as low as reasonably achievable — Dr. Zeller said, but many variables warrant the reminder to Image Gently, including rapidly changing technology.

Dr. Goske agreed, saying, “You may have a dentist who goes from using film-screen technology to using digital technology to do their routine bitewing film, for example.” She added, “It’s challenging because often the education is difficult to keep up with the changing technology; the technology changes every year.”

Aside from embracing medical and dental professionals, the campaign also targets parents to facilitate conversations with medical and dental professionals about their children’s treatment.

“That’s the nice thing about the campaign,” Dr. Zeller said. “It’s aimed at educating not only the professional, but it’s also aimed at the public and parents.”

Along with obtaining educational materials on the alliance’s website — or during the AAOMR meeting and ADA 2014 — dental professionals can take a pledge to Image Gently. To learn more about Image Gently, to obtain materials and to take the pledge, visit imagegently.org.

Aside from the ADA, other organizations sponsoring or supporting the dental campaign include the American Dental Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Association of Endodontists, the American Society for Pediatric Radiology, the American College of Radiology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, the Canadian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and the European Academy of DentoMaxilloFacial Radiology.

Oral cancer pioneer: Dr. Sol Silverman addresses a standing-room-only crowd in 2003 during the ADA annual meeting in San Francisco.

San Francisco — Oral medicine pioneer, Dr. Sol “Bud” Silverman Jr., died Aug. 13 at age 88.

Dr. Silverman was a titan of modern oral medicine whose research led to major advancements in the treatment of oral cancer.

Highlights of his internationally prominent career include publishing more than 300 scientific articles, textbook chapters and monographs and earning the Margaret Hay Edwards medal from the American Association for Cancer Education and the Samuel Charles Miller Award for Outstanding Contributions to Oral Medicine from the American Academy of Oral Medicine.

The ADA awarded him the Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research in 1996. He was an AAOM past president and past board president; a diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine; and the 1999 recipient of the AAOM Diamond Pin.

“He was one of the greats,” said Dr. Michael Glick, editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association. “He was a role model. He was a phenomenal educator. He was our go-to guy when it came to oral cancer for many years. He actually put us, as a profession, on the map when it came to cancer, when it came to his research, his patient care, as well as the publications he did. He is a great loss.”

A longtime educator, Dr. Silverman had a six-decade relationship with University of California, San Francisco. He earned his dental degree in 1954 from UCSF and maintained an academic career there through 2014.

Dr. Silverman served as a consultant on oral cancer issues for the ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations. In 2002, he was principal investigator on a $1 million National Cancer Institute grant awarded to the ADA to fund a five-year program to provide continuing education for dentists to increase their roles in early detection and prevention of oral cancer. The grant supported a program called Behavior Modification, Dentists and Oral Cancer Control.

“It was an honor to work with someone with the stature of Dr. Silverman,” said Jane McGinley, CAPIR manager of Fluoridation and Preventive Health Activities. “Without his driving desire to see dentists and dental hygienists take a more active role in oral cancer prevention, the ADA could not have accomplished its grant goal of holding more than 60 continuing education courses all across the U.S. in just four years.”

Dr. Daniel M. Meyer, senior vice president, ADA Division of Science, recalled working with Dr. Silverman. “He was a true professional and gentleman in the finest sense. He was always willing to help, and always provided far more than was ever asked of him.  He was truly an inspirational leader and role model.”

Dr. Cesar A. Migliorati paid tribute to Dr. Silverman on behalf of AAOM and the ABOM in a letter on AAOM.com. “He had suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body, but even in his last days, he was full of good cheer,” wrote Dr. Migliorati. “He was 88 years old and was still active, both professionally and physically. Bud was a mentor, leader and inspiration for a large number of colleagues from the national and international dental communities and had taught and cared for patients at UCSF for over half a century during his illustrious career.”

Dr. Silverman wasn’t all-work-no-play. His colleagues remember him as ever-youthful—and with a wicked jump shot.

“He was a great basketball player and he was a great tennis player,” Dr. Glick said. With a chuckle, he added, “He was very competitive. He could keep up with guys 50 years his junior. I saw the black and blue marks from the guys who played with him. There are some people who do that; they are very active into their late years, both physically and mentally, and he was both.”

The UCSF School of Dentistry website reports that the school will accept contributions to The Sol Silverman Jr. Scholarship, at the request of his family. Checks may be sent payable to the UCSF Foundation to UCSF Foundation, P.O. Box 45339, San Francisco, CA 94145-0339 with a note identifying the scholarship.

Strumming along: Dr. Martin Ters poses with one of his handmade guitars.

Special creation: Dr. Ters has traveled to Europe in search of just the right wood for his handmade guitars, the back of one shown here.

Time for some creativity: A multifaceted artist, Dr. Ters also created these painted clocks.

Louisville, Colo. — Hands down, Dr. Martin Ters is one talented individual.

His hands, in fact, embody the main tool he plies in his career as a general dentist — and as a multifaceted artist: painter, woodworker, luthier and classical musician.

“I’ve been doing things with my hands all my life, making little wooden boats and airplanes that fly with radios and models of three-masted battleships from the 18th century,” said Dr. Ters. “I’ve always liked wood and always liked to do something and create things.”

He adds with a chuckle, “Dentistry is not enough.”

Perhaps his most prevalent and time-consuming craft is his work as a luthier — or, in his case more precisely, guitar maker. He even built a website for his stringed creations — martintersguitars.com.
Having played classical guitar since he was 10, Dr. Ters joined the Denver Classical Guitar Society and Boulder Guitar Society and marveled at some of the instruments fellow members owned.

“I thought, ‘How does one get a guitar like this?’ Then I realized that it can cost $25,000,” he said. “I thought, ‘Well, how about if I try to make one?’ Then I found somebody who was teaching classes here in Arvada, and I signed up for it and made my first guitar. It was an acoustic guitar with the steel strings. It came out very nice. It actually came out better than the factory guitars.”

Dr. Ters moonlights as a musician because, as he said, “It’s kind of fun.” He occasionally takes on gigs, playing his self-made guitars for senior citizens at local libraries and in retirement homes.

“Some of them pay a little money; some of them are free,” he said. “But people are always saying, ‘Come back and play!'”

Dr. Ters grew up in communist Czechoslovakia before defecting in 1986 to America, where he obtained political asylum to escape persecution. He said he saw dentistry as a noble profession and that’s why he chose it. He first practiced in Czechoslovakia, where he was also an M.D., having practiced general medicine in the army as a young man.

“I really enjoyed it for a while until I realized that the communist government didn’t really care about people,” he said. “They just had their issues with numbers. The more fillings you did in an hour, the better dentist you were, and you were compensated for it. I was at the bottom of the line because I was slow and I was doing things the right way. My fillings didn’t come out the next day, people bringing them in, in their hand, saying ‘I got it yesterday, and, look, it’s all gone.’ My fillings were not falling out, and I was liked because of that by the people; and I was in trouble politically because of that.”

Like his start in dentistry, his artistic interests also have roots in early days growing up in Europe.

His father was an artist and so was uncle who lived in France. His mother and sister are art teachers, he said.

His father also was an art conservationist, who renewed church frescos and statues, and Dr. Ters followed his father’s lead.

Today, he has occasion to take on repair projects.

“A friend of mine is a periodontist here in Boulder,” he said. “I just finished repairing his heirloom guitar that his father had. It was really trashed. I spent several months working on it. I like to do repairs, too.  I like to resurrect the instruments and bring the beauty where it was once lost — make it nice again. Just like teeth. Same thing. There’s no difference.”

But given a choice, Dr. Ters pursued dentistry for his day job. The profession provides the best of these worlds.  

“I think dentistry kind of put things together so I can still work with my hands and wear a white coat,” he said with a laugh. “So it was one of the reasons I chose dentistry, because I like to fix things. I like to put things back together where decay over time and bacteria took it away from people. I just like to be able to restore things, so this is my calling.”

Four ADA Foundation student programs, including academic scholarships and clinical research projects, have deadlines approaching in the fall.

The ADAF supports access to care, education, and research — three of its four mission-centric pillars — as reflected in the ADAF acronym C.A.R.E: Charitable Assistance, Access to Care, Research, Education.

To that end, the Foundation is accepting applications (available at adafoundation.org) for these dental student programs:

• Predoctoral Dental Student Scholarships and Underrepresented Minority Dental Student Scholarships (application deadline: Nov. 14).

The ADAF’s Predoctoral Dental Student Scholarship Program, including the Underrepresented Minority Dental Student Scholarships, the Dr. Robert B. Dewhirst Scholarships and the Robert J. Sullivan Scholarships, helps predoctoral dental students defray some of their academic expenses. The Foundation awards about 54 scholarships of up to $2,500 each, totaling up to about $135,000 annually.

To be eligible, students must be enrolled full time in the second year of study at an accredited dental school while maintaining a minimum 3.25 grade point average. Applications must be sent to the ADA Foundation by the dental school on the student’s behalf. The ADA Foundation accepts one application per school for the general predoctoral dental student program and, new for 2014, up to five applications per school for the Underrepresented Minority Dental Student Scholarships program.

• E. “Bud” Tarrson Dental School Student Community Leadership Award (application deadline: Nov. 14).

The ADAF Tarrson Award recognizes exemplary volunteer community service projects that are organized and/or conducted by a group of dental students enrolled in an accredited predoctoral dental education program.  

The ADA Foundation accepts one application from each accredited dental school with a predoctoral dental student group involved in an outreach program to vulnerable communities within the U.S.

ADA Business Enterprises Inc. generously contributed $25,000 in 2013, enabling the Foundation to award six Tarrson Awards. The recipients were: Harvard University School of Dental Medicine for its ACTION program; Indiana University School of Dentistry for its Student Outreach Clinic; University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry for its UCLA ASDA Los Angeles Community Clinics; University of Michigan School of Dentistry for its Wolverine Patriot Project; University of Mississippi Medical Center-School of Dentistry for its Jackson Free Clinic; and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine for the Huntridge Clinics.

• Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer Award (application deadline: Nov. 14).

The Dr. Thomas J. Zwemer Award recognizes and encourages student programs that provide services to underserved populations outside of the U.S. One grant of $5,000 is made annually to a dental school in honor of the selected student outreach program.
Dental student groups at accredited dental schools who are involved in an outreach program to vulnerable communities outside of the U.S. are eligible to apply. The ADA Foundation accepts one application from each dental school.

The 2013 Zwemer Award went to the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry for its UNC Malawi Dental Project.

• Dr. Ray Bowen Fellowship (application deadline: Dec. 5).

The ADA Foundation, in collaboration with the Academy of Operative Dentistry, offers the Dr. Ray Bowen Student Research Award in odd-numbered years. Formerly known as the Paffenbarger Award, the Dr. Ray Bowen Award is open to dental students at all levels who wish to undertake novel research relevant to contemporary operative dentistry.

The award is valued at $6,000, with additional support up to $1,000 provided for the student’s presentation of their research at an AOD conference.

Dr. Reneida E. Reyes

Dr. Reneida E. Reyes is the new president of the ADA Foundation Board, elected to a two-year term at the board’s Sept. 16 meeting at ADA Headquarters.

Dr. Reyes accepted the position as departing president Dr. David Whiston ended a second term helming the board. The board also elected four existing members to serve as vice presidents and elected five new members to serve four-year terms.

A member of the ADAF Board of Directors since September 2012, Dr. Reyes will lead the ADA Foundation in both its philanthropy programs and efforts related to the ADA Foundation Dr. Anthony Volpe Research Center in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Dr. Reyes is section chief of pediatric dentistry at New York Methodist Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Network, and maintains a private practice in Brooklyn. She earned a dental degree from Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine in 1978; a master’s in public health in 1981 from Harvard University School of Public Health; and postgraduate training in pediatric dentistry through the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and the Boston Children’s Hospital.

Board members moving into vice president roles are:

• Candy B. Ross

  Dr. Ronald D. Bushick

  Pamela A. Hemmen

  Candy B. Ross will serve the board as vice president of grants. She is director of industry and professional relations, dental technologies, KaVo Kerr Group.

• Dr. Ronald D. Bushick, of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, will serve the board as vice president of scientific research. He is a former ADA vice president (2003-05)
• Pamela A. Hemmen, of Effingham, Illinois, will serve the board as vice president of finance. She is vice president, technology services, Patterson Companies, Inc.

New ADA Foundation Board members include Dr. Edward J. Green, Albany, Georgia; Dr. Linda K. Himmelberger, Devon, Pennsylvania; Dr. Teri-Ross Icyda, Stuart, Florida; Dr. Frank Maggio, Dundee, Illinois (former ADA 8th District trustee, 1994-98); and Dr. Maritza Morell, Andover, Massachusetts.

In addition to Dr. Whiston, ADA Foundation Board members who have concluded their service after four years (2010-2014) are: Dr. Michael Rethman, Kaneohe, Hawaii; Mr. Ronald Szarzynski, Baker Tilly, Minneapolis; and Provost Pamela Zarkowski, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit.

Visit the ADA Foundation exhibit at ADA 2014 – America’s Dental Meeting at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, level two, outside of room 214.

To learn more about the ADA Foundation, including grants, awards, fundraising, and the Dr. Anthony Volpe Research Center, visit adafoundation.org.