ADA “Dentist and Student Lobby Day” on Capitol Hill

Jessica Sliger (DDS Class of ’18) was among the dental professionals and dental students attending hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill with legislators and their staffs on April 10 as part of ADA Dentist and Student Lobby Day to advocate for oral health-related issues.

Progress into Your Future

The Greater Kansas City Dental Society (GKCDS) hosted an engaging “Progress Into Your Future” dental office tours event on Thursday, March 15, with 20 UMKC SOD students. A bus transported them to three Lee’s Summit private practices: Dr. Micah Snyder’s, Drs. John Flucke & Jack Huebner’s, and Drs. Nunemaker, Jungmeyer, & Suresh’s offices. The students enjoyed a progressive dinner while learning about the ins and outs of life after graduation in private practice. Sponsors of the event included the Missouri Dental Association, MDIS, Goetze Dental, & Hinrichs + Pesavento, CPAs.

Dental Research Students Present at AADR Conference

Six DDS students from the UMKC School of Dentistry participated in this year’s 2018 American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Conference held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from March 21–24. The students previously participated in the 2017–18 UMKC SOD Summer Scholars Program, a nine-week research program. Each student had to submit an abstract of their research project in order to be invited to present at the 2018 AADR Conference. Summer Scholar poster presenters included: Matt Bryant, Henry Hoffman, Veeshesh Patel, Tyler Stanley, Kaitlyn Tom, and Erin Yoshida. All of the students demonstrated confidence and professionalism, not only in their presentations, but in their handling of challenging questions from top scientists in the field of dental research. The success of all our DDS students at the AADR conference is due in part to the efforts of the Summer Scholars Program director, Dr. Mary P. Walker, and the participation of the research mentors, who provide invaluable guidance for the students. Mentors included: Dr. Bonnie Branson, Dr. Sarah Dallas, Mark Dallas, Dr. Jeff Gorski, Dr. Laura Iwasaki, Dr. Mizuho Kittaka, Dr. Vandana Kumar, Dr. Jeff Nickel, Dr. LeAnn Tiede-Lewis, Dr. Yasuyoshi Ueki, Dr. Shankar Rengasamy Venugopalan, Dr. Yong Wang, and Dr. Anita Xie. The annual conference is a highpoint in the Summer Scholars Program, providing a forum for excellence in original oral health and dental research

Holly Houck, graduate Dental Hygiene student, presented her research poster, “Use of Technology to Facilitate Patient Motivation for Improving Oral Health,” at the American Dental Hygienists Annual Session, Dentsply Graduate Research competition.

A Whopper of a Win

UMKC SOD Bass Fishing Club competitors Coleton Caldwell (Class of 2018) and Chandler Robertson (Class of 2021), report that, “We were stoked tow in the collegiate B.A.S.S. state qualifier tournament. We fished on Table Rock Lake, Saturday, March 31, and placed first, among 25 other boats, with 14.6 pounds of small mouth bass. We received $350 dollars, and we qualified for the national championship this summer on Tenkiller Lake in Oklahoma (with a live-streaming weigh-in airing on ESPN).

Last year the UMKC School of Dentistry Fishing Team cofounders, Coleton Caldwell and Grant Oserowsky, placed 69th among 140 teams in the UMKC Fishing Team’s first event, the Carhartt Bassmaster College Midwest Conference Regional at Osage Beach, Mo., in the Lake of the Ozarks, March 29-31.

Student Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA)

SPEA is a national organization that serves as a resource for ethics education and professional development for students. It fosters an open-forum environment for ethics communication and promotes awareness of ethics standards and related issues within dentistry. In their last meeting, 60+ students listened to a faculty panel that discussed tough ethical questions, such as:

• What would you do if your friend or neighbor who is not a patient asks you to prescribe them pain medication or antibiotics for something that is not dental related?
• What do you do when a patient changes his/her mind about going through with ortho (or any similar procedure) after you have paid a large lab fee?
• You’re an associate, and your owner doctor is a bit older, and seems to be missing a lot of diagnosis. Your team notices and brings it up to you. What do you do?apter

American Association of Public Health Dentistry Student Chapter
The UMKC School of Dentistry American Association of Public Health Dentistry Student Chapter hosted its kickoff event with a Lunch and Learn sponsored by Missouri Coalition of Oral Health and guest speaker Dr. Nathan Suter discussing teledentistry. The AAPHD Student Chapter is being lead by Olga Shakhnovich and Rachel Carpino. The attendance, presentation, and lunch were all fantastic!

Pediatric Dental Club

The Pediatric Dental Club provides community service opportunities for members to give back to children and their families. The club hosts “lunch and learns” for SOD students highlighting areas of interest for the pediatric community such as endodontics, orthodontics, and oral healthcare initiatives. Each December, the club adopts a family and provides a beautiful Christmas for them.

Members volunteered at Sheffield Place, the only treatment and transitional living center in Kansas City that focuses exclusively on empowering homeless mothers to overcome the trauma of their lives and become self-sufficient. The UMKC volunteers taught oral health lessons to the kids and mothers, performed screenings, and shared in fellowship over lunch with the families.

District 8, American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Student Chapter

Formed in January 2018, the purpose of this fledgling organization is to increase awareness and interest for academic careers in dentistry. The group also serves as the voice for all things related to dental education, including curriculum, licensure exams, and advanced programs. Their first event, “Why I Teach,” hosted six professors who spoke about why they went into teaching and the benefits of being an educator. More than 200 students attended! The group also has sponsored two students to attend the Annual ADEA national conference in Orlando, Fla., March 16–18, 2018.

Student Chapter of American Dental Hygienist’s Association (SDADHA)

SCADHA is a student extension of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association whose purpose is to serve our communities by improving oral health and our profession. Members receive discounts on National Board Exam Study Guides, an online National Board Exam Review, and the opportunity to apply for award programs and leadership opportunities. The group also volunteers at Harvesters events. Each year members participate in a collection drive for Operation Breakthrough. They collect and recycle old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes and packaging for the Colgate Oral Care Recycling Program to help raise funds for the Rinehart Foundation. They aid students through scholarship opportunities, online education (CES), patient education resources, job placement, and licensure practice. Annually, a delegation of second-year students attend Lobby Day in Jefferson City, Mo., to lobby for dental hygiene legislation.