Dental Hygiene receives 100 percent pass rate on national boards

All of the 34 Dental Hygiene students who took the National Board Exams this Spring passed. On top of the 100 percent pass rate, the UTDB average score was above the national average, once again. Seven of the students scored in the 90s with one scoring a 96.

Third-year dental student wins national essay contest

Third-year dental student Alicia Tsai won second place in the Elfenbaum-Kamen national essay contest for her paper "Periodontal Health and Respiratory Disease in the Elderly Population.” The contest was sponsored by the Special Care Dentistry Association. Tsai said her eagerness to learn more in this area sparked her interest in the contest.

Tsai’s mentor was James Katancik, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate professor and chairman of Periodontics. Tsai said working with Katancik on this project was a great learning experience. “He is amazingly knowledgeable and took time out of his busy schedule to assist me.”

Tsai said she is glad she took on the project after learning about it from Richard Bebermeyer, D.D.S., professor of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials. “This was an excellent way for me to learn more about the correlations between periodontal health and systemic diseases. Elderly people, especially those living in nursing homes, may be more susceptible to bacterial pneumonia and exacerating COPD because of poor oral health and hygiene."

Tsai, a native of San Antonio, studied biochemistry at Baylor University in Waco before coming to the Dental Branch. After graduation she is undecided about which postgraduate program to pursue, but she knows she would love the opportunity to get into academics and research.

“The professors here have played such a huge and important role in my life. I think I would enjoy that same type of interaction with other students. It is also an excellent way to give back,” she said. Tsai will receive a $500 cash award and a certificate.

Welcome to the family: DB embraces new library team

From left to right: Janet Peri and Diane Boudreau make up the Dental Branch library’s new team.		Janet Peri, assistant Library Director, and Diane Boudreau, senior support specialist, are two new faces of the Dental Branch Library. Peri, a native Houstonian, spent nine years as a school librarian and three years in the Patient and Family Library at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Peri attended The University of Texas for her undergraduate degree and recently received her master’s in library science from the University of North Texas. She thinks or believes that directing the Dental Branch library will be a good fit for her. Boudreau has a bachelor’s degree in history and has experience in a university setting from her work at Louisiana State University. In her current position she handles the administrative functions of the library, including Interlibrary Loan, PeopleSoft transactions, etc. Together, Peri and Boudreau will tackle the hefty task of streamlining the library’s collection into one categorizing
system — the National Library of Medicine System. Currently three different categorizing systems exist in the library. Peri and Boudreau both say they are pleased to be part of the Dental Branch family and to take on the challenges that will come with their new positions.

Paravina lectures nationally about new product

Rade D. Paravina, D.D.S., Ph.D., assistant professor of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials, represented the Dental Branch this spring by teaching 10 lectures in five weeks around the country on “Mastering Color Matching.”

Paravina is the inventor of a new dental product just hitting the American market—the VITA Bleachedguide 3-D Master. It is the first and only shade guide designed for the evolution of tooth bleaching. The product is derived from the Vitapan 3-D Master.

For more information on Paravina’s new product visit … http://www.db.uth.tmc.edu/UTDB_eflash/archive/2007/041907_UTDB_eflash.htm.

Dental Branch faculty retreat - Mark your calendars

The Dental Branch faculty retreat will be 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, June 7, at the United Way of Texas Gulf Coast, located at 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, TX 77007. More information will follow as the date nears.