Topics at a glance: German visitors finishing research project at UTDB    … Bentley now full-time primary bay instructor at UTDB  … Second-year DDS student wins ADA scholarship  … Reder a finalist in graduate student research award competition … Visit UTDB’s annual table clinic presentations

German visitors finishing research project at UTDB

As the end of March nears, so to does the end of a two-month work/study visit to the UT Dental Branch by a German dental professor and three of her students who have been here since February to complete research the professor started at UTDB two years ago.

Christine Berthold, D.D.S., is here as a visiting research faculty member in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials and the Houston Biomaterials Research Center. In Germany, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology at the University of Erlangen near Nuremburg.

She initially began the research project with UTDB professor John Powers, Ph.D., and has continued it with Professor Arthur Jeske, Ph.D., D.M.D.; S. Ray Taylor, Ph.D., director of the Houston Biomaterials Research Center at UTDB; Assistant Professor Joe Ontiveros, D.D.S.; and Assistant Professor Rade Paravina, D.D.S., Ph.D.

To finish the project in the same laboratory conditions in which it began, Berthold raised donations from German foundations and industry to fund a return trip to the U.S. She was accompanied here by three of her dental students from the University of Erlangen -- Thomas Ebert, Barbara Holzschuh and Tobias Mackert -- who have been working with her as research observers.

The project evaluates the retention of posts in endodontically-treated roots of teeth using a unique testing procedure. The laboratories in the Houston Biomaterials Research Center offered Berthold and her students the best environment and equipment for this type of dental research, Jeske said.

The Germans shared an apartment in Houston and spent most of their time in a Dental Branch lab, but they managed to see the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, take a trip to Chicago, and make an excursion to The Strand in Galveston, where they saw a presentation about the 1900 storm. Berthold had a more modern hurricane experience here in 2005, evacuating to Waco for Hurricane Rita.

They won’t have to worry about hurricane season this year, however. Ebert left March 7 to return to Germany, and the others will be leaving by the end of the month. When the research results are compiled and written, they hope to publish their findings. Their meticulous analysis involved samples from 1,800 teeth.

Speaking for herself and her students, Berthold expressed thanks to the Dental Branch “for giving us the opportunity to stay here and to let us use the lab. We also would like to express thanks to the faculty members, who were very nice and helpful in every way.”

When she returns to Germany, Berthold plans a brief vacation before the next semester begins in mid-April.

Dan Bentley, D.D.S., Restorative Dentistry & Biomaterials

Bentley now full-time primary bay instructor at UTDB

Dan Bentley, D.D.S., has accepted a full-time clinical faculty position in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials. He began teaching at UTDB part-time in August while transitioning out of private practice in Amarillo. He and his wife, Susan, an elementary teacher, are now in the process of moving to Houston.

Dan Bentley earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology at Texas A&M University and a doctorate at the University of Texas Dental School at San Antonio, then practiced general dentistry in Amarillo and Clarendon for 25 years. The Bentleys have two children, a son, David, who now lives in Austin, and a daughter, Michelle Camp, who is a second-year dental student at UTDB.

Having logged “a lot of Southwestern Airlines miles” commuting from Amarillo, Bentley said he is pleased to be part of the full-time faculty now. “It’s already been a great pleasure to get to know and work with everyone I’ve met so far,” he said. “All of you should be very proud of what you’ve accomplished here. This is a great dental school already, and I’m blessed to be part of it.”

Second-year student Gonzalez
wins ADA Foundation scholarship

The American Dental Association Foundation has chosen second-year dental student Anthony Benjamin Gonzalez to receive a Minority Dental Student Scholarship in the amount of $2,500 for the 2007-2008 academic year.

The ADA Foundation’s Minority Dental Student Scholarship Program is funded in part by Harry J. Bosworth Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Proctor & Gamble and Sunstar Americas. This year year, the Foundation will distribute 80 awards to students in dental professions, for a total of $155,000.

As dentistry’s premier philanthropic and charitable organization, the ADA Foundation is a catalyst for uniting people and organizations to make a difference through better oral health. The foundation secures contributions and provide grants for sustainable programs in dental research, education, access to care and assistance for dentists and their families in need.

Reder a finalist in graduate student research award competition

Seth Reder, D.D.S., who finished a residency in pediatric dentistry at UTDB in July 2007, has been selected as a finalist for the Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children Graduate Student Research Award competition, sponsored by NuSmile® Primary Crowns. Reder and the seven other finalists will submit manuscripts and deliver a 15-minute oral presentation (a 10-minute summary of the research and five minutes for questions) at the AAPD Annual Session on May 24. The recipient judged to have accomplished the most outstanding research will receive the Ralph E. McDonald Award, funded by the Indiana University Pediatric Dental Alumni Association.

Reder currently lives in San Diego, Calif. and practices pediatric dentistry with his father, Barry Reder, D.D.S., in Oceanside, Calif. Seth Reder also works at the Vista Community Clinic, providing dentistry primarily to low-income children and pregnant women. He recently became a volunteer clinical instructor for the University of California San Diego’s Pre-Dental Pediatric Clinic. He reports that when he’s not working, he “surfs as much as possible.”

Visit UTDB’s annual table clinic presentations

Everyone is invited to stop by and review the table clinics presented by dental and dental hygiene students from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 20 in Room B-54. A light lunch will be served.