Topics at a glance: OKU Dental Honor Society inducts new members at annual banquet    … UTDB victorious in Dental Olympics: First championship since 1999  … TEACHING AWARD WINNERS PROFILED  … Dunk-a-Dean!

OKU Dental Honor Society inducts new members at annual banquet

As a life member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society and a veteran of decades of dentistry, Orthodontics Professor Fred Garrett, D.D.S., can speak from experience about dentists' responsibilities, and he did just that as the keynote speaker for the Mu Mu Chapter's annual convocation banquet April 10.

"You have a responsibility to establish and develop a professional reputation. You can't buy one; you have to earn it, and it will be your most valuable asset," said Garrett, a clinical professor at the University of Texas Dental Branch.

He stressed that UTDB graduates have an obligation to support the school, whether by volunteering to do table clinics, to teach, or through financial contributions. "Not everyone could or should be a teacher," Garrett said, "but you can write a check to the Dental Branch… The mark of a true professional is giving more than you get."

The OKU convocation banquet is an annual event, and as an honor society, OKU chooses its members carefully. Only 12 percent of the top 20 percent of the graduating class of dental students may be chosen annually. Candidates are selected on the basis of academic rank, integrity, leadership and their activities at the UT Dental Branch.

This year, seven students were chosen for membership: Shad B. Harris, Ashley Morgan Hopkins, Liza Shevchenko, Matthew R. Steffer, Nancy T. Tran, Li-Lun Wang and Bradley K. Westbrook.                                             Read more...

UTDB victorious in Dental Olympics: First championship since 1999

By Tiffany Tredway-Ransom
Student Council

Congratulations to all UT Dental Branch Dental Olympics athletes. Houston won this year's Dental Olympics (April 11-12), outscoring the second-place team, Baylor College of Dentistry, by close to 40 points. The University of Texas Dental School at San Antonio came in third place.

The final scores were Houston, 125.5; Baylor, 88.5; and San Antonio, 83. This is an exciting win for Houston since the last time Houston won the championship was back in 1999.

The weekend activities kicked off with a welcome party at Brian O'Neill's in the Village on Friday evening sponsored by Zimmer Dental. More than 100 people attended, including many participants from both Baylor and San Antonio. This party gave everyone an opportunity to catch-up with friends from other schools, network with new friends and start the "all-in-fun" trash talking before the weekend athletic events.

Saturday started out early (at 7 a.m.) with swimming relays and the 5K run. Baylor forfeited the swimming relays, so Houston automatically won 8 points from the start. Then the Houston softball team won (both Men's and Coed) and the momentum did not stop there. Houston dominated the day, coming out in full force and taking the majority of the wins. The day ended with a win in Men's Dodgeball to wrap up the Dental Olympics victory for Houston.

Pictured with the Dental Olympics trophy are (back row,from left) Tiffany Tredway-Ransom, Student Council vice president; Julie Javarone, Student Council treasurer; Ginger Marblestone, Student Council president; Erika Johnson, Student Council secretary; (front row from left) Chad Silvertooth and Jordan Risinger.

The individual and team wins for Houston were numerous and include the following:

• Men's Football 3rd

• Women's Football 2nd
• Men's Soccer 1st
• Washers 1st, 2nd
• Women's Basketball 2nd
• Men's Softball 1st, 3rd
• Co-ed Softball 1st, 2nd
• Golf 1st, 2nd
• Men's Dodgeball 1st, 3rd
• Women's Dodgeball 2nd, 3rd
• Co-ed Dodgeball 2nd
• Women's Volleyball 2nd
• Co-ed Volleyball 2nd
• Men's Tennis 2nd
• Women's Tennis 2nd, 3rd
• Co-ed Tennis 2nd
• Billiards Singles 1st, 2nd
• 5K Men 3rd
• 5K Women 3rd
• Swimming 1st, 2nd

The weather could not have cooperated more, and we had our own homegrown entertainment with Sanaz Ekhlassi showing off her talents as the DJ. She kept the mood light and everyone entertained.  Read more...

TEACHING AWARD WINNERS PROFILED

John R. Ludington, Jr., D.D.S.

John P. McGovern Award for Outstanding Teaching

John Ludington, D.D.S.

John R. Ludington, Jr., D.D.S., associate professor and chairman of the Department of Endodontics, is the 2008 John P. McGovern Award for Outstanding Teaching. Students choose the McGovern Award winners for stimulating curiosity, promoting professional development and contributing to students' ability to think creatively.

Ludington earned his dental degree at the University of North Carolina and served with the U.S. Public Health Service, caring for Coast Guard personnel in Staten Island, N.Y., Honolulu and Yorktown, Va. He was chosen for endodontics training at the University of Washington and upon graduation was assigned to public health duty first to Galveston, then Nassau Bay. While there, he began volunteering to help out in clinics at the UT Dental Branch, and when a reassignment to eastern Oklahoma didn't suit his family's needs, Ludington resigned from the USPHS and accepted a job teaching at UTDB in 1982. He's been here ever since.

He chose endondontics, he says, "because there were times when my patients weren't better the next day, and I thought it would be nice to understand why." Becoming a teacher was almost a matter of DNA. Ludington's parents were educators; he married a teacher, and they have a daughter who teaches math.

A first-time McGovern Award winner, Ludington is deeply honored and doesn't have to think long to express what he likes about teaching. "When you think that these students didn't know any of this at all when they started, and then you see what they can do in the 4th year "¦ that's why I'm here," he says.

Comments from student nominations follow:

"Dr. Ludington has been carrying a large load in the Endo Dept. for the past year, even though he was about to retire. He is always very helpful and always available in clinic and outside of clinic for assistance. He also made sure that every student was prepared for the Mock Board and made the whole process go very smoothly. We appreciate everything he has done for our class."

"He is always responsive and treats every day like a new day. I have found him to be very accessible and a student advocate. "

Robert O. "Rod" Dosch, D.D.S.

John H. Freeman Award for Outstanding Non-Clinical Teaching

Robert O. "Rod" Dosch, D.D.S.

For a teacher, there's no better award than one voted on by the students themselves, says this year's winner of the John H. Freeman Award for Outstanding Non-Clinical Teaching, Associate Professor Robert O. "Rod" Dosch, D.D.S., of the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Biomaterials. First- and second-year dental students choose the winner.

Dosch is a Houston native and 1971 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He chose dentistry as a profession because it would let him use his head and hands. "I'm a gadget guy and love to make things, and that's what attracted me to dentistry," he says.

He earned his dental degree at the UT Dental Branch, then practiced for 14 years before joining the faculty in 1992, where colleagues William Tate, D.D.S., Jay Ferguson, D.D.S, and Kenneth Porter, D.D.S., "taught me how to teach," he says. Dosch is now a Freeman Award veteran, having won the honor several times. He teaches dental anatomy to both DDS and dental hygiene students, and teaches esthetics and operative dentistry to dental students.

As meaningful work, teaching is hard to beat, Dosch says. "I've learned how to perform many procedures much better by teaching them than I did by doing them every day in practice, because you're trying to teach every detail about it so someone else can understand, and that's hard to do." While he believes he got an excellent dental education in the 1970s, Dosch says teaching today is no longer based on the basic, "See one, do one, teach one." "There's a quotation: "˜Tell me and I forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand,'" he says. "That's the way I teach. If I can get them involved, they want to learn. If I say, what do you think? Or how would you do it? I think they learn better."

Student comments for Dosch included:

"Very professional and always there when you need him. He makes the classes he teaches fun and very interesting. I can't say enough good things about the man. He and the rest of the Restorative Department are real assets to the students."

"1). Very respectful ; 2). Patient; 3). Open-door policy; 4). Always available; cannot say no when someone asks for help; 5). Selfless; 6). Humble."

Harold Henson, R.D.H.

Lorna J. Bruning Award for Clinical Teaching Excellence

Harold Henson, R.D.H.

Harold Henson, R.D.H., assistant professor in Periodontics, School of Dental Hygiene, is the winner of the 2008 Lorna J. Bruning Award for Clinical Teaching Excellence. The Bruning award recognizes dental hygiene faculty who demonstrate the most knowledge, competency and enthusiasm for teaching dental hygiene, along with the encouragement of critical thinking.

Henson earned a bachelor of science from the University of Houston in 1992 and graduated from the UT Dental Branch Dental Hygiene program in 1995, earning a master's degree in education in 2001 from UH/Baylor College of Medicine. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in adult education from Texas A&M University.

Henson says his interest in dentistry rose from personal experience. "I came from the Philippines, where dental care is nonexistent," he said. As a result, "I had a mouth of metal crowns when I was young."

Today he has a bright, white smile and a solid career in dental education, "So it's come full circle," he adds.

A paid faculty member since 1998, Henson teaches Clinical Seminar I and II, Dental Materials, Practice Management and an online degree-completion course, Trends and Issues in Dental Hygiene. This is his first time to win the Bruning Award. Candidates are nominated and chosen by the dental hygiene students.

"I consider it an extreme honor that they've chosen me as the 2008 recipient," he says. "It validates that what I've learned to become a teacher is actually working. This really is the ultimate feedback."

Student comments for Henson included:

"In clinic Mr. Henson gets you excited about dental hygiene. Even when you're having a bad day in clinic he will talk you through it, and then you're okay. If you're performing a task incorrectly, he will take his time to show you how and why so you can better your skills. I never feel like he doesn't have time for me, and I'm never afraid to ask him questions. He always listens to what you have to say and then thinks about what you've said before he answers. I feel that he respects everyone in our class, which in turn makes us respect him. Anyone can see his enthusiasm for teaching; it has even made me consider teaching in the future. Mr. Henson deserves this award and definitely demonstrates an excellence in teaching."