Will pregnant women getting a dental checkup—at their obstetrician’s office—actually help prevent severe tooth decay among young children? Using artificial intelligence and digital technology, Jin Xiao, DDS, PhD, certainly thinks so. The Eastman Institute for Oral Health researcher has been awarded a grant to test the idea. Read more.

Columbia dental students join other members of the CUIMC community in treating the unhoused, underinsured, and underserved population of New York City’s West Harlem neighborhood through the Columbia-Harlem Homeless Medical Partnership (CHHMP). The program began in May of 2007 by a group of Columbia University medical students after partnering with the Center for Family and Community Medicine (CFCM). Read more.

Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine’s tradition of placing students into advanced dental education programs continued this year as 39 members of the Class of 2023 who sought residency have matched into a position. Students will further their careers in disciplines such as general dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and pediatric dentistry. Their residency training will take place at highly regarded institutions throughout New York and six other states in the US. Read more.

Obstructive sleep apnea may be linked to low bone mineral density in adults, according to University at Buffalo-led research. The findings are crucial for individuals with sleep apnea, as low bone mineral density is an indicator of osteoporosis – a condition in which bones become weak and brittle. In addition to increasing the risk of fractures, low bone mineral density also impacts oral health, causing teeth to become loose and dental implants to fail, says senior author Thikriat Al-Jewair, DDS, associate professor of orthodontics in the UB School of Dental Medicine and director of the school’s Advanced Education Program in Orthodontics. Read more.

Silver diamine fluoride, as well as sealants, protected against cavities in school-based program. In a study of nearly 3,000 schoolchildren, silver diamine fluoride — a liquid that is brushed onto the surface of teeth to prevent cavities or keep them from worsening — was as effective against cavities as dental sealants, the standard of care. A single dose of either topical treatment given in elementary schools prevented roughly 80% of cavities and kept 50% of cavities from worsening when children were seen two years later. Read more.

Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU), the national honor society in the field of dentistry, has presented Patricia Swanson, DDS, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Prosthodontics and Digital Technology at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine (SDM), with its Charles Craig Teaching Award. Each year, the national award acknowledges a dental educator who has integrated innovative teaching techniques in promoting the art, science and literature of dentistry. Read more.

University at Buffalo researcher Hacer Aksel has received a grant from the American Association of Endodontists’ Foundation for Endodontics to investigate a potential biomarker to support the success of vital pulp therapy, an alternative to root canal treatment that aims to preserve and maintain the healthy pulp tissue in damaged teeth. Read more.

Daniel Malamud, PhD, a leading expert in salivary diagnostics and infectious diseases and a professor of molecular pathobiology at NYU College of Dentistry until his retirement in 2021, has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. Dr. Malamud’s research has explored infectious diseases including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and Zika; the biochemistry of saliva; and the development of new diagnostic tools to detect bacterial or viral infections. Read more.

Touro College of Dental Medicine is pleased to announce that Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, D.D.S., Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, has been named a Fellow of the 2023-2024 ADEA Leadership Institute. Read more.

On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, the NYU Pain Research Center will host its inaugural symposium, featuring prominent scientists in pain research from across the country and Canada. The program will be held in person from 8:45 am to 6:30 pm in the NYU Kimmel Center at 60 Washington Square South in New York City. Read more.

Award-winning fashion photographer Rick Guidotti recently visited the School of Dental Medicine to promote the use of more inclusive imagery in medical education and to celebrate the beauty of human diversity. The two-day visit culminated in an event at a University Pediatric Dentistry clinic during which Guidotti gifted professional photography to dozens of children and youth with disabilities in Western New York. Read more.