Crain’s New York recently recognized Jonathan Teyan, President of NYSADC as Notable Health Care Leader for his consummate leadership, pioneering accomplishments and ability to adjust to the Covid crises. Read more.

In an interview with NY1, NYSADC President Jonathan Teyan explained that people with IDD have real access issues and have been left out of the conversation about how the state allocates health care spending dollars. A fellowship aims to address these issues by training dentists on how to provide advanced care for people with IDD. With funding from the state, the program is increasing from two to six fellows this year. The two current NYSADC fellows are Alex Dorrough at Touro College of Dental Medicine and Tung Nguyen at NYU College of Dentistry. Read more.

Thirty students from around the United States traveled to the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine to take part in the university’s Destination Dental School and Native American Pre-Dental Student Gateway Program, initiatives that aim to remove barriers to careers in dentistry for underrepresented undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students. The two UB programs, which previously operated separately, partnered this summer to combine their virtual and in-person events and activities. Read more.

Launched in 2017, the Dental Assisting Certificate Program at NYU Dentistry is a highly selective, six-month, tuition-free program that is offered twice a year and aims to provide highly motivated, un- or underemployed men and women with marketable job skills as chairside dental assistants. A maximum of six applicants are admitted for each six-month cycle, and the program is by referral only. The program includes all core courses in short modules taught by expert faculty from the College’s Department of Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting alongside clinical faculty and DDS students in the Group Practices and specialty care clinics. Read more.

What happens when a person with a host of medical problems gets Covid? For 56-year old Brenda Bidwell of Waverly, NY, she became even more medically fragile. Due to her several medical conditions, she had to move to a nursing home in 2018 for rehabilitation. But when Covid hit the nursing home and she contracted it, her situation became worse. Read more.

The Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine (SDM) recently hosted its annual fall Give Kids a Smile Day event, at which more than 70 children were provided back-to-school oral health services. With Wolfie on hand to make the day fun for all, participating children received preventive dental services, including an examination, prophy, a fluoride treatment, needed sealants and, most importantly, oral health education. Read more.

On August 26, the College of Dental Medicine (CDM) conducted a free oral cancer health screening event in collaboration with New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital (LH). Under the leadership and supervision of Dr. Vicky Evangelidis-Sakellson, Director of Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD), and Dr. Terry Im, Assistant Clinical Professor in CDM’s Periodontics program, 1 Oral Pathology Resident, 2 AEGD residents, 2 general practice residents (GPR), and 2 dental hygienists, one of whom is a community dental healthcare coordinator, provided complementary oral health and cancer screenings for over 50 patients. Read more.

Nigel Bunnett, PhD, and Brian Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD, have received an Expansion Award from the Department of Defense to continue their research investigating opioid alternatives to treat chronic pain. The three-year, $2.2 million grant began September 1, 2022. Chronic pain is a significant public health problem, and current therapies — particularly opioids — carry dangerous risks and side effects, or do not effectively treat pain. The NYU Pain Research Center is working to better understand the mechanisms of chronic pain and find safer and more effective alternatives to opioids. Read more.

As the opioid epidemic rages on during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study by the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Eastman Institute for Oral Health (EIOH) shows promise for a non-opioid alternative for acute dental pain. Published in JAMA Network Open, the study compares two large groups of patients representing an equal number of men and women ages 18-93 who had dental extractions at the Institute’s Howitt Urgent Dental Care clinic in Rochester, New York. Read more.

NYU Dentistry has been awarded a three-year grant in the amount of $450,000 by the Mathers Foundation for research to investigate how activating brown adipose tissue, also known as brown fat, can have major beneficial effects on human health, including in the fight against obesity and related metabolic diseases. The research project, “Regulation of brown adipose thermogenesis through cold-responsive progenitors,” is led by Dr. Farnaz Shamsi, an assistant professor of molecular pathobiology at NYU Dentistry. Read more.

The University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine’s Destination Dental School – a program that aims to remove barriers to careers in dentistry for underrepresented students – has been named a recipient of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2022 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award. INSIGHT Into Diversity is the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. Read more.