College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

The Japanese company, Kuraray, awarded Akimasa Tsujimoto a grant to investigate whether their newly developed light-cure resin luting cement will effectively reduce wear and prevent gap formations between ceramic veneers and teeth. This project shows the value of industry-academic partnerships to meet industry needs and improve clinical practices.

Advances in dental care occur because of a strong clinical research program. The college’s Clinical/Dental Education Research Initiative Support Program (CRISP) supported a project currently led by Rohit Nair on the factors that are clinically associated with dry mouth (xerostomia) among older adults. The goal is, ultimately, to improve dental care for older adult patients suffering from dry mouth.

The 2022 IASDA Pre-Dental Summer Academy was a great success! For three days at the end of June, a group of students from all over the country came to Iowa to learn about dental school and the application process while gaining some hands-on experience simulating life as a dental student.

The college is proud to announce the appointment of Aaron Cho, as the next department head of prosthodontics at the University of Iowa. Cho will start this new role beginning on August 29, 2022.

The dental track of the Summer Health Professions Education Program showcases careers in dentistry for undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds. Since 2017, this highly competitive program has served over 100 students helping to prepare them for dental school and a future career in dentistry. Jonelle Joseph and Hannah Malloy are two graduates of this unique and immersive educational experience, and both have helped with the program over the last two summers.

Azeez Alade, a PhD candidate in genetic epidemiology, specializes in identifying rare genetic factors associated with orofacial clefts in African populations. The IADR and Smile Train awarded Alade $75K to support his dissertation research.

On June 22, Dean Clark Stanford presented Marcos Vargas, professor in family dentistry, with the 2022 Collegiate Teaching Award. This award recognizes a faculty member who exhibits an “outstanding contribution to dental students’, graduate students’ or residents’ intellectual and professional development.”

At the American Association of Orthodontists Annual Meeting in May, orthodontics residents from the University of Iowa presented orthodontics cases of patients they have treated during their time at Iowa. Since 2014, Iowa has placed well in every such competition, including second place this year.

Jason Semprini, a T90 trainee in Iowa Institute of Oral Health Research and a Ph.D. student in the College of Public Health, was awarded a F31 grant—a training grant for mentored dissertation research for his project, Evaluating the Impact of Medicaid Dental Coverage on Early-Stage Oral Cancer Detection.

Several fourth-year dental students received awards for their efforts as dental students. Dean Clark Stanford presented the awards to Abigail Wieland, JoElla Guagliardo, and Emily Starman.