The term “seven-year itch” is a belief that after a certain amount of time – usually about 7 years – there is a psychological need to change or do something new.  After nearly seven years of not producing a Dental Public Health Alumni Newsletter, there is now a definite ‘itch’ to once again send out an annual newsletter.  So, for the first time since 2015, we have a DPH Alumni Newsletter for your reading enjoyment. 

From very early on, Iowa Dentistry has always had a reputation as intramural juggernauts. 2022 was not exception to this trend!

The 2022 American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) held its 108th Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona from October 27 to October 30. The University of Iowa Department of Periodontics had excellent participation with numerous invited speakers and recognitions.

The Iowa Mission of Mercy was held this past weekend, November 4 and 5, in Des Moines. Over the weekend, the dentists and dental staff saw 1,083 patients, completing 6,732 procedures, which amounted to $1,013,563.44 worth of care. Over 100 students, several residents, and over 20 faculty and staff turned out to support the free clinics.

We haven’t been keeping track of everyone, but we do know there whereabouts of many of our graduates.  Some of them are listed below.  If you have updates, please feel to share them with us, and we will include them in the next newsletter.

Several DPH program graduates have recently become certified as Diplomates of the American Board of Dental Public Health (ABDPH). 

In 2022, there are several students are graduating from our programs. Currently, there are three PhD students and two MS students. We welcomed two new students to our Dental Public Health-Pediatric Dentistry program and three new MS students.

In recent years, our faculty have received many awards and recognitions, or have served as national leaders in various organizations.

New faculty in the department include a DPH program alumnus, two new clinical faculty, and other new department faculty. In the time since our last newsletter, one of the past directors of the DPH program, passed away. Two other former leaders in our department retired, and Dr. Leo Marchini recently left the department to take the position of Department Head in Cleveland. Departure and arrival of Dr. Michelle McQuistan left us in 2019. After about a year, she decided that Iowa was a better ‘fit’ for her and her family and returned.

The Midwest Regional Dental Public Health conference brings together dental public health professionals and students from Iowa and several nearby states. The conference has been held nearly every year since the 1990s through 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to cancel the event in 2020, 2021 and for 2022.