{"id":53684,"date":"2012-01-20T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T13:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=53684"},"modified":"2012-01-25T09:13:49","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T14:13:49","slug":"leading-through-science-and-service-the-uconn-school-of-dental-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/01\/leading-through-science-and-service-the-uconn-school-of-dental-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading Through Science and Service: The UConn School of Dental Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Jonathan Meiers (second from left), professor and chair of the Division of Operative Dentistry, assists second-year dental student John Walsh. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students and faculty at the UConn School of Dental Medicine<\/a> have many reasons to smile these days. National recognition, the delivery of affordable dental care to the community, innovative programs, strong grant funding and leading-edge research are just a few of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeading through science and service\u201d is the school\u2019s philosophy, and it is reflected in all aspects of the school, according to Dr. R. Lamont MacNeil, dean of the dental school. \u201cWe are a school grounded in science and service,\u201d he explains. \u201cThat\u2019s a differentiating fact for us, and it\u2019s reflected in the national recognition and honors that our faculty and students receive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLeading through science\u201d is evident in the school\u2019s unique curriculum. \u201cOur dental students get in-depth exposure to basic medical science as a core component of the curriculum,\u201d MacNeil says. \u201cOur students participate in about 80 percent of the biomedical sciences curriculum, side by side with medical students, and that is rare in our field. It\u2019s an intense and contemporary science education, as comprehensive as anywhere in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"R.<\/a>
Dr. R. Lamont MacNeil, Dean, UConn School of Dental Medicine. (Janine Gelineau\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLeading through service\u201d is also apparent through the dental care and service activities provided by students, residents and faculty at the school\u2019s dental clinics in Farmington and at affiliated community clinics located throughout the state. Almost one-quarter of students\u2019 clinical education takes place at sites across Connecticut. \u201cWe think it\u2019s important for our students to be out in the community and learning about the people they will be treating in their professional lives,\u201d MacNeil says. \u201cWe treat and help patients from every zip code in Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both adults and children are treated in the clinical sites, where fees are either reduced or assisted by federal or state programs. In many cases, patients served are uninsured or underinsured and might not be able to otherwise afford dental care. The school\u2019s dental clinics at the UConn Health Center in Farmington recorded more than 94,000 visits in the past year. In addition, students, residents and faculty provided more than 48,000 visits to the community at its affiliated sites.<\/p>\n

The dental school\u2019s national recognitions are numerous and impressive. \u201cA significant number of our faculty are involved in and leaders of professional organizations,\u201d MacNeil points out. \u201cOn the student level, we have one of the most active chapters of the American Student Dental Association. A large number of our students are involved on the national level. When I travel outside the state, I quickly realize that we are known nationally as a very active school.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacNeil believes that a major advantage of the school is the ratio of dental students to residents in training. \u201cWe have about 90 students in clinical training over the last two years of the DMD program, as compared to about 100 residents or graduated dentists who are pursuing advanced or specialty training. This provides great opportunities for students and residents to train and learn together, and the faculty has been very good at encouraging this and maximizing the educational possibilities.\u201d \u00a0The school offers programs in almost all of the dental specialties.<\/p>\n

Although there are no formal national rankings of dental schools based on performance, UConn dental students consistently perform within the top three schools on national board exams. With few exceptions, 100 percent of UConn students pass these exams on their first attempt, compared to a nationwide passing average of 80 percent to 90 percent. \u201cThese numbers are a measure of the strength of our program and the strength of our students,\u201d says Dr. Steven Lepowsky, senior associate dean for education and patient care.<\/p>\n

Unlike medical students, who must complete a residency after they earn their degree, dental students can get a license and practice immediately after graduation. However, at UConn, 95 percent of students pursue residency training after graduation. \u201cThat\u2019s also an outcome we aspire to and are proud of,\u201d Lepowsky says.<\/p>\n

Research Excellence<\/h3>\n
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Reza Kazemi (seated in foreground), associate professor of operative dentistry and reconstructive sciences, demonstrates a dental technique to second-year dental student Jenna Marcinczyk (standing) in the Joseph E. Grasso Dental Simulation Lab. (Tina Encarnacion\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since its inception in 1968, the dental school has been a prominent leader in dental education, research, patient care and community outreach, and its reputation for excellence earns the school a significant number of grants each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important grants we receive [from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)] is a training grant to support doctoral, combined DMD\/PHD and post-doctoral training,\u201d says Dr. Susan Reisine, the school\u2019s associate dean for research. The most recent five-year, $2.9 million NIDCR grant provides a stipend for students doing residency training, supporting the advanced training of dental professionals in a variety of specialty areas. The school currently has 54 active research grants, and the current year\u2019s total dollar award is $8.23 million.<\/p>\n

Funding for student research also comes from alumni support, from faculty members and from the Health Center\u2019s Research Advisory Committee, which supports many different types of scientific investigation. \u201cAlmost half the class is involved in student research, which is unusual among dental schools,\u201d Reisine explains. \u201cWe have a long history of providing research experiences for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Projects funded in 2011 include studies of bone loss associated with periodontal disease, the harvesting of bone marrow stem cells, and oral health disparities in older adults. \u201cSkeletal and bone biology have major research emphasis here,\u201d Reisine says.<\/p>\n

\n

Follow\u00a0the UConn Health Center<\/a> on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a> and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students and faculty at the dental school have many reasons to smile these days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":53690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[45],"class_list":["post-53684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-health","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 16:14:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53684"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53696,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53684\/revisions\/53696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/53690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53684"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=53684"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=53684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}