BDJ-HR October 2009

JournalTe x a s A & M H e a l t h S c i e n c e C e n t e r B a y l o r C o l l e g e o f D e n t i s t r y D a l l a s , Te x a s

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The Baylor Dental Journal is published by the Office of Communications & Institutional Advancement;

Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry; 3302 Gaston Avenue; Dallas, Texas 75246;

214.828.8214. This issue was printed September 2009. Production of the Baylor Dental Journal is supported

by a grant to HSC-BCD from the Baylor Oral Health Foundation. Financial support to defray printing and

mailing expenses is provided by the Baylor College of Dentistry Alumni Association. HSC-BCD serves people

of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.

16Destiny: Dental Dean

Three Texas A&M Health Science

Center Baylor College of Dentistry

alumni have followed different

paths to the same pinnacle in dental

education administration.

Child’s Play

More than story time and make-

believe, a therapy called child life

is being explored as a novel tool

in dentistry to help calm anxious

pediatric patients.

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on the cover

By practicing “playing dentist” during child life therapy, children gain knowledge and coping skills in preparation for upcoming dental treatment.

2. Message From the Dean

3. Campus Connection

10. Newsmakers

34. In Touch With Alumni

40. Class Notes

42. Giving

48. Impressions

Editor Carolyn Cox

Lead Designer Miler Hung, Peterson Ray & Company

Graphic Designer Linda Orsi, Texas A&M Health Science Center Marketing and Communications

Contributors Dr. Charles Arcoria, Laura Beil, LaDawn Brock, Lori Dees, Kathryn Jones, Janet Kling,

Linda Piper, Brigitte Sims, Amber K. Thomas, Art Upton, Sara Wartes, Janea Woosley

Photographers LaDawn Brock, Ray Bryant, Bruce Cook, Dave Gresham, Phil Jones, Lagniappe Studio,

Rick McDaniel, Dr. Raghunath Puttaiah, Philip Schertz, Justin Terveen, Amber Thomas, Joan Yokom

Executive Director, Communications & Institutional Advancement Susan Mitchell Jackson

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

The Baylor Dental Journal welcomes your feedback

and suggestions. Send comments by e-mail to ccox@

bcd.tamhsc.edu or fax to 214.874.4529. You can mail

correspondence to Carolyn Cox, Editor; Baylor College

of Dentistry; Office of Communications & Institutional

Advancement; 3302 Gaston Ave.; Dallas, TX 75246.

The Winds of Change

After a 15-year quest, a Texas A&M

Health Science Center Baylor

College of Dentistry faculty member

is a catalyst in establishing dental

infection control standards in his

homeland 7,000 miles away.

28

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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

This research growth spurt began in 2004 when HSC-BCD

received funding for its U24 Research Infrastructure Enhancement

Program, led by Dr. David Carlson, now HSC vice president for

research and graduate studies. This grant enabled the college to

recruit senior magnet investigator and biomedical sciences chair Dr.

Rena D’Souza, who in turn has hired a critical mass of outstanding

researcher-educators.

The promise of growth in clinical research also has been

enhanced by the college’s partnership in a consortium of North Texas

institutions that received a $34 million National Institutes of Health

Clinical and Translational Science Award. Funded in September

2007, the grant established the North and Central Texas Clinical

and Translational Science Initiative, led by Dr. Milton Packer at UT

Southwestern Medical Center and directed at HSC-BCD by Dr. Paul

Dechow. The ultimate goal of this wide-ranging initiative is to speed

the transfer of laboratory discoveries to new therapies that improve

human health. The project has created a variety of clinical research

training and collaboration opportunities for our faculty.

Complementing these research efforts is the college’s Office of

Technology Development, which was established in 2006. Housed in

the Office of the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies,

Dr. Larry Bellinger, the Office of Technology Development’s goals

are to increase translational research opportunities within the

college and increase collaborative research with industry. Led by Dr.

Lynne Opperman, this office encourages innovative thinkers on the

faculty to identify translational technologies. The college also has

seen success in grant funding for technology development, helping

secure more than $1 million in the office’s short lifespan.

A wide variety of research topics exists among the more than 70

research projects currently in progress at the college, ranging from

behavioral to highly technical. In this Journal you’ll read about two

assistant professors in pediatric dentistry who received a grant to

explore whether a behavior management technique called “child

life” could help previously uncooperative pediatric dental patients.

Student research remains a high priority at HSC-BCD and is

supported by 20 to 25 faculty mentors working with more than 35

students on grants from the Baylor Oral Health Foundation.

In addition, HSC-BCD was one of 20 U.S. dental schools to

receive an NIH T32 grant to provide support for training dental

student research scholars and preparing participants to become

the next generation of dental academic research faculty. The $1.6

million grant is the largest T32 award in HSC history. An R25

grant from NIH announced in April 2008 is providing more than

$600,000 to fund a series of curricular changes that will provide

students with skills to improve their decision making and help them

critically evaluate new information.

HSC-BCD has a long history of solid scientific inquiry, laying

the foundation for the growth we’re experiencing today. Since the

1970s, research has been given a priority in our strategic planning,

and a substantial amount of space has been allocated to laboratories

and offices for researchers, including the Sciences Building,

completed in 2005.

Growth in research provides exciting new opportunities for

the college and helps advance the mission of the Health Science

Center. We look forward to continuous growth ahead in all our

research endeavors.

As you can see from articles elsewhere in this issue

of the Baylor Dental Journal, HSC-Baylor College of

Dentistry has been making significant progress in

the number and quality of research projects conducted at

the college. In 2008, HSC-BCD received more than $8 million

in grants for research and training, and the college has

doubled its research expenditures in the last six years. Dr. James S. Cole

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C A M P U S C O N N E C T I O N

NIH grant trains future researchers

Acertain indication of research growth at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry is a

comprehensive training program funded in July 2008 by a $1.6 million National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training (T32) Grant from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research. This four-year project, the largest T32 grant awarded in the history of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, will provide research training and career development for dentist-scientists. The primary goal of the program, named “B-STARS”: Baylor’s Scientific Training Program for Dental Academic Research Scholars, is to train dental scientists to conduct clinically relevant oral health research. In turn, those researchers can bring their scientific knowledge into the clinical setting. The program is directed by Dr. Rena D’Souza, professor and chair of biomedical sciences at HSC-BCD, with co-directors Dr. Paul Dechow, professor and director of the graduate program in biomedical sciences at HSC-BCD, and Dr. Perrie Adams, associate dean for research at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. A program advisory committee and a steering team offer guidance. B-STARS offers new and enhanced training to predoctoral and postdoctoral students in a unique and rigorous multidisciplinary environment. It offers three tracks: a

dual degree program (D.D.S./Ph.D.) for predoctoral students, a Ph.D. program for students holding a D.D.S. degree, and a fellowship for postdoctoral students. Participants are mentored by faculty from HSC-BCD, HSC-Institute of Biosciences and Technology in Houston, UT Southwestern and Rice University in Houston. “The comprehensive T32 training grants awarded by NIDCR are difficult to get because of the requirements for high-level research and training opportunities,” says Dr. David Carlson, vice president for research and graduate studies at the HSC. “As a result, the T32 awards actually tend to define those dental schools that are the most highly regarded as investments by the NIDCR.” Participants can study from the areas of genes and development, matrix biology and tissue engineering, neurosciences and molecular pathology, and clinical research. Academic degrees will be awarded primarily by HSC-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. “The awarding of the T32 grant brings a new dimension to the education and training of students at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry by offering them interdisciplinary training opportunities that will open up avenues leading to careers in various aspects of craniofacial research and in academic dentistry,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean. D’Souza says, “We can now create an active pipeline of well-trained candidates who will be mentored by outstanding dental researchers for successful careers in oral health research.”

The B-STARS T32 grant directors and leadership team: Front row: Dr. Perrie Adams of UT Southwestern, Drs. Rena D’Souza and Paul Dechow of HSC-BCD, and Dr. Nancy Street of UT Southwestern. Back row: Jeanne Santa Cruz, Drs. Lynne Opperman, Robert Spears, Kathy Svoboda, and Larry Bellinger of HSC-BCD. Not pictured: Drs. Charles Berry, Ann McCann and Barbara Miller of HSC-BCD, Dr. Milton Packer of UT Southwestern, Dr. Anthony Mikos of Rice University and Dr. Brad Amendt of HSC’s Institute of Biosciences and Technology.

Merritt lecture highlights the

‘mouth-body’ connection

MORE THAN 175 students and

faculty members

attended the

2008 Arthur H.

Merritt Memorial

Lectureship on

Aug. 1 to explore

the connections

between oral

health and overall well-being.

The keynote speaker for the 37th annual

Merritt Lecture was Dr. Brian L. Mealey, a

professor of periodontics at the University

of Texas Health Science Center at San

Antonio. Mealey presented “The Connections

Between Periodontics Health and Systemic

Well-Being.” His lecture addressed how

patients’ oral health can be affected by

conditions such as diabetes, pregnancy,

osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and

decreased immunity.

Mealey has served in many roles

at the UT Health Science Center Dental

School, including chair of the periodontics

department. He also has served as director

of the periodontics residency for the U.S. Air

Force and is an adjunct associate professor

at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. Mealey

has published more than 80 articles and

textbook contributions about oral health’s

relationship to overall health.

The Merritt Lecture was created in

1971 in honor of Dr. Arthur H. Merritt, an

early pioneer in periodontics. Merritt

was a founder and past president of the

American Academy of Periodontology.

Although a faculty member at New York

University School of Dentistry, Merritt

visited HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry

annually and was a strong supporter of

the college.

Dr. Brian Mealey

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Venezuelan patient receives facial prosthesis at HSC-BCD

Gloria Guerrero, a 31-year-old cancer survivor from Venezuela, arrived at HSC-

Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas in March 2008 for the final procedure that would give her a new look. Guerrero, who developed a retinal blastoma at age 7, lost her left eye. The high doses of radiation she received to fight the cancer then caused the bone structure on the left side of her face to fail to develop. Dr. Marianella Gonzales, assistant professor in oral and maxillofacial surgery at HSC-BCD, met Guerrero while working at the Santa Rosa Maxillofacial Surgery Center in Caracas, Venezuela. She performed surgery to correct the symmetry of Guerrero’s face. However, because that country has no anaplastologists to restore absent parts of the human body through prostheses, Guerrero was still missing an eye, its lid and the surrounding bone structure. “Gloria comes from a very poor family and had no way to pay for this type of procedure,”

Gonzales says. “She is such an intelligent and motivated person, and I felt she could go far. But, not having what we consider a normal looking face, she had been somewhat afraid to move forward.” When Gonzales joined the HSC-BCD faculty in April 2007, she met Suzanne Verma, anaplastologist at the dental school’s Center for Maxillofacial Prosthodontics. The two talked about Guerrero’s case. Gonzales used her personal funds to return to Caracas and surgically place titanium implants in the bone to support an orbital prosthesis. She then paid for Guerrero’s travel to the United States in order to complete her care. “The final delivery of her orbital prosthesis was an emotional day for everyone in the room,” Verma says. “It was the first time since she was 7 years old that she could look in the mirror and see both eyes. “She can now go out in public and go about life without drawing attention to her defect,” Verma continues. “It is only through a team approach that we can accomplish the rehabilitation of both body and spirit.”

Interns preview graduate

school life at HSC-BCD

MORE THAN 60 LOCAL college students

visited the HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry

campus July 16, 2008, for the 10th annual

Professional and Graduate School Seminar for

the Dr. Emmett J. Conrad Leadership Program.

Dr. Claude Williams, community outreach

director, hosted the event, which exceeded all

previous attendance records.

The seminar helped undergraduate

students preview graduate and professional

schools. HSC-BCD’s Dr. Ernie Lacy ’94, ’96,

director of student development, presented

information about admission requirements

and student life at the dental school.

Students also heard from other guest

speakers representing area graduate and

professional schools, including the University

of North Texas, Southern Methodist University

Dedman School of Law and the University of

Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Addition-

ally, former Conrad interns who obtained

graduate or professional degrees shared their

personal experiences with the group.

“I feel that activities such as this will go

a long way in cementing our relationship

with the professional and educational

communities that were represented that

evening,” Williams says.

The Conrad program is named in honor of

distinguished Dallas physician and education

advocate Dr. Emmett J. Conrad, who was the

first African-American member of the Dallas

Independent School District board of trustees.

The program, created in 1993 by state Sen.

Royce West of District 23, places Dallas

undergraduate students into paid summer

internship positions. The program provides

students the professional experience

needed to jump-start their career while also

providing them a salary to help offset their

educational costs.

Since its inception, the program has grown

from 27 to 123 students per year. Thirty have

interned at HSC-BCD and at least 10 former

Conrad interns have attended HSC-BCD for

dental school. Dr. Marianella Gonzales and Suzanne Verma share Gloria Guerrero’s excitement on the day her f inal orbital prosthesis is delivered.

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Student survey shows technology aptitude, desire to keep ‘human touch’

Survey results show that HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry students prefer to use

electronic technology to supplement, but not completely replace, their traditional classroom education. The results of the 2008 Student Preferences for Learning With Digital Technology Survey were released last September. The survey was conducted by the college’s planning and assessment committee to help meet e-technology initiatives in the college’s strategic plan. It started with a focus group of four dental students elected by their classes. The group identified critical issues in using electronic technology for instruction and communication at the college. Based on the results of that focus group and numerous faculty discussions, a survey was constructed that requested information about students’ experience level with computers, digital equipment used, frequency utilizing and effectiveness of college resources, preferences for learning in various environments, the need for standardization of e-course materials and preferred modes of communication. The survey was administered online in May to all dental students and dental hygiene students. More than 90 percent of students said they were average or experienced users of computers. Nearly a quarter of students owned both a laptop and desktop computer. More than

90 percent of students also said they had high speed Internet access and owned MP3 players. Regarding specific e-learning resources, about two-thirds of students found them effective for learning. They cited virtual microscopy, digital skull atlas and digital tooth atlas as the most effective resources. “A clear theme of the survey results was that digital resources should not replace the human touch,” says Dr. Ann McCann, director of planning and assessment and one of the report’s authors. “Many students expressed that face-to-face interaction is still their favorite form of communication.” In fact, 74 percent of students wanted online materials to supplement but not replace lectures. More than 60 percent preferred printed textbooks over digital texts. McCann says the survey results are being closely examined by college administrators. She says the results will not only help administrators allocate the college’s resources; they also show that some of the college’s strategic initiatives for e-learning should move faster, particularly the need to centralize e-resources. Currently e-resources are available at several electronic locations, such as the college’s intranet, the college’s public share drive and on Blackboard or WebCT. Nearly all students – 98 percent – said the need for a central location for digital course materials was important. “Students want one place where everything is, one way to submit and obtain information,” McCann says.

Boy Scouts learn about

dentistry on campus

SEVERAL MEMBERS OF Boy Scout Troop

380 in Plano came to HSC-Baylor College

of Dentistry in August 2008 to work on

their dentistry merit badge. A highlight for

the Scouts was casting pediatric molds

and taking them home to keep.

Dr. Loulou Moore ’93, ’94, associate

professor in restorative sciences, and

two dental students – Rob Cline and Sam

Ellsworth (a former Scout himself) –

conducted the hands-on activities and tour

of the college.

“Many students expressed that

face-to-face interaction is still their

favorite form of communication.” Dr. Ann MccAnn

Student Sam Ellsworth explains a detail during an educational session.

Dr. Loulou Moore assists a Scout in a hands-on laboratory activity.


Students visit nursing homes on new rotation

Dental and dental hygiene students are teaming up to provide care to patients in

local nursing homes two afternoons per week. For each rotation, two fourth-year dental students and two dental hygiene students

Oral health instruction is often a part of the nursing home visits.

accompany Dr. Patricia Skur, assistant professor in public health sciences, to one of 13 local nursing homes. The nursing home rotation began as an option for dental students in the spring 2007 semester. The idea came from Skur, who provides care herself at the homes. She worked with Dr. Dan Jones ’89, professor and chair of public health sciences, to establish a student rotation. “Many of the students who participated that spring enjoyed their experience, so we decided to incorporate it into our rotation schedule in the fall 2007 semester,” Skur says. Near the completion of the rotation’s first year, leaders from the dental hygiene program expressed interest in joining the effort. JoAnn Scofield ’01, dental hygiene associate professor and clinic coordinator, organizes the dental hygiene students’ participation. “We gave the students the responsibility to determine which services they could provide that would help the patients,” Scofield says. “This includes brushing their teeth, cleaning their removable appliances, performing oral health education or just providing a smile and a

Nursing home residents receive individualized attention from dental hygiene students, who join with dental students in this community dentistry rotation.

Lecture addresses access

to dental health care

THE 2008 BRAUMAN-BELL Alpha Omega

Lectureship at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry

addressed ways to improve communities’

access to dental health care.

The distinguished lecturer for the Sept. 16

event was Dr. Robert M. Brandjord, an oral and

maxillofacial surgeon in Minneapolis. A past

president of the American Dental Association,

Brandjord is an advocate for dental health care

access both nationally and in Minnesota, where

he has served as chair of the task force on

universal health care for the Minnesota Dental

Association.

In his lecture titled “The Community Dental

Health Coordinator to Improve Access to Dental

Care,” Brandjord addressed the ADA’s proposal

to increase

access by

emphasizing

this new role

in the dental

workforce.

Dental health

coordinators

are proposed to

help bridge the

gap between distinct cultural communities and

dental health care systems.

The approximately 80 students, faculty

members and local dentists who attended

the lecture also heard Brandjord describe

coordinator training in development in three

locations: Michigan, Oklahoma and California.

The annual Brauman-Bell Alpha Omega

Lectureship is named for distinguished HSC-

BCD alumni Drs. Alfred W. Brauman ’38 and

Welden E. Bell ’34. It is organized through the

college’s faculty development committee,

the Office of Communications & Institutional

Advancement and the Dallas alumni chapter of

Alpha Omega International Fraternity.

Bell was a faculty member in oral and

maxillofacial surgery and a continuing

education lecturer until his death in 1990.

He also was a visiting lecturer to 24 dental

schools throughout the United States and

Canada and the author of nine textbooks on

orofacial pain and TMJ disorders. Brauman

was instrumental in establishing the Dallas

Chapter of Alpha Omega fraternity while in

dental school. A practicing dentist in Dallas

for more than 50 years and a commercial

real estate developer, he was an active

community volunteer and philanthropist

until his death in 1996. Bell and Brauman

maintained a friendship for 52 years.

Dr. Robert Brandjord

little company. The students took the initiative to visit each room to see what they could do. “The nursing home rotation has been such a good experience,” says Scofield.



Students create fundraiser for oral cancer awareness

One of HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry’s student organizations initiated an

ambitious project in April 2008, an Oral Cancer Walk to raise funds and awareness and ultimately help patients detect oral cancer. The Student National Dental Association chose to focus their efforts on oral cancer because of the disease’s connection to dentists and the African-American community. “Since dentists are the primary health care providers who detect oral cancer, it is vital that the general population hears from the dental school about what the risk factors are, and the importance of screenings,” says Dr. Saosat Olatunbosun ’08, former SNDA fundraising chair. Oral cancer is the sixth most common cancer in men in the United States. It disproportionately affects African-Americans, who are diagnosed with oral cancer twice as often as white patients. Approximately 41 percent of oral cancer patients die within five years of diagnosis. For African-Americans, 66 percent of patients die within that same time. However, SNDA members also point out that early detection significantly reduces the

risk of death and believe their 5K walk can help in two ways: raising awareness about oral cancer within the community and helping fund patients who need oral biopsies. At the event, participants heard firsthand why their help is so important. Dan Stack, the Dallas coordinator of a nonprofit group, Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer, inspired the crowd with his own survival story of overcoming oral cancer. Adults received free oral cancer screenings, and children received free dental screenings. In addition to the college’s SNDA members, several others in the community joined the event. Staff members from the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Dallas walked, and students from Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas volunteered as well. With the first walk under their belt, SNDA students hope to improve and expand the event so that it eventually becomes an annual community activity. “We’re trying to reach out to the community,” says third-year dental student Harold Kamara, 2008-2009 SNDA president. “The Oral Cancer Walk will send the critically important message of early detection and prevention.”

Participants in the f irst Oral Cancer Walk lend their efforts to promoting awareness and early detection.

AEGD students

participate in e-lecture

STUDENTS FROM THE ADVANCED EDUCATION IN GENERAL DENTISTRY program at HSC-

Baylor College of Dentistry received an

exclusive guest lecture from 950 miles

away in Tucson, Ariz.

Dr. Ken Reed, a periodontist who now

practices dental anesthesia and is widely

known as an expert in the field, provided

the AEGD residents in-depth exposure to

what he describes as an often overlooked

topic. He discussed advanced techniques

of local anesthesia administration,

pharmacology, needle choices and other

topics, offering his expertise free of charge.

The July 2008 e-lecture was one of

the first received by students on the

HSC-BCD campus using web conferencing

technology called WebEx, although

HSC-BCD faculty members have delivered

distance education to other schools.

Videoconferencing technology is used

routinely on campus by staff and faculty

for meetings involving multiple campuses

of the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

“With the Internet, perspectives

from all over the world are now available

in real time for our residents, which

drastically broadens their horizons,”

says Dr. Charles Wakefield, AEGD program

director. “The college has the necessary

technology to provide this experience, so

it was only natural that we do our best to

make the event happen for these future

practitioners.”

Dr. Craig Barrington, adjunct assistant

professor in AEGD, led the efforts to

arrange the e-lecture.

“With a budget in place (to pay

such things as guest lecturer stipends),

this can be a regular, economical

and exceptionally valuable source of

information and calibration for residents

and teaching institutions all over the

world,” Wakefield says.


Volunteers care for children at back-to-school fair

Seventy HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry volunteers cared for more than 800

children at the 12th annual Dallas Mayor’s Back to School Fair Aug. 7, 2008, at Fair Park. HSC-BCD was one of more than 60 booths at the fair, free for Dallas school children who come from low-income families. Most families pre-registered for the fair, and if they visited four categories of service providers such as HSC-BCD during the event, they received free school supplies. The HSC-BCD booth offered mini-screenings for students and applied fluoride varnish to their teeth. More than 3,000 fluoride packets were donated by Premier for the event, said Richard Cardenas, public health sciences administrative coordinator and the fair organizer for HSC-BCD. The HSC-BCD booth was filled with patients throughout the event. Dental and dental hygiene students, pediatric dentistry residents, faculty members and staff all pitched in to assist. A key group of volunteers was Spanish translators, who conveyed to parents what was seen during the child’s mini-screening. “Over the last four years, explaining children’s dental needs and how to access dental care to non-English speaking parents has presented a challenge,” says Dr. K. Vendrell Rankin ’77, associate chair of public health sciences. “We serve a large Hispanic

Top: Elain Benton greets 2-year-old Chrissy and her mom, Kissy, at the Dallas event. Bottom: Free school supplies for eligible Dallas school children are a benefit of the fair.

community at this event, so the translators are extremely helpful.” According to Dr. Dan Jones ’89, public health sciences chair, “We’ve done this long enough now that we’ve learned to maximize our efficiency. Our goal next year is to ask the city for a larger space so we can serve more people. Aside from the immunizations, we’re the only booth at the fair that performs a service that immediately benefits the student.” Rankin appreciates the atmosphere at the HSC-BCD booth. “What strikes me is the children’s unquestioning cooperation, particularly the very young ones, many of whom are seeing a dentist or dental hygienist for the first time. Very few are scared; we have very few criers. They trust you completely, and that’s a great feeling,” she says.

Students host new

community-service event

WOMEN STUDENTS AT HSC-Baylor College of

Dentistry provided free care to women and

children in east Dallas Nov. 22 at the Dental Day

for Moms and Kids.

The event, organized by the college’s

chapter of the Texas Association of Women

Dentists, was the first in what organizers are

hoping will become a biannual tradition.

Hosted at Mission East Dallas, the event

provided exams and cleanings for moms,

sealants for kids and education about topics

relevant for young children. Twenty-six

HSC-BCD dental and dental hygiene students

cared for 43 patients and applied 90 sealants

throughout the morning.

Counterclockwise from top:Dental students Catherine Whinery ’09 and Sharmin

Khan and hygiene student Shahriela Ganjoor volunteer at Dental Day for Moms and Kids. The event provides a

new service opportunity for women students.



NIH grant targets clinical decision-making

An Oral Health Research Education grant of $633,343 from the National Institute

of Dental and Craniofacial Research has been received by HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. The grant will help the college implement a series of curriculum initiatives to instruct students how to incorporate evidence – clinical research outcomes – into their patient-related decision-making. Funding began in April 2008 and will be distributed over four years. “This R25 grant will be an excellent tool for enhancing our clinical research capability in several fundamental ways,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean. “In addition, our students will be empowered throughout their professional careers by exposure to new critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills. I expect the benefits of this initiative to greatly impact BCD’s overall effectiveness.” The curricular changes are collectively designated as “CUSPID”: Clinicians Using Science to Produce Inspired Dentists.

CUSPID proposes multipronged strategies for imprinting clinicians-in-training with the key skills required for filtering, appraising and synthesizing information needed for clinical decisions. CUSPID focuses on the principles and skills of scientific inquiry necessary for dentists to critically evaluate new information and advances in treatment and to participate in dental practice research networks. The program supports enrichment activities through a Dental Scholars Program, which will provide a subset of dental students with additional curricular experiences in clinical and translational (lab bench to chairside) research. A faculty development program will enhance the ability of all faculty members to teach students sound scientific rationale for the incorporation of new information and technologies into oral health care. The program is jointly administered by a team of three principal investigators, each with a unique skill set and academic profile. Dr. Robert Hinton, professor in biomedical sciences, serves as contact principal investigator. Dr. Dan Jones ’89, professor and

chair of public health sciences, and Dr. Charles Berry ’73, associate dean for academic affairs, serve as co-principal investigators. A similarly broad-based steering committee will direct the implementation of CUSPID’s objectives. Committee members include: Dr. Rena D’Souza, professor and chair of biomedical sciences; Dr. Paul Dechow, professor in biomedical sciences; Dr. Peter Buschang, professor in orthodontics; Dr. Amp Miller ’73, director of curriculum; Dr. Larry Bellinger, associate dean for research and graduate studies; Dr. Lavern Holyfield ’77, director of faculty development; and Dr. Ann McCann, director of assessment. “The primary thrust of our effort in CUSPID is to improve our students’ critical-thinking skills for the application to evidence-based practice,” says Hinton. “In addition, the R25 grant provides us a unique opportunity to enhance the culture of evidence-based inquiry at the college by establishing venues for faculty development and perhaps nourishing the aspirations of a small subset of our students to become dental academicians.”

The NIH Oral Health Research Education grant leadership and steering committee includes, from left: Drs. Paul Dechow, Rena D’Souza, Charles Berry, Ann McCann, Robert Hinton, Lavern Holyfield, Dan Jones, Peter Buschang and Larry Bellinger. Not pictured is Dr. Amp Miller.


HSC-BCD honors legacy of beloved faculty member

Members of the HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry family mourn the loss of Dr.

Paul P. Taylor ’44, professor emeritus, founder of the college’s pediatric dentistry graduate program and chair of pediatric dentistry for more than 20 years. Taylor passed away Sept. 17, 2008, at age 87 after complications from a stroke. He is remembered as a compassionate dentist, dedicated teacher, beloved mentor and good friend. “Dr. Taylor had an enormous impact on Baylor College of Dentistry,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean. “I remember his remarkable devotion from my days as a student, which continued after his retirement as chair of pediatric dentistry. Even when he was in his 70s and 80s he would still show up early on a cold Saturday morning for a student ‘Eat & Learn’ program to share his wisdom and show

“Dr. Taylor

was a pioneer

in pediatric

dentistry and

a legend.”Dr. Suzi SeAle

his support. “It is a tribute to him and a great benefit to us that he stayed involved with the college until the very end,” Cole says. Taylor was only the second dentist in Texas to have formal graduate training in pediatric dentistry. He was the third dentist ever to become a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. He later served as chairman of that organization. He was chairman and vice chairman of the Pediatric Dentists Section of the American Dental Association and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the Dallas County Dental Society. For 22 years after his formal retirement in 1986, Taylor continued teaching pediatric dentistry graduate students each week. He was inducted into the HSC-BCD Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007. “Dr. Taylor was a pioneer in pediatric dentistry and a legend,” says Dr. Suzi Seale, Regents professor and former chair of pediatric

dentistry. “His influence has been far-reaching and touched many. I wouldn’t be where I am today, doing what I love to do, if it weren’t for him, his mentoring and his influence in my life.” After graduating from HSC-BCD, Taylor completed a graduate degree in pediatric dentistry at the University of Michigan dental school. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In 1953, he returned to Dallas and entered private practice. He served for many years as the director of the dental training programs at both Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, where an endowment has been established in his name. To continue Taylor’s legacy, memorial donations can be made to the following organizations: the dental service at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, the Paul P. Taylor Pediatric Dentistry Association Endowment Fund at the Children’s Medical Center Foundation or the BCD Pediatric Dentistry Support Fund at the Baylor Oral Health Foundation.

Dr. Paul Taylor

N E W S M A K E R S


Wright assumes presidency

of international association

DR. JOHN WRIGHT, Regents

professor and

chair of diagnostic

sciences, was

formally installed

in June 2008 as

president of the

International

Association of

Oral Pathologists

during the group’s biennial congress in San

Francisco.

The IAOP represents the global community

of oral pathology with members from Africa,

Asia, Europe, Australia, Latin America,

South America and North America. Wright

represented North America on the governing

council of the organization from 2004 to 2008.

He was chosen in 2006 as the organization’s

president-elect for a two-year term. His

presidency runs until the group’s next

congress in August 2010.

This is not Wright’s first time to lead

a premier dental organization. He is past

president of the American Academy of Oral

and Maxillofacial Pathology and is currently

serving as a director of the American Board of

Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology.

Glickman becomes AAE president

Dr. Gerald Glickman, professor and chair of endodontics, assumed the presidency of the American Association of

Endodontists in April during the group’s 2009 annual sessionin Orlando, Fla. Glickman has been actively involved in the activities of the association for a number of years, serving as treasurer (2005–2007), vice president (2007–2008) and president-elect (2008–2009). He also has participated in the work of various committees, including Public and Professional Affairs, Educational Affairs, Research and Scientific Affairs, Continuing Education and Applied

Strategic Planning. Additionally, he played an integral role in planning numerous annual sessions, serving as chair of oral and poster research presentations and table clinics from 1995–1997. In addition to his leadership in the AAE, Glickman has been a dedicated diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics since 1987. He has provided guidance and support to the specialty’s certifying board as past president (2002–2003) and director (1997–2003). His professional involvement extends to several other dental organizations, including the American Dental Education Association, which bestowed Glickman with a Presidential Citation in March 2009. The award recognizes his exceptional service to ADEA and commitment to advancing the dental education community.

Hallmon receives honors, retires

Dr. William W. Hallmon retired in December from his position as Regents professor and chair of the Department of

Periodontics. He had been a full-time faculty member at HSC-BCD since 1993. He directed the college’s graduate periodontics program for eight years and had served as department chair since 2001. Hallmon served on 41 master’s thesis committees and guided many residents to win national awards. He has written more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, contributed to five books and lectured in Brazil, Korea, Mexico and throughout the United States.

Prior to his retirement, Hallmon received two prestigious awards. In April 2008, he was honored as “Profesor Preclaro” (Distinguished Professor) in a university-wide ceremony at the Universidad Quetzalcoatl Irapuato in Irapuato, Mexico. The award is the university’s highest honor. Additionally, the university’s Department of Periodontics named its periodontics clinic in Hallmon’s honor. In September, Hallmon received the 2008 Outstanding Periodontal Educator Award from the American Academy of Periodontology at the group’s 94th annual meeting in Seattle. The award recognizes an exemplary periodontal faculty member for distinguished contributions as a teacher and mentor. Hallmon’s active involvement in the AAP is marked by service on numerous scientific and education committees and task forces for the organization. He has previously received an AAP fellowship award and currently serves on an AAP Foundation committee.

Dr. Gerald Glickman

Dr. William Hallmon

Dr. John Wright


Griffin, Solomon honored

HSC-BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY faculty

members received two of the six presidential

awards at the January 2008 Texas A&M

Health Science Center convocation in College

Station, Texas.

Dr. Steve Griffin ’85, professor and

director of clinics, received the Presidential

Award for Excellence in Education and

Mentorship; and Dr. Eric Solomon, executive

director of institutional research, received

the Presidential Award for Excellence in

Administrative Support.

The prestigious awards were presented

by HSC President Dr. Nancy W. Dickey at the

Leonore and Walter Annenberg Presidential

Conference Center at the George Bush Library

Complex.

Colleagues, friends remember Frohberg

Faculty, staff and students at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry remember the late Dr. Uwe Frohberg as a dedicated teacher, skilled

clinician and good friend.“Dr. Frohberg was a loyal and supportive faculty member who

always showed his commitment to the college and our students by being available for any activity during working hours and beyond,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean. “He was an exceptional colleague and will be sorely missed.”

A professor in HSC-BCD’s oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Frohberg suffered liver failure and passed away Jan. 24, 2008, while visiting family in Germany. He was 53. Frohberg joined the faculty in 1994 as an assistant professor in oral and maxillofacial surgery and had been full time since 1999. He attended the University of Düsseldorf Medical School, where he earned a doctorate in medicine in 1980 and a doctorate in dental medicine in 1990, graduating with honors for both degrees. “Uwe was an indispensable member of our department,” says Dr. David Grogan ’81, ’86, associate professor and chair of oral and maxillofacial surgery. “All of us in the department will miss Uwe, our friend and colleague.”

Rankin assists in tobacco guidelines

The U.S. Public Health Service released new guidelines in May 2008 regarding tobacco cessation practices.

Dr. K. Vendrell Rankin ’77, professor and associate chair of public health sciences and director of Baylor Tobacco Treatment Services, served as a peer reviewer and represented the American Dental Association during the update process. The updated clinical practice guideline was developed by a 24-member private-sector panel of national tobacco treatment experts.

The clinical practice guideline, titled Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update, can be viewed at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/default.htm.

Teachers of the Year named

DR. KAY MASH AND KATHLEEN MUZZIN are the

2009 Dental and Dental Hygiene Teachers of

the Year. The 2008 awards went to Dr. Michael

McWatters ’73 and Marylou Gutmann.

Students selected the recipients for

the awards, which are presented annually

by the Baylor College of Dentistry Alumni

Association.

Mash, associate professor in restorative

sciences, has been a member of the HSC-BCD

faculty since 1981 and currently serves as

the course director for preclinical operative

dentistry. Additionally, she provides second-

year dental students an introduction course

to the clinic and supervises clinical work for

third-year dental students.

Mash says she finds joy in watching

students grow from eagerly preparing their

first plastic typodont tooth to becoming

competent clinicians.

Teaching is not Mash’s only passion.

She also enjoys art and has found a way

to combine her two loves. She wrote and

illustrated the student manual used at HSC-

BCD in the preclinical operative courses.

Mash has degrees from the University of

Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry and

the University of Arkansas. She is a member

of the American Dental Association, the Texas

Dental Association, Omicron Kappa Upsilon

and the American College of Dentists.

“Being named Teacher of the Year by

Baylor’s students is a tremendous honor,”

Mash says. “Every day I witness incredible

teachers at Baylor who go beyond the call of

duty, who work diligently to ensure that every

student is treated with kindness and mutual

respect.”

Muzzin, associate professor at the

Caruth School of Dental Hygiene, has been

a member of the college’s faculty since

1986. She teaches undergraduate students

Theory of Dental Hygiene II and Applied

Dental Materials. She also teaches graduate

students a special-care patient seminar and

supervises the dental hygiene students’

rotation in the college’s special-care clinic.

“I love teaching, and I enjoy watching the

dental hygiene students develop into caring,

empathetic dental clinicians,” she says.

Dr. Uwe Frohberg

Dr. K. Vendrell Rankin

Dr. Steve Griff in Dr. Eric Solomon


N E W S M A K E R S

“It has been an honor and a tremendous responsibility, but I wouldn’t trade a moment of

it for anything in the world.” MArylou GutMAnn

“I like coming to work every day because of the friendliness and enthusiasm of the students, faculty and staff.” Dr. MichAel McWAtterS

The “superb group” of dental hygiene faculty

members at HSC-BCD is another highlight of her

career, says Muzzin.

With degrees from Southern Illinois University,

Loyola University Chicago and the University

of Missouri-Kansas City, Muzzin has embraced

the commitment to lifelong learning she imparts

to her students. Her research interests include

desensitizing agents for dentin hypersensitivity

and aerosol reduction devices for ultrasonic

scalers and air polishers.

This is not the first accolade Muzzin has

received for outstanding teaching. She received

the same award in 2004 and the teaching award

for part-time faculty in 1995.

“I enjoy teaching at Baylor and feel fortunate

to be able to work in an institution that promotes

high ethical educational and clinical standards,”

Muzzin says.

McWatters, associate professor in

restorative sciences, has been a member of

the HSC-BCD faculty since 2001. He teaches

fixed prosthodontics to second- and third-year

dental students. Additionally, he instructs

first-year dental hygiene and Summer Predental

Enrichment Program students.

“I like coming to work every day because of

the friendliness and enthusiasm of the students,

faculty and staff,” says McWatters. “I think

teaching at a professional level like Baylor is

special because the students are so bright and

motivated and really want to be here to learn.”

McWatters practiced general dentistry in

Austin, Texas, for 28 years. While in Austin,

he held every office in the Capitol Area Dental

Society including president in 1989-90. He also

has held positions on two state-level committees

in the Texas Dental Association and has been a

member of the American Dental Association and

the Texas Dental Association for 36 years.

Since retiring from private practice,

McWatters has taken annual dental mission

trips to Central America with Christian Medical

Missions, Inc. His trips involve traveling to remote

villages to do extractions for indigenous people

who do not have access to dental treatment.

Not ready for full retirement, in 2001

McWatters contacted longtime friend and HSC-

BCD classmate Dr. Amp Miller ’73, professor and

director of curriculum in academic affairs, who

offered him a position at the college.

“I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Amp Miller

for giving me the opportunity to teach at Baylor,

and I no longer even think about retirement,”

McWatters says.

Gutmann retired in May 2008 from her

position as professor and graduate program

director at the Caruth School of Dental Hygiene.

She spent 27 years in dental hygiene education

and an additional 10 years in private practice.

She taught at HSC-BCD for 15 years and at the

University of Maryland for 12 years.

“In the past 27 years, I have had the privilege

of impacting, of making a difference in, the

education of over 1,000 undergraduate and

graduate students,” says Gutmann. “It has been

an honor and a tremendous responsibility, but I

wouldn’t trade a moment of it for anything in the

world.”

Gutmann was named Teacher of the Year in

1987 by her students in Maryland and previously

received the award at HSC-BCD in 2003. She

received the Texas Dental Hygiene Directors’

Association Teaching Excellence Award in 1995.

Gutmann received an associate degree in

dental hygiene from Fones School of Dental

Hygiene at the University of Bridgeport in

Bridgeport, Conn. She later received a bachelor’s

degree in dental hygiene through the degree-

completion program at the University of

Maryland in Baltimore and a master’s degree in

Instructional Systems Development from the

University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The author of more than 30 articles in

dental and dental hygiene journals, Gutmann

has contributed three book chapters to dental

hygiene textbooks and presented more than 70

papers and continuing education courses in the

United States and abroad.

Because of her retirement, the 2008

Dental Hygiene Teacher-of-the-Year Award was

particularly rewarding. “What a positive way to

end my academic career,” she says.

Dr. Michael McWattersDr. Kay Mash Marylou GutmannKathleen Muzzin

Rossmann leads periodontics department

DR. JEFFREY A. ROSSMANN became the new chair of the

Department of Periodontics at HSC-Baylor College of

Dentistry on Jan. 1, 2009.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching, and I’m looking

anxiously to regaining that part of my career,” Rossmann

says. “I’m also at the point in my career to contribute to the

future of the profession. I want to have an influence in the

direction of both periodontics and dental education.”

Rossmann has been associate professor of periodontics since 1995. He served

as assistant director of the graduate periodontics program until 1999, when he

began allocating more time to his private practice. He has served on numerous thesis

committees, is a member of the graduate faculty and has provided an externship

program in periodontics for HSC-BCD students at his private practice since 2000.

Under his leadership, 43 residents have passed their board certification examinations

to become diplomates of the American Board of Periodontology.

“I believe Dr. Rossmann’s years of experience in academics as well as in the

practice of periodontics make him eminently qualified to lead BCD’s periodontics

department,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean.

Prior to joining the HSC-BCD faculty, he was clinical director of graduate

periodontics at the dental branch of the University of Texas Health Science Center

at Houston. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, receiving several awards for his

military service, including the Legion of Merit for a career of excellence.

Rossmann is certified by the American Board of Periodontology and has been an

examiner for the board since 2007. He is a fellow of the American College of Dentists

and International College of Dentists and is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

He has researched the use of lasers in periodontal therapy and has published

more than 35 peer-reviewed articles. He plans to increase his research efforts as

department chair.

Rossmann, who continues to maintain a private practice in Lewisville, Texas,

received his bachelor’s and doctor of dental surgery degrees from the University

of Minnesota. He received a master of science degree in periodontics from George

Washington University.

Opperman accepted to Harvard program

DR. LYNNE OPPERMAN, director of technology development

and professor in biomedical sciences, was selected to

attend the Management Development Program at Harvard

University in June 2008.

This two-week course is offered through the Harvard

Graduate School of Education Programs in Professional

Education. The program’s goal is to prepare participants

to become more effective leaders in their institutions and

teach them to lead in ways that support institutional objectives.

In her role as director of technology development at HSC-BCD, Opperman benefited

from the interaction with both the Harvard faculty and the participants, who come

from a broad spectrum of higher education institutions and job responsibilities.


Kapadia awarded NYU fellowship

Dr. Hitesh Kapadia, assistant professor in biomedical sciences, was accepted to the Craniofacial Surgery

Fellowship at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University Medical Center. His yearlong fellowship in craniofacial orthodontics concluded on July 1, 2009. Kapadia, a dentist and scientist who also holds a certificate

in orthodontics, has received advanced training at NYU in the treatment of patients with cleft lip and palate and other

craniofacial anomalies. Specifically, he gained experience in the areas of presurgical orthopedics for infants born with cleft lip and palate, orthodontic management of patients with cleft or craniofacial anomalies and all phases of treatment planning including 3-D computer-based surgical planning. Kapadia had the opportunity to design and execute a clinical research project during his fellowship year.

Researcher studies bone and tooth defects

Dr. Jian “Jerry” Feng, professor in biomedical sciences, recently was awarded a five-year, $1.16 million grant

from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research to study a potential cause of abnormalities during bone and tooth formation.

Feng and co-principal investigator Dr. Chunlin Qin, associate professor in biomedical sciences, will study the formation of dentin, the largest component of teeth, to

ultimately shed light on the prevention of structural defects. Feng and colleagues have studied dentin matrix protein 1 (DMP1) and have shown that this protein is crucial for the proper mineralization of bone and dentin. DMP1 is found in bone, dental pulp and odontoblasts – cells located on the surface of dental pulp that secrete dentin. In his previous studies of mice that were bred without DMP1, Feng found that this missing protein caused abnormalities in their teeth. They had enlarged pulp chambers, increased width of the predentin area, lack of mineralization and delayed third molar formation. Coincidentally, Feng and coworkers found that humans with a condition called autosomal recessive hypophosphatemic rickets (ARHR) had bone and dentin defects very similar to those he observed in the mice without DMP1. Upon further investigation, the researchers discovered two DMP1 mutations in these patients. Feng proposes to repair the tooth and bone defects in ARHR patients by retargeting the expression of DMP1. To test this hypothesis, Feng will study the genetics and physiology of DMP1 mutations by creating a mouse model with the same DMP1 mutations found in the ARHR patients. Feng joined HSC-BCD in 2006 after spending eight years on the faculty in the oral biology department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Prior to his appointment at UMKC, he was a research assistant professor in the medical and dental schools at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He holds a medical degree and a master’s degree in physiology from the University of Qindao Medical College in China and a doctorate in physiology from the University of Connecticut.

D’Souza receives innovation award

DR. RENA D’SOUZA, professor

and chair of biomedical

sciences, has received a 2009

Innovation in Oral Care Award

to explore a possible therapy

that repairs damaged teeth

with bioengineered tissue.

D’Souza is one of only three

researchers in the world, and one of only two from

the United States, to receive the award. It is funded

by the International Association for Dental Research

and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and was

presented at the IADR general session in Miami on April 1.

Her research project will combine tissue engineering

and nanotechnology to develop and test a biologically

based endodontic therapy for teeth with damaged pulps.

Current endodontic therapy solves dental problems

but cannot improve the long-term health of a tooth and

often increases the risk of it fracturing. This possible

new therapy uses organic substances called peptide

hydrogels that can mimic natural connective tissue and

stimulate regrowth of dental pulp and dentin, the hard

tooth structure that resembles bone.

“In this age of regenerative medicine, it is important

to take advantage of emerging technologies to develop

more biologically driven therapies to treat common

diseases,” D’Souza says. “The idea of ‘regrowing’ tissue

using engineered biological materials sounds like

science fiction, but it is closer to reality than we think.”

Hydrogels could do even more than stimulate the

regrowth of tissues in teeth; they could be altered to

incorporate molecules that combat inflammation and

infection. Therefore, if successful, the novel concept

for regenerating tissues in teeth could serve as a

model for restoring other complex tissues in the body,

D’Souza says.

The research project has grown from D’Souza’s

long-term collaboration with another Texas researcher,

Dr. Jeffrey Hartgerink, an associate professor in

bioengineering at Rice University in Houston, and Drs.

Kerstin Galler and Gottfried Schmalz from the University

of Regensburg in Germany.

“As a biologist and clinician, I am excited at the

prospect of working on this project with Dr. Hartgerink,

who invented these multidomain peptides,” D’Souza

says. “Our teamwork brings complementary skills to

the project that neither laboratory could accomplish

individually.”

Dr. Rena D’Souza Dr. Hitesh Kapadia

Dr. Jian “Jerry” Feng

Rossmann leads periodontics department

DR. JEFFREY A. ROSSMANN became the new chair of the

Department of Periodontics at HSC-Baylor College of

Dentistry on Jan. 1, 2009.

“I’ve always had a passion for teaching, and I’m looking

anxiously to regaining that part of my career,” Rossmann

says. “I’m also at the point in my career to contribute to the

future of the profession. I want to have an influence in the

direction of both periodontics and dental education.”

Rossmann has been associate professor of periodontics since 1995. He served

as assistant director of the graduate periodontics program until 1999, when he

began allocating more time to his private practice. He has served on numerous thesis

committees, is a member of the graduate faculty and has provided an externship

program in periodontics for HSC-BCD students at his private practice since 2000.

Under his leadership, 43 residents have passed their board certification examinations

to become diplomates of the American Board of Periodontology.

“I believe Dr. Rossmann’s years of experience in academics as well as in the

practice of periodontics make him eminently qualified to lead BCD’s periodontics

department,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean.

Prior to joining the HSC-BCD faculty, he was clinical director of graduate

periodontics at the dental branch of the University of Texas Health Science Center

at Houston. He served in the U.S. Army for 20 years, receiving several awards for his

military service, including the Legion of Merit for a career of excellence.

Rossmann is certified by the American Board of Periodontology and has been an

examiner for the board since 2007. He is a fellow of the American College of Dentists

and International College of Dentists and is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon.

He has researched the use of lasers in periodontal therapy and has published

more than 35 peer-reviewed articles. He plans to increase his research efforts as

department chair.

Rossmann, who continues to maintain a private practice in Lewisville, Texas,

received his bachelor’s and doctor of dental surgery degrees from the University

of Minnesota. He received a master of science degree in periodontics from George

Washington University.

Opperman accepted to Harvard program

DR. LYNNE OPPERMAN, director of technology development

and professor in biomedical sciences, was selected to

attend the Management Development Program at Harvard

University in June 2008.

This two-week course is offered through the Harvard

Graduate School of Education Programs in Professional

Education. The program’s goal is to prepare participants

to become more effective leaders in their institutions and

teach them to lead in ways that support institutional objectives.

In her role as director of technology development at HSC-BCD, Opperman benefited

from the interaction with both the Harvard faculty and the participants, who come

from a broad spectrum of higher education institutions and job responsibilities.


N E W S M A K E R S

Enrichment programs receive funding

DR. ERNIE LACY, director

of student development,

received a nearly $200,000

grant in 2008 from the

Robert Wood Johnson

Foundation for the college’s

Bridge to Dentistry program,

which offers dental career

awareness and academic enrichment opportunities to

prekindergarten students through college graduates.

The funds allow additional students to participate in

the college’s Summer Predental Enrichment Program,

which helps high school and college students become

more competitive for dental school admission.

A portion of the grant helps fund the educational

programs coordinator position, which oversees all pre-

college components of Bridge to Dentistry.

HSC-BCD is one of eight dental schools selected

to receive RWJF funding to help improve diversity

among the student body or increase access to dental

care in underserved areas through community-based

education.

“I’ve always had a

passion for teaching…

I want to have an

influence in the direction

of both periodontics and

dental education.”Dr. Jeffrey roSSMAnn

Dr. Lynne Opperman

Dr. Ernie Lacy

Dr. Jeffrey Rossmann


heir long careers took them in opposite directions, but three alumni of Texas A&M Health Science

Center Baylor College of Dentistry wound up with the same title – dean – at respected dental schools from coast to coast.

Now at the helm of dental schools in San Francisco, Dallas and Augusta, Ga., these alumni find themselves balancing similar issues as they lead faculty and students into a bold new era of dental education.

Dr. James S. Cole ’75, the current dean of HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry, assumed the school’s top post in 2000, 25 years after graduating from the college. Dr. Connie Hastings Drisko ’61, a Caruth School of Dental Hygiene graduate, has served as dean at Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry since 2003. And Dr. Patrick J. Ferrillo

Jr. ’76, dean of the University of the Pacific’s Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry since 2006, took over after the legendary Dugoni ended his 28-year tenure as dean.

Although all have their roots in HSC-BCD, the trio took very different roads to their current positions.

Cole discovered dentistry as a career possibility through a chance encounter with a friend while both were on military deployment. After graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, with an accounting degree, he served in Vietnam and spent four years on a U.S. Navy ship – in fact, his vessel was involved in picking up the crew of the crippled Apollo 13 space capsule after it landed safely in the Pacific.

During his stint in the Navy, Cole wrote software programs that ran on the ship’s computers and helped keep

By Kathryn Jones

Justin Terveen


track of the crew. One night while on shore leave in the Philippines, he ran into a friend, Dr. Keith Thornton ’69, a dentist from Dallas. The two talked about dentistry. “It really did seem kind of interesting,” Cole recalls. When his tour of duty ended, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. After consideration, he came back to Dallas and enrolled in dental school.

After graduation, Cole went into practice with a classmate. To make ends meet, they both taught part time. Then something unanticipated happened. The course director in dental materials suffered a heart attack. Another part-time faculty member took over his lectures, and Cole assumed the course administration responsibilities. “I was thrust into that situation weeks after my graduation from dental school,” Cole says.

In 1977, he and his dental partner decided not to continue private practice. Cole started teaching full time at HSC-BCD and counts Dr. Jesse Bullard, who retired as professor and chair of restorative sciences in 1995, as his first mentor. “He gave me projects to do – promotion and tenure, finance, budget. I enjoyed working on them and built a close relationship with him,” he says.

He began to spend his evenings in 1979 writing computer programs for the school to monitor clinics, average grades and track students’ progress through the school. His work attracted the attention of Dr. Richard Bradley, who became dean in 1980 and was Cole’s next mentor. For the next six to seven years, Cole taught part time and ran the college’s computer services part time. He also began to get more involved in the school’s finances.

Phil Jones/Medical C

ollege of Georgia

Justin Terveen

Joan Yokom/D

esign and Photo Services/Univ. O

f Pacific, Arthur A

. Dugoni School of D

entistry


In 1990, Cole became the college’s chief financial officer, watching over the budget and financial affairs. He also became involved in working with the Texas Legislature. He was named interim dean in 1999 and a year later took the helm. “Generally in academics, people move through the academic side, while I moved through on the administrative side,” he observes. “But that also brings unique skill sets.”

Drisko – known to her friends as the “White Tornado” because of her striking shock of short white hair and her energetic demeanor – followed a different path to the dean’s chair. Two of her cousins were pediatric dentists in

Oklahoma. She worked for them as a chairside assistant while in high school.

She decided to attend HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry because of its “strong dental hygiene program and excellent reputation,” she says. After graduating, she launched her career as a dental hygienist and spent 16 years in practice in Dallas before becoming interested in teaching.

Wanting to further her education and knowledge, Drisko attained her dental degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and completed a hospital-based general practice residency at the Veterans Affairs Medical

For Dr. James Cole, nurturing all aspects of dental education and watching students’ personal and professional growth are highlights of serving as dean at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry.

Ray Bryant, Bryant Studios


Center in Leavenworth, Kan. She later served as associate dean for academic planning and faculty development and assistant dean for research at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

When Drisko arrived at Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry she started shaking up the status quo by proposing a rather significant curriculum change.

“It had never been done in 34 years of the school,” she recalls. Clinical education is delivered now through the Comprehensive Care Clinic, which is based on a general-practice model. The clinic is equipped with a computerized

management system that includes electronic patient records and digital radiography, providing “real world” experience for students.

Her current major project is a new $112 million dental school facility. Ground should be broken in late 2009, and the new building is scheduled for completion in fall 2011.

“The new facility will accommodate the vast growth and technological advancements that have characterized the school since its existing building opened in 1970,” Drisko says. Patient visits are expected to increase from 50,000 a year to nearly 100,000 at the new five-floor facility.

Lunchtime meetings with students, a personal interest in their success and the ability to see the impact of Georgia’s only dental school are all rewarding opportunities for Dr. Connie Drisko.


ollege of Georgia


ollege of Georgia


One reason Drisko enjoys her job is because she oversees Georgia’s only dental school and can see its impact. About 85 percent of the college’s students stay in Georgia to practice, and the school’s grads represent about one-third of the state’s practicing dentists, Drisko says.

To the west, Ferrillo seemed born to follow his father’s footsteps into dentistry and education. The elder Ferrillo started the endodontic department and its graduate program at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. Ferrillo says his mother was a great Italian cook, and dental students hung around their house or ate meals there. Students loved

his father, who was appreciated for his humanistic leadership style and warmth. “He influenced me to understand the value of being in academics and the rewards you can receive,” Ferrillo explains.

Fresh out of dental school, Ferrillo wasted no time pursuing those academic rewards. He joined Southern Illinois University’s School of Dental Medicine as a clinical assistant professor of endodontics, then rose to director of curricular activities. Only 10 years out of dental school, he became the school’s acting dean and, a year later at age 36, was named dean.

Dr. Patrick Ferrillo appreciates the sense of family at Pacific and says his dental-educator father influenced him to understand the value and rewards of being in academics.

Bruce Cook

Bruce Cook


Ferrillo remained dean at SIU for 16 years until Las Vegas and its dental school came calling. In 2002 he was asked to become the founding dean at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine. Ferrillo says he loved the job of shaping a dental school from the ground up and had no intention of leaving UNLV.

Then Dugoni announced he was stepping down at the University of the Pacific. The opportunity was too good to pass up, Ferrillo says. “[To me] Pacific was the premier dental school in the world,” he says, with the added benefit of “a real sense of family. People really love this school. There’s a magic here that’s incredible.”

Pacific features an accelerated curriculum (students can receive a four-year curriculum in three years), cutting-edge research and outreach programs. “Students and faculty treat each other with respect,” Ferrillo says. “Even though tuition and fees are high, students know they get tremendous value.”

The three deans hold similar views about effective leadership styles that stress inclusiveness, communication and teamwork. “Set the vision, hire the best people you can and let them go” to work, Ferrillo says.

Despite his business background, Cole says he doesn’t like meetings or committees. He takes more of a hands-on approach to build consensus in advance.

“I do try to walk around and meet with people and figure out where they’re coming from,” he says. “My concern is that sometimes when you get in a meeting, people have a tendency to be defensive and look out for their turf and hold their ground against each other. I try to build consensus before the meeting. It lets me sleep better at night.”

Drisko describes herself as a “team player” who draws on the strengths of others. “In some ways, I have taken the best from a bunch of people,” she says with a laugh. “I’m probably a little more of a risk taker, not afraid to try fairly big new ideas.

“My administration is not so much of an ivory tower but a place where well-informed decisions can have more of an effect,” Drisko continues. “I really like the bottom-up kind of administration. I like to grow people. I’m very committed to providing faculty development like I was developed as a faculty member.”

For all three deans, interacting with students and watching their personal and professional growth wins hands-down as the most rewarding aspect of their jobs. “Students represent the future of oral health care not only in their own states, but also in the nation and beyond,” says Drisko.

All three view the future of dental education as filled with many changes in the political environment, economic pressures, and increasingly sophisticated technical tools such

as digital radiography, electronic patient records and CAD/CAM systems.

“Most graduates today need to be more concerned with all aspects of health,” Ferrillo says. “Today students also are more actively learning, more engaged in the use of technology.”

“Dental education in general is becoming more and more complex,” Drisko adds. “Keeping up with the technology is a real challenge. All dental education is caught between embracing technology at an earlier stage only to see something bigger and better three months later.”

Cole says he has advocated extending HSC-BCD more into research and building its research portfolio. “Ultimately, though, we don’t want to have silos of research

– we need to translate from the bench top to the chairside. Dentistry has to keep looking in that direction.”

When not strolling the hallways of their dental schools or working with faculty and students, these three busy deans keep their lives in balance with outside interests.

Cole dotes on his 3-year-old granddaughter, travels with his wife, Barbara – “We’re fascinated by California’s missions,” he says – and participates in a book club (John Graves’ Texas classic “Goodbye to a River” recently captivated him).

Drisko is a self-described “cookaholic” who likes to try different kinds of cuisines with her husband, Richard, a retired dentist. She even makes her own pasta.

And Ferrillo says he socializes with students and faculty a lot. “Something is going on almost every weekend,” he says. “We do a lot of celebrating.”

The divergent paths finally led the three deans on a journey to the same destination: the opportunity to put their personal imprints on dental education and help inspire and nurture faculty and a new generation of students.

As Ferrillo says, “The best reward you can receive is seeing young people rise to their potential.”


By Amber K. Thomas

Child’s play


When Cinda McDonald called Ethan’s* name for his appointment, the 5-year-old immediately hid behind his dad’s legs in the waiting room.

Oh no, I’m not going to be able to get him off the ceiling, McDonald thought.

She gently tried to coax Ethan to come back with her into the dental clinic, but he wanted to stay with Dad. He had developed a fear of the dentist during a procedure when he was 4 and liked the security Dad offered.

Ethan was at the clinic for a child life therapy session with McDonald, a certified child life specialist. The goal: helping Ethan overcome his fear of the dentist. McDonald believes it’s best for children to have sessions independently, to give them empowerment. So she made a deal with Ethan: for this first session only, Dad could come with them and wait outside the door.

By the end of the visit, Ethan was no longer crying and instead was carefully exploring the curious dentist tools she brought for him to play with. At his second therapy session, Ethan was willing to come into the clinic without Dad. And by the end of that visit, Ethan was ready to show Dad what he learned about the dentist’s office – and to practice “being a dentist” on Dad.

When Ethan finally had his first dental treatment, he not only made it through to completion but was comfortable and cooperative. This is what McDonald calls “a huge victory” – moving from being terribly frightened to placing complete trust in the dentist.

That is the goal of child life therapy, a behavior management technique that systematically desensitizes children to stressful medical, trauma or grief situations.

Learning to cope

Child life uses play, guided imagery and verbal explanations to develop coping strategies, emotional stability and decreased anxiety in young patients. It has been used for decades in the medical setting and is well-documented to improve health care experiences for hospitalized children. However, no quantitative research or literature exists about its application in dentistry.

That is, until now, as Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry conducts research to explore the use of child life in dentistry.

“This could potentially help solve a huge problem, and I’m staggered no one has thought to do it before,” says Dr.

Cinda McDonald watches as Mac the puppet becomes the patient during a child life therapy session.

Child’s play

*Name has been changed.


Suzi Seale ’70, ’72, ’79, Regents professor and former chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, who proposed and championed the project from the outset. “The use of child life in dentistry makes so much sense.”

The quest began in September 2006 when pediatric resident Dr. Ty Hinze ’05, ’07 teamed with Seale and Dr. Carolyn Kerins ’02, ’05, assistant professor in pediatric dentistry, to explore the effectiveness of child life in the dental clinic setting for uncooperative children ages 4 to 8.

A current study involving children ages 5 to 10 who have had a previous negative dental experience is being conducted by Kerins and Dr. Kavitha Viswanathan, a fellow assistant professor in pediatric dentistry.

“Pediatric dentists learn a variety of behavior management techniques during their residency training, including pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic methods,” Kerins says. “By their nature, children may present to the dental clinic with varying degrees of fear and coping skills. Considering the average child’s attention span is 20 to 30 minutes, you can imagine how an hour-long appointment, with someone looking in your mouth, could set up a pretty stressful situation.”

Kerins says pediatric dentists strive to work with children in the least threatening way possible to help “mold”

them into lifelong dental patients. She thinks child life could be “a logical, novel approach to a recurring problem.”

Tailoring child life to dentistry

The HSC-BCD pediatric dentists met child life specialist McDonald through their mutual work at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. McDonald’s previous experience as a registered dental hygienist, coupled with her child life expertise, especially suits her for counseling children for dental treatment.

The team created a dental version of child life to cater to the college’s patient population. McDonald developed a book to introduce children to HSC-BCD dentists and explain dental tools in child-friendly language. The colorful handmade book describes the bite block as a “tooth pillow”; stainless steel crowns are “silver hats.”

As another part of child life therapy, children are shown either model or real medical instruments and allowed to explore and manipulate them using dolls. McDonald introduces the children to Mackenzie “Mac” Molar, a pastel-colored fuzzy alien puppet, or Sammie, a large soft doll, who have full sets of teeth to examine and brush.

The child life dental team: Dr. Ty Hinze, Dr. Kavitha Viswanathan, Dr. Carolyn Kerins, Cinda McDonald, Sammie and Mac


As the children play with Mac or Sammie, they typically project their own feelings and experiences onto the dolls. What seems like simple playtime is actually a therapeutic way for children to express themselves and comfortably tell McDonald why they are afraid. Some misconceptions have appeared during play, such as the time when a child put a toy syringe into the doll’s eyes “to make him go to sleep.” McDonald then discussed a more accurate scenario with the child, and they played out the corrected image.

A sense of control

In another component of the therapy, children are given a set of simple medical items to continue their progress at home. With their own surgical masks and gloves, they can practice “playing dentist” with their toys – or often, with Mom and Dad – in a more comfortable place.

“Manipulating medical items can give a child a sense of control, as they now understand more, having had a chance to play with those very items to which they will be exposed in their procedure,” McDonald says.

The children also take home a photo of them “playing dentist” with Mac to remember the positive experience.

Preliminary data from the initial child life research at HSC-BCD shows that child life intervention can be effective in alleviating fear in children ages 4 to 8 who have

never experienced a traumatic dental procedure. These children, when compared to those who did not receive child life therapy, exhibited superior coping skills to tolerate invasive dental treatment. They were less anxious and more cooperative during their restorative dental treatment.

“The dental assistant could tell the minute the patient walked into the room if he had child life therapy,” Kerins says.

The parents of the first research patients also considered the experience a success. In a telephone survey to assess their satisfaction, all of the parents surveyed said the child

life sessions were effective in reducing their children’s fear and anxiety toward dental treatment. In fact, most were surprised at their children’s behavior following the sessions.

“My child still talks about Mac all the time and shows everyone who comes to our house a picture of him with Mac at the dental office,” said one patient’s mother.

Helping kids overcome a bad visit

After seeing initial success during the 2007 research, Seale and Kerins wondered if child life could be used as an intervention for older children who had previous negative experiences at the dentist. Viswanathan shared their curiosity, and she and Kerins now collaborate with McDonald on a study that is still enrolling children as old as age 10.

“As pediatric dentists, we often encounter defiant and fearful older children who are too old to be treated under general anesthesia but too anxious to get treatment under a wakeful state,” Viswanathan says. “Treatment for these children is difficult even for pediatric dentists.

“Often they must undergo multiple oral sedation appointments with limited success, and they’re not given an opportunity to develop better dental coping skills for their lifetime,” Viswanathan continues. “We’re interested if child life therapy could alleviate the need for pharmacologic intervention to modify behavior.”

Kerins and Viswanathan received a $25,000 grant in July 2008 from the North and Central Texas Clinical and Translational Science Initiative to evaluate this possibility. Parents of children ages 5 to 10 responded quickly.

“The use of child

life in dentistry makes

so much sense.”~ Dr. Suzi Seale

Dr. Kavitha Viswanathan works to achieve positive clinical experiences.


“When we got funded, we already had patients waiting to enroll,” Viswanathan says.

Because this study focuses on reversing fear from a previous appointment, parents are asked to complete a questionnaire that describes their child’s last dental visit and the child’s emotions before, during and after the treatment. This helps McDonald identify which of the essential dental fears – an injection, the drill, an extraction, the dentist or the environment – is what that child fears.

Madison* and Alyssa* were the first two patients in the study. Both are 9-year-olds who had been restrained during their previous dental appointments; Madison got an injection, Alyssa had an abscess drained.

In their child life sessions, both girls learned coping strategies such as deep breathing, silent counting and visualization. McDonald encourages patients in the study to experiment with coping strategy options because they are old enough to reason and adjust their behavior. In this way, they find the method that works best for them.

“When I met with Alyssa, we figured out how to relax,” McDonald says. “I told her, ‘Make your body feel like a string of spaghetti,’” as McDonald demonstrates by sinking into her chair. “I tried it, then she tried it, and I encouraged her to practice it at home.”

In later sessions, to give the children a stronger sense of

“In my eyes, this

study isn’t affecting

only dental care – it

will affect how the child

views all medical care,

for the rest of his life.” ~ Cinda McDonald

Role playing gives children a sense of control, so Cinda McDonald helps a young patient dress up as a dentist during a therapy session.


control, McDonald talks through what will happen in their dental procedure. She lets them taste the numbing cream, shows them the actual injection needle, invites them to sit in and adjust a dental chair, all the while explaining how everything works.

“It’s empowering for these children to know ahead of time what’s going to happen,” McDonald says. “It’s opening their eyes to why we do things – that we do things for them, not to them.”

Alyssa and Madison coincidentally had sessions on the same days and got to be friends in the waiting room. Their families encouraged one another, as well. After Alyssa finished her third and final session with McDonald and then received her dental treatment, she gave Madison some encouraging words.

“As Alyssa said goodbye to Madison, Madison admitted she didn’t know if she was ready to get her shot,” McDonald says. “Alyssa told her, ‘If I can do it, you can do it.’

“That was a great way to start the study,” McDonald says. “Now two patients who probably would have never returned to the dentist have overcome their fears.”

Next steps

By its end, the current study will provide child life therapy to numerous children who need dental procedures that require at least two appointments, but have been previously uncooperative at the dental office.

Kerins and Viswanathan hope the results will help lead to financial support for a larger, long-term study. Because child life therapists are required to complete a 480-hour internship during their training, the faculty members hope child life interns could supplement McDonald’s work in the larger study.

Child life therapy in dentistry could have many positive outcomes, say the researchers, most notably the development of confident, cooperative patients.

“In my eyes, this study isn’t affecting only dental care – it will affect how the child views all medical care, for the rest of his life,” McDonald says.

What would Sammie say?Sammie the puppet has some words of

wisdom for parents, too, says child life

specialist Cinda McDonald.

“How parents feel about the dentist is

often contagious. The power of suggestion

is important – you just have to suggest the

right thing,” McDonald says. “If you tell a

child that something might tickle but to stay

still, it’s possible that child will then laugh

instead of cry during a procedure.”However, McDonald says it is important

to be truthful about the procedure. Don’t

say it won’t hurt if there’s a chance it

could, because a child could then lose trust

in future visits. McDonald adds that if a

child does cry during a dental procedure, not

to worry because crying is an outlet for him

or her. Children often cry because they can’t

verbally express how they’re feeling.

“People don’t understand that crying

is coping. Rather, they think it’s a

sign of failure,” McDonald says.

“Many children can cry during

a procedure but still cooperate

and let the dentist complete the

work.”


by laura beil

the of change


In January 2007, Dr.

Raghunath Puttaiah sat in a New Delhi hotel room and dialed the phone – again. For 15 years or so, he had been trying to convince India’s dental hierarchy to put a premium on infection control in the coun-try’s 100,000 dental offices. He had made calls. He had sent messages. He had spent hours waiting in uncomfortable chairs for appointments that were rarely kept.

Yet the problem remained. By his unof-ficial calculations, Puttaiah figured that only about one out of four practitioners was dedicated to safe practices in infec-tion control. As for the rest, he had heard stories that made his hair stand on end – dentists washing and reusing gloves or sterilizing their equipment with makeshift pressure cookers. He knew change had to occur at the top. That meant persuading the country’s dental leadership and 250 dental schools to step out in front.

“I’d been telling them, ‘We need to do something,’” says Puttaiah, who is an associate professor in diagnostic sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry. Few listened, even as India became one of the world’s emerging fronts for HIV infection, with the National AIDS Control Organization estimating that at least 2.5 million people are living with the AIDS virus in India. The problem doesn’t stop with HIV. One study of clini-cians found poor knowledge of hepatitis B transmission and prevention.

“In the United States, you’re assured of walking into a dental office and getting a safe level of care,” he says. In India, less

change

© Daniel Boiteau | Dreamstime.com


is certain. The country is large and diverse – medical and dental practices in more affluent or metropolitan areas may be as hygienic as any American practice, especially as an improving economy and medical tourism to India increase patient demand for safety.

Nonetheless, in more remote portions of the country or in clinics that operate on a shoestring, infection transmission remains a threat. One 2006 survey of dentists in Haryana, near Delhi, found that the majority of general dentists used boiling water to sterilize equipment. Health authori-ties are responding. In 2006, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare joined with the World Health Orga-nization in a campaign called “Clean Care is Safer Care” to reduce health-care associated infections.

Although Puttaiah left India for the United States more than two decades ago, he remains committed to helping the country of his birth. He also has become an expert in infection control – conducting studies on dental water systems, disinfectants and the dynam-ics of corrosion.

“On an international basis, he’s trying to make a difference,” says Dr. Judith Chin of Indiana University School of Dentistry, who has worked with Puttaiah through the Organiza-

tion for Safety and Asepsis Procedures, which promotes dental safety through-out the world.

At last, improvements are notice-able in India. In 2007, Puttaiah teamed with the head of India’s dental council to publish its first-ever book of dental safety standards, a book now dis-tributed free to every dentist in the country. For the work, he even got an official handshake from the country’s prime minister.

But getting there took more than a decade of persistence. On his twice-annual travels back to India, mostly out of his own pocket, Puttaiah quietly made his case: Infection control in India was a problem, but a solvable problem. “If I was there three days, I’d knock on three different doors,” he says.

“It’s not that they don’t want to do

it,” he says of his Indian colleagues, “there’s just no importance attached to it.”

Though the incidence of HIV has been steadily climbing, AIDS is still wrought with stigma. In many ways, paying heed to the need for better infection control might also be a tacit admission of the scope of HIV in the country, Puttaiah says.

He also faced practical as well as psychological barriers. Universal precautions make dentistry more expensive. Many dentists in India operate on a thin financial margin, working from offices fashioned from their homes and garages. Carefully sterilizing equipment, using proper disinfectants and purchasing disposable materials all cost money. To improve safety, dentists either would have to shrink their already meager profits or charge more to patients who might not be able to afford it.

During the years spent pushing for change, Puttaiah got used to answer-ing skeptics. He recalls one dentist asking how on earth he was supposed

The state capitol in Bangalore, India, is at the heart of India’s fifth largest city and fastest growing major metropolis.

Dr. Raghunath Puttaiah (left) greets India’s Honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (third from left) along with the president of the Dental Council of India, Dr. Anil Kohli (far right), during the dental safety standards release ceremony by the prime minister.


to buy all the handpieces Puttaiah said he needed. Puttaiah complimented the man’s booming practice and added, “You could set an example.” Buy the extra equipment and charge more if you have to, Puttaiah advised. “You can then put a poster in your lobby saying, ‘We follow strict infection control.’”

He became skilled in safety sales-manship. “That patient in the chair is someone’s mother, sister, brother, child,” he would say. “Are you doing them a service if they get an infection because of something you did not do? The answers are within yourselves.”

In many ways, he waged his cam-paign for infection control as both an outsider and insider. He had to be seen as both an Indian who loved his coun-try of origin and an American resident who knew that safe practices were

not optional. He didn’t want Indian dentists to resent him as someone who had left for better opportunity and returned only to tell them what to do.

“If you sound like a hot shot, they’ll never listen to you,” he says. He couldn’t drown people with informa-tion. “The message has to seep in,” Puttaiah explains.

At times, when he would return home and start paying the bills from his latest trip, Puttaiah would won-der if he was making a difference. But he says now that he would always remember the advice from a professor at the university where he first studied dentistry: “If you give up, nothing will happen.”

On that January 2007 day in New Delhi, he called the office of Dr. Anil Kohli, the president of the Dental

Council of India – the highest dental authority in the country. Puttaiah explained to a dental council assistant that he lived in Dallas but was in New Delhi until the next morning. “Would Dr. Kohli have about 15 minutes to meet?” Puttaiah asked. Kohli agreed.

For more than an hour, Puttaiah sat outside the council’s administrative offices waiting for his 15 minutes. He could smell the curried aroma from an ongoing lunch meeting. He’d gotten used to people canceling, but Kohli eventually ushered him into the office. Puttaiah then presented India’s most powerful dentist a CD that contained a presentation on infection control, and the two men exchanged business cards. Kohli appeared, at least to Put-taiah, genuinely interested in leading every dentist in his country into a

Ray Bryant, Bryant Studios

Dr. Raghunath Puttaiah is an international expert on infection control and safety.


more modern era of dentistry. Puttaiah returned to Dallas. He heard nothing for weeks.

Then, on a day out of the blue, he learned that Kohli was making a visit to Dallas. The initial reasons for the trip were vague, and Puttaiah secretly wondered if Kohli was seeking him out to discuss infection control. Puttaiah made an appointment to meet, and the two men resumed talks as if four months and 7,000 miles had never interrupted the initial discussion.

The result, before Kohli left Dal-las in May 2007, was an agreement between the two men to produce a document that contained dental safety standards for India, with Puttaiah taking the technical lead and Kohli shepherding it through the administra-tive and legal steps. It was officially adopted the following September. The government has printed 20,000 copies so far, made the document available over the Internet and required dentists to follow it.

“I must say that Dr. Puttaiah has played a major role [in infection control],” Kohli wrote in an e-mail, “by not only making the general dentist understand the importance of steriliza-tion in the day-to-day practice, but also by giving them the minutest detail regarding the various infection control protocols.”

Fourth-year HSC-BCD dental stu-dent Purvi Patel says easily accessible

standards are arriving at the right time. India has been warming to the idea of better infection control, in large part driven by Indian-born Americans returning to India for visits and seeking dental care abroad as the cost of U.S. health care rises. Medical tourism also has made practitioners more conscious of safety.

“People from here demand more,” says Patel, who was born in India and whose uncle practices dentistry there.

Dr. Anil Reddy of the college’s pediatric dentistry faculty also points out that as India’s economy has expanded, patients have higher expec-tations. “The patients are demanding it, and they are better able to afford the treatment,” Reddy says.

Until the dental care standards were put together, Indian practitioners could have found the infection control information they needed from U.S. government Web sites. But it’s not

Safety suffers a different threat

Dentist and researcher Dr. Rena D’Souza also left India for the United States many years ago. She remains connected through family and friends who still live there. That is why the Nov. 27 attack in Mumbai, India – the worst terrorist attack in India’s history – shocked her to the core. Mumbai is home. As a young girl, in her pleated skirt and blazer, she would skip off to school at the Convent of Jesus and Mary. On weekends, she would sneak away to Bombay Harbor to feel the sea breezes on her face and sample roasted corn on the

cob, awed by the turreted Gateway of India. She did not know then that one day she would cross

the Arabian Sea to live a landlocked life in Dallas as professor and chair of biomedical sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry. D’Souza’s brother still lives in Mumbai, as do many friends who shared cups of tea at Leopold Café. Her childhood home sat in the shadow of the Taj Hotel, and she held her wedding reception there before leaving for the United States at age 23. Now, these landmarks – hosts to some of the happiest moments of her youth – had become scenes of violence and death. “It brought up for me memories of 9/11,” she says. Her brother was unharmed, but she soon learned that the sister of one of her dental school classmates had been killed.

“We all want to have some sense of safety when we go in for any kind of treatment, no matter where we are in the world.” — Therese Long


something easily “Googled up,” says Chin, the dental faculty member from Indianapolis. Not every dentist is going to have the time to look through dif-ferent documents and piece the infor-mation together, she says. In addition, U.S. standards aren’t in metric, and few dentists will sit down and figure out the conversions.

“Even our tooth terminology is completely different,” says Chin, explaining differences in “... the tooth numbers themselves, or positioning for X-rays.”

In addition, having a document pro-duced and endorsed by the Indian gov-ernment is a powerful statement and a major step toward improving condi-tions for a country that is home to 15 percent of the world’s population.

“We all want to have some sense of safety when we go in for any kind of treatment, no matter where we are in the world,” says Therese Long, direc-

tor of the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures.

Puttaiah is not resting on his laurels and is now extending his expertise to Russian dental schools as well. He returns to India to lead seminars on infection control – including one attended by 1,000 dentists last sum-

mer. He is traveling to the country’s dental schools, trying to make sure that for the next generation of Indian dentists, infection control will be a matter of course. He’s still footing the bills, only now he figures India will eventually pay him back with a safer future.

She believes that India, like the United States, will eventually learn to cope with the threat of large-scale, orchestrated terrorism. “It’s something that can happen on your soil,” she says. And life there, as it has here, will eventually return to some kind of normalcy. “That café within days was filled with customers,” she says. Today, her personal grief has evolved into a collective sorrow for an entire country that has – in its health care, technology and even its media – been steadily trying to pull itself into the modern age. Yet even as India advances, the culture has abided by its heritage as the birthplace of the nonviolent protest. Gandhi remains embedded in the

country’s mindset, she says, making terrorism a particular affront to the nation’s spiritual center. India is also proud of its status as the world’s largest democracy, where diverse cultures and religions mingle side by side. Mumbai in particular, home to 19 million people, “is such a melting pot of these religions that exist peacefully,” she says. She does not believe the terrorism in her home country signals a pushback from decades of tolerance. She notes that

these terrorists came from elsewhere, as did the 9/11 perpetrators. “It seems to be coming from the

same group of people raised to hate,” D’Souza says. “Hatred has always been the most devastating force in humanity.”

The Indian city of Agra bustles with activity.

Recent terrorist attacks shook India’s traditionally peaceful population.

I N T O U C H W I T H A L U M N I


Message from the Alumni Association leadership

THE BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION works both out

front and behind the scenes to advance our alma mater as one of the

premier dental schools in the country.

The association recently helped recognize an important transition

for the Class of 2011 – advancing from preclinical labs and lectures to

providing patient care in the clinic.

We were honored – as president and president-elect of the association

– to participate in a special white-coat ceremony marking this occasion

for second-year dental students. The Alumni Association purchased

the students’ white coats, which were embroidered with the Texas A&M

Health Science Center logo and the Baylor College of Dentistry name.

This event is just one way the Alumni Association contributes to our

remarkable school and its students and graduates. Alumni receptions

hosted by the association in January and May, free practice and job-

posting listings on the alumni Web site, and an online alumni directory

provided to members at the Century Club level and higher are just a

few benefits. Access to college and alumni news updates and assistance

with class reunions and receptions are additional benefits the

association offers.

We are privileged to

represent a dental school

without equal. Thank you

for your dedication to

giving back to your school,

professional community and

Alumni Association.

Stay involved! With your

help, our school will continue

to graduate the best and

brightest.

Classes hold reunions in Dallas

Baylor College of Dentistry Class of 1988 20-year reunion

Caruth School of Dental Hygiene Class of 1968 40-year reunion

Dr. Brad Crump 2008-2009 Alumni Association President

Dr. Scott Staffel 2009-2010 Alumni Association President


Countryman, McDougal honored

as distinguished alumni

PEGGY WARD COUNTRYMAN ’57 AND DR. TOM McDOUGAL ’64 were presented the 2008

Distinguished Alumni Awards at the Baylor

College of Dentistry Alumni Association

Homecoming Reception Jan. 23, 2009, at the

Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.

Both recipients’ biographies illustrate how

their dedication and service have taken them

through extraordinary careers.

Countryman was in the first class of dental

hygienists to graduate from the college’s

Caruth School of Dental Hygiene. After working

in several dental practices throughout Texas,

she obtained her bachelor’s degree from

Temple University in Philadelphia and her

master’s degree from Columbia University in

New York. She credits the supportive influence

of Dr. Earl Moore ’57 and Kay Gandy, an alumna

of the dental hygiene special program class of

1957, in advancing her education.

Countryman was a consultant for the

Netherlands’ Ministry of Social Affairs, where

she established that country’s first dental

hygiene program at the University of Utrecht.

She also worked for the U.S. Department of

Defense to establish a dental assisting program

at a vocational high school in Darmstadt,

Germany. Countryman has taught dental

hygiene at Temple University in Philadelphia,

Pensacola Junior College in Florida and Loyola

University in New Orleans, where she also co-

authored a teaching manual.

Countryman has received multiple awards

from Aetna for her customer service and has

been honored by the U.S. government for her

superior performance. She was a speaker at the

first International Dental Hygiene Symposium

in Italy and has been a representative at

dental symposiums in Denmark and Sweden.

Countryman is a charter member of the Alpha

Eta chapter of Sigma Phi Alpha honor society in

Pensacola.

She says she has “wonderful memories” of

her career, including working for an Irish dentist

in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she cared

for a Sheikh’s family’s teeth. She even teamed

with a veterinarian to care for the Sheikh’s

thoroughbred horse. Her career also is filled

with volunteerism for cancer patients, animal

charities and her church.

“I promised my higher power I would perform

at least one good deed a day when I conquered

‘The Big C’ 13 years ago, and I have not broken

that promise,” Countryman says.

McDougal also has embarked on a

successful career as a restorative dentist,

faculty member, lecturer and banker.

Upon his graduation, McDougal served as

a captain in the U.S. Air Force and received

advanced training in several disciplines of

dentistry. He then opened a private practice in

Richardson, Texas, where he primarily works in

aesthetic and restorative dentistry.

McDougal began lecturing about dentistry

in 1980. He has given

more than 300 scientific

presentations at

major national and

international dental

meetings. He was a

faculty member and

board member for

the Pankey Institute

for Advanced Dental

Education for 15 years.

He currently is a faculty

member for the Center

for Aesthetic and

Restorative Dentistry.

He is a past president

of the Dallas County

Dental Society and the

American Academy

of Dental Practice

Administration. He

also is a fellow of the

International College

of Dentists and the

American College of

Dentists.

McDougal is a

founding director of T

Bank, which specializes

in dentists’ business and

financial services and

has clients in 32 states.

Volunteerism has been

a priority throughout

McDougal’s career. He has served in the

Children’s Oral Health Center for 38 years

and provided dental care to children while on

mission trips to Honduras and Brazil. He also is

active within his church.

McDougal expresses gratitude for his

education at HSC-BCD and enjoys giving back to

the college that guided him.

“I have enjoyed my career immensely and

am very thankful to have had the guidance and

training given me at Baylor,” McDougal says.

“Some of my most fulfilling moments have

come from mentoring and counseling current

Baylor dental students. I believe this marvelous

profession will be in very capable hands.”

Top: Peggy Ward Countryman (center, with corsage) is surrounded by family members for the Distinguished Alumni Awards presentation.Bottom: Dr. Tom McDougal’s wife, daughters and son-in-law join him (left) at the awards presentation.


Alum and dental professor also

solves mysterious deaths

OCCASIONALLY, A DAY’S WORK for Dr. Brent Hutson

’93 looks more like an episode of “CSI” than a day

in the life of a dental educator.

That’s because Hutson is a forensic

odontologist for the Collin County Medical

Examiner’s Office in addition to teaching at

HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry as an associate

professor in restorative sciences and director of

clinical fixed prosthodontics.

Hutson’s specialized training and friendship

with other forensic dentists led him to the

medical examiner’s office, where he has served –

unpaid – since 1995.

“It’s about the truth and the science, not

about lining your pockets,” Hutson says of his pro

bono work.

Since graduating from HSC-BCD, Hutson has

served with the U.S. Navy Dental Corps. He has

trained in many specialized programs including

the Forensic Dentistry Program at the Armed

Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.

He says the military requires forensic dentistry

training for all dentists in case they are needed

to identify a deceased soldier or identify human

remains in mass graves uncovered during war.

“For example, in Southern Iraq military

forensic dentists identified human remains in

mass graves so the Iraqi government could have

an accurate number of casualties for war crimes,”

says Hutson, who served in Iraq from February to

August 2003.

Hutson was recruited to the Collin County

Medical Examiner’s Office by fellow HSC-BCD

alum Dr. William Schell ’78, who is a commanding

officer in the Navy Reserve. Schell knew Hutson

had forensic dentistry training from the Navy.

“At the time, Dr. Schell was the only dentist

working with the Collin County Medical

Examiner’s Office, and you need at least two

there to check each other’s work, to ensure

the evidence is solid and will hold up in court,”

Hutson says.

Typically the forensic dentists’ caseload

is fairly light, sometimes going months with

no activity. When he is called, Hutson takes

personal leave from the college to work in Collin

County.

The infrequency of cases in Collin County,

however, doesn’t mean they are simple. Hutson

has helped with three high-profile murder cases.

In two of the cases, Hutson used forensic

dentistry to identify the crime victims. He took

X-rays of the victims’ teeth and entered their

dental records into the National Crime Institute

Computer. Meanwhile, the dental records of

missing persons are uploaded to the same

database, and the files are searched for a match.

As a forensic dentist, Hutson deals with more

than the victim’s dentition; he is consulted if a

victim has intra-oral injuries to determine if they

are evidence of physical violence. He also is

asked to evaluate bite marks on victims, which is

how he became involved in his most infamous case.

Hutson was called in 2006 when the Collin

County Medical Examiner noticed a victim had

a “patterned injury” on her neck. Suspecting

they were bite marks, he asked Hutson for a

consultation. Hutson not only confirmed they

were likely caused by a bite from a human; he

predicted the marks were unique enough to help

identify the suspect.

“I told the police on the case, ‘Whoever did

this, well, has some very unusual alignment of

the maxillary anterior teeth,’” Hutson says. “We

should be able to evaluate some suspects just

from their teeth.”

Unlike typical bite marks, which form two

mirrored horseshoe shapes, these upper bite

marks were nearly straight or linear with gaps

where some teeth left no marks.

When police arrested a suspect based on

other evidence, they asked Hutson to come

to the Collin County detention center and take

impressions of the suspect’s teeth.

“It was very unpleasant,” Hutson says of

the encounter. “The inmate was in his orange

jumpsuit, shackled and escorted by six guards. It

felt very ‘Silence of the Lambs.’”

Hutson created casts to duplicate the

suspect’s bite and then used Photoshop to

convert them into a hollow outline.

The case proceeded to a capital murder

trial in 2007, and Hutson was called to testify

in court. In a presentation to the jury using his

laptop computer, Hutson overlaid his recreated

bite outline onto a photo of the marks on the

victim. The two aligned with, as Hutson showed,

“reasonable scientific certainty.” The jury handed

a guilty verdict and ultimately recommended the

death penalty.

In retrospect Hutson realizes this experience

has been exceptional, but he certainly doesn’t

enjoy recounting it.

“Not a lot of forensic dentists have the

opportunity to testify in a capital murder case,”

Hutson says. “It was exciting, but I hope that’s

the last time I have to do it. Next time, it’s Dr.

Schell’s turn.”

Dr. Brent Hutson contributes his expertise in forensic odontology to the Collin County Medical Examiner ’s Office.

“The inmate was in his orange jumpsuit, shackled and escorted by six guards. It felt very ‘Silence of the Lambs.’” Dr. Brent hutSon



Periodontics department honors distinguished alumni

Dr. Patricia L. Blanton ’67, ’74, ’76 and Dr. Bettye M. Whiteaker-Hurt ’68, ’70

each possess a new and prestigious honor as the 2008 Periodontics Distinguished Alumni. Dr. William W. Hallmon, then professor and chair of periodontics, presented the awards at a reception Dec. 4 at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Both recipients demonstrate remarkable leadership and professional accomplishments. They exemplify the award’s criteria, having distinguished themselves as outstanding scholars, clinicians and leaders in their specialty regionally, nationally and internationally. Blanton received her doctorate in anatomy from Baylor University and her dental degree and certificate in periodontics from HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. She has spent most of her professional career at the college, where she currently is professor emeritus in biomedical sciences. In addition to numerous academic positions and professional appointments, Blanton practices periodontics and implantology full time. Blanton is a regent of the American College of Dentists, a member of the American Dental Association president’s task force to study the Commission on Dental Accreditation, a delegate to the ADA and a consultant for the Texas Dental Association. She has held numerous past positions with the ADA, TDA and the Dallas County Dental Society. She served as the first female president of the TDA. Blanton’s awards and recognitions include nomination to the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame

for health and research, the Baylor College of Dentistry Distinguished Alumni Award, the DCDS Dentist of the Year Award, DCDS Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Association of Women Dentists’ 2008 Woman Dentist of the Year/Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award, and the Commanders Award from the Europe Regional Dental Command. The HSC-BCD biomedical sciences library, to which she generously has given, is named in her honor. Whiteaker-Hurt received her dental degree and certificate in periodontics from HSC-BCD and her master of science in dentistry from Baylor University. She was the first female recipient of the Gold Medal for Scholastic Achievement Award and the first female graduate of the college’s periodontic residency program. In 2001, she was appointed clinical assistant professor in periodontics after her retirement from private practice.

Whiteaker-Hurt is a longstanding director of the Baylor Oral Health Foundation. She has served as president of the Alumni Association board of directors and as a member of the college’s board of trustees. She has held numerous positions in the Dallas County Dental Society, including past president. Whiteaker-Hurt has endowed at least three scholarship funds that bear her name, including one for periodontic graduate students at HSC-BCD that has awarded 27 recipients to date. She and Dr. William Hurt established a fund for an endowed chair in periodontics in 2006. She also is the major contributor of the periodontal resident endowed fund, which facilitates resident education. Whiteaker-Hurt’s accolades include the Baylor College of Dentistry Distinguished Alumni Award, the Texas Academy of General Dentistry’s Award of Excellence and the Texas Dental Association Honorable Order of Good Fellow Award. She was inducted into the HSC-BCD Hall of Fame in 2005.

Dr. John S. Findley

Findley serves as ADA president

DR. JOHN S. FINDLEY ’70 of Plano, Texas, assumed the

presidency of the American Dental Association in October

2008 at the ADA’s annual session in San Antonio.

Findley, a 1996 recipient of the Baylor College of Dentistry

Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, has

emphasized what he calls the “pivotal issues” of education,

access and communication during his presidential year.

Dr. Bettye Whiteaker-Hurt (left) and Dr. Pat Blanton are honored as periodontics distinguished alumni.

Former chair of periodontics remembered

Periodontic graduates between 1972 and

1987 remember former department chair Dr. William C. Hurt, who gained the respect and admiration of students and colleagues by leading with integrity and vision. Hurt passed away Dec. 31, 2008, in Mississippi. He was 86. Named professor emeritus of periodontics upon his retirement, Hurt was noted for recruiting a strong faculty, establishing the Stomatology Center and inspiring significant research. He served as editor of the Journal of Periodontology, published extensively and lectured around the world. “Dr. Hurt’s death creates a void in those who knew and loved him,” says Dr. Terry Rees ’68, professor and director of the Stomatology Center. “He played a most important role in our lives, as well as in the evolution of our profession.”

Dr. William Hurt

Lagniappe Studio, courtesy ADA News ©

2008 ADA


Fort Worth dentist Irad

Cochran retires at age 90

IN SUMMER 2008, the retirement of Dr. Irad

Cochran Jr. ’42 just happened to coincide with his

90th birthday.

After 66 years of caring for patients, Texas’

oldest practicing dentist decided the time was

right for retirement. On his last day of practice

in Fort Worth, Texas, Cochran ended the day in

a particularly meaningful way. Bill Beard, his

last patient, was the son of Steve Beard, his first

patient. In some families, he’s treated three

generations.

He also has guided many new dentists in the

Fort Worth District Dental Society, one of which

was Dr. Bill Wathen, who is now an associate

professor of general dentistry at HSC-Baylor

College of Dentistry.

“Dr. Cochran is among the finest dentists, in

his technical abilities and as a gifted clinician,”

Wathen says. “He is so good, so kind with

patients, and he has impeccable technique.”

In Wathen’s early-practice days, the Fort

Worth dental society “adopted” those dentists –

Wathen included – who had been in the military.

“They took us in as their kids,” Wathen says.

“We all benefited from Irad Cochran and his

generation. We thought he walked on water.”

Many of those who looked up to Cochran – 200

friends, family and former patients – gathered on

May 17, 2008, at Meadowbrook United Methodist

Church in Fort Worth to celebrate his birthday

and 66-year career. Cochran was honored with a

slide show of his life, a plaque from his church and

praise from loved ones.

Despite several intervening decades, Cochran

says he remembers many aspects of his dental

education as though they were yesterday. For

one thing, clinic technology changed significantly

while Cochran was a dental student. When he

started at the college, the clinic used foot pedal

drills, but his class was one of the first to be able

to use the new belt-driven electric drills.

Cochran says his favorite professors were

oral surgery professor Dr. Welden E. Bell ’34 and

oral prosthetics professor Dr. Philip Knutzen ’28.

“He was a tough old bird, and everyone

disliked him because he was hard,” Cochran

says of Knutzen, “but he gave me an excellent

background in crown and bridge.”

When Cochran was a student, Baylor College

of Medicine was still located in Dallas, and dental

students took their basic science courses

with the medical students. Cochran lived in a

fraternity house a few blocks away on Gaston

Avenue and walked to class every day.

After graduating in 1942, Cochran started

work at his father’s dental practice in Fort Worth.

Six months later, he reported for duty in the Navy

and provided dental care for the men of the USS

Oregon. He later served at the Naval Air Station

in Corpus Christi and completed 24 years in the

Navy Reserve.

In 1946 Cochran opened his own practice in

Fort Worth. Since then, he says, his career has

outlasted patients, technology and office space.

“I started in the Medical Arts Building in

downtown Fort Worth, but they imploded that

one,” Cochran says. “So I moved to the doctor’s

building by Harris Hospital, and they blew that

one up, too.”

Eventually Cochran moved to the Medical

Tower in the hospital district, his final office

location.

“Aside from that one, everywhere I moved,

they blew up. Well, except for the building my dad

practiced in on Sylvania Avenue; it’s still there,”

Cochran says.

As his office location changed over time, so

did dental technology. Cochran says implants

and high-speed drills were the greatest changes

he saw during his career.

“I still have some instruments that I’m trying

to get rid of, but no one knows anything about

them,” he says of his pneumatic mallets, which

were used to tap gold foil into cavities as filling.

Cochran’s career includes leadership in

several professional organizations. He served

as president of the Southwest Prosthodontic

Society, the Fort Worth dental society and the

Southwest Academy of Restorative Dentistry.

He also was a member of the Texas Gnathological

Society, a study group that occasionally met at

Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

To Cochran, however, the highlight of his six

and a half decades in dentistry has been his

patients.

“I’ve served the fine citizens of Fort Worth,” he

says. “I’ve had the most wonderful career.”

Friends, family and former patients gather at a reception in Cochran’s honor.

Dr. Irad Cochran treats a patient on his last day in the office.

Photos courtesy of Fort Worth Star-Telegram



Alum, scholarship recipient

helps community

Jeanette Roach ’08 received $2,000 in April 2008 as the first recipient of the new

Ausmus Laursen Dental Hygiene Scholarship. Roach is now a dental hygienist at Southfork Dental, a private general practice in Murphy, Texas. She says the quality of her education is what she enjoyed most at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. “When prospective employers asked me where I graduated from, I would proudly say ‘Baylor College of Dentistry,’ and they would get a great big smile across their face and practically offer me the position on the spot,” Roach says. “This increased my feelings of security tremendously!” The Ausmus Laursen scholarship is designated for dental hygiene students such as Roach who demonstrate community service, academic achievement, financial need and the motivation for a long and successful career in dental hygiene. Roach is a dental hygienist with lofty goals to benefit others. While a student, Roach volunteered in the community to screen patients and teach oral hygiene. She visited local elementary schools – dressed as the “Tooth Fairy” – and taught children oral hygiene and nutrition related to dental care. She would like to extend that outreach to individuals on the opposite end of the age spectrum, eventually working with elderly patients through mobile dentistry. Roach currently volunteers at her church

in its Central Dallas ministry, where she does home maintenance for needy families. The Ausmus Laursen scholarship was created by Mary Ellen Ausmus-Laursen, a 1968 graduate in dental hygiene. She wanted to share her love of her profession with current dental hygiene students. Her idea began in memory of her father and sister. When the two both passed away in 1978, she suggested memorial gifts to the scholarship in lieu of flowers. She did the same when her mother passed away in 2004. The scholarship became endowed in 2003 with an additional gift from Ausmus-Laursen and her husband, Glenn. Both the scholarship’s namesake and its first recipient express fulfillment from the award. “I’m really proud of the scholarship and glad it’s finally becoming the vision I had in mind,” says Ausmus-Laursen. Roach says she values the education and experience she gained at HSC-BCD and thanks Ausmus-Laursen for “helping me achieve my goals and turn my dreams into reality.”

Oklahoma Dentist of the Year

THE OKLAHOMA DENTAL ASSOCIATION honored

Dr. Scott Waugh ’74 of

Edmond, Okla., with its

2009 Dentist of the Year

Award in April.

The award honors

Waugh for his distinguished leadership and

unwavering service to organized dentistry at

the county, state and national levels.

Waugh is a past president of the ODA and

the Oklahoma County Dental Society. He has

served as treasurer of the American College

of Dentists and represents the ODA as a

delegate to the American Dental Association.

He is actively involved with the University

of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, serving on

the Admissions Committee and as a preceptor

faculty member in addition to being a Dean

Robertson Society Life Fellow. Waugh also

is a past president of the Baylor College of

Dentistry Alumni Association.

Alumna celebrates a

day in her honor

March 18 was a special day for Dr. Gwendolyn Kines ’05. It was her

day – literally – as the mayor of Terrell, Texas, proclaimed it Dr. Gwendolyn Kines Day. She was summoned to a city council meeting the night before, where she found more than 60 friends and family waiting there for Mayor Hal Richards’ proclamation. The room broke into applause when she entered. A 1989 graduate of Terrell High School, Kines now gives back to her hometown. In addition to sponsoring a local “Give Kids a Smile” event, she and her staff actively assist uninsured or low-income patients. Kines is active in other community projects. She is a member of the school district’s foundation and the Kiwanis Club. She also sponsors the high school’s Key Club and volunteers at the local hospital.

Terrell, Texas, Mayor Hal Richards (right) honors Dr. Gwendolyn Kines with a proclamation.

Jeanette Roach delivers her oral health message to children as the Tooth Fairy.

Dr. Scott Waugh

Share your news

If you have good news, don’t keep it a secret! Share your professional accomplishments,

personal milestones and family updates with the HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry family by sending your news for Class Notes. (We’ll take photos, too.) Now you can submit via the HSC-BCD Web site at http://bcd.tamhsc.edu/bdjo/classnotes.html. You may also fax to (214) 874-4529, e-mail to [email protected] or mail to Carolyn Cox, Editor, Baylor Dental Journal, Baylor College of Dentistry, 3302 Gaston Ave., Dallas, TX 75246.

Photo courtesy of The Terrell Tribune


Class Notes1942 Dr. Irad Cochran Jr. of Forth Worth, Texas, retired June 2, 2008, at age 90. In a story upon his retirement, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram identified him as Texas’ oldest practicing dentist.

1955 Dr. William Wyatt of Hurst, Texas, was nominated in September 2008 for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry’s Dentist of the Year Award. One of 19 dentists nominated throughout the state, Wyatt is a fellow of the American College of Dentists. He volunteers at Christ Haven Children's Home and spent three years as a dental missionary in Nigeria.

1957 Peggy Ward Countryman of Magnolia, Texas, received HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award, which was presented at the Alumni Association’s 2009 Homecoming Reception Jan. 23 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.

1964 Dr. Tom McDougal of Richardson, Texas, received HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry’s 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award, which was presented at the Alumni Association’s 2009 Homecoming Reception Jan. 23 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas.Dr. Alton “Mickey” Walker of Rockport, Texas, continues to serve on the board of directors for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry. Currently he is immediate past president.

1967 Dr. Bette Thomasson Buchanan of Cheyenne, Wyo., completed her doctorate in education at the University of

Wyoming in spring 2009. Drawing from her interest in teaching dental hygiene through distance education, her dissertation researched administrative strategies to improve such programs. She currently teaches in the dental hygiene program at Laramie County Community College and works for a periodontist in Cheyenne.

1968 Dr. Bettye Whiteaker-Hurt of Dallas received the HSC-BCD Department of Periodontics’ Distinguished Alumni Award on Dec. 4 in Dallas.

1970 Dr. John S. Findley of Plano, Texas, served as 2008-2009 president of the American Dental Association. Dr. Otice Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas, received the Humanitarian Award from the Academy of General Dentistry for his voluntary services with Texas Mission of Mercy, Dentists Who Care and dental mission trips abroad, such as his work in Israel in December.

1971 Dr. Marvin G. Stephens Jr. of Tyler, Texas, received the Tom Matthews Award from the Baylor Orthodontic Alumni Association June 14, 2008. In addition to his East Texas practice, Stephens is an assistant clinical professor in the college’s orthodontic department.

1973 Dr. Michael McWatters, associate professor in restorative sciences, was named Teacher of the Year in 2008 by HSC-BCD students. He teaches fixed prosthodontics to dental students and also teaches dental hygiene juniors.

1974 Dr. Patricia Blanton of Dallas received the HSC-BCD Department of Periodontics’

Distinguished Alumni Award on Dec. 4 in Dallas.

1975 Dr. Bob Baker of Dallas joined the HSC-BCD faculty in August 2008 as an assistant clinical professor in general dentistry. He sold his 30-year practice in Kilgore, Texas, and moved to Dallas to teach at the college, fulfilling a lifetime goal.

1977 Dr. K. Vendrell Rankin, professor and associate chair of public health sciences and direc-tor of Baylor Tobacco Treatment Services, served as a peer reviewer and represented the American Dental Association in the U.S. Public Health Service’s new guidelines, released May 2008, for tobacco cessation practices.

1978 Dr. Dean Armstrong of Amarillo, Texas, is serving on the board of directors for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry.

1980 Dr. Ralph Cooley of Conroe, Texas, is serving on the board of directors for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry. Dr. Brock Lynn of Dallas merged his North Dallas practice in November with the Park Cities practice of his father, Dr. David Lynn ’56. At the joint practice, they are known as “Dr. David” and “Dr. Brock,” with David working part time as he eases gradually into retirement. The Lynns’ three-generation dental legacy of HSC-BCD graduates began with Dr. Roland Lynn, who graduated in 1926.

1981 Dr. Michael Payne of Mesquite, Texas, is serving as editor on the Texas Academy of General Dentistry’s board of directors.

1983 Dr. Mark Peppard of Austin, Texas, is serving as secretary-treasurer on the Texas Academy of General Dentistry’s board of directors.

1984 Dr. Sheila Birth of Burleson, Texas, has been voted as a top orthodontist by readers of Fort Worth, Texas magazine and Texas Monthly magazine for six consecutive years.

1985 Dr. Michael L. Ellis became HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry’s program director for the oral and maxillofacial surgery residency training program on Sept. 1, 2008. Dr. Stephen Griffin, professor and director of clinics, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Education and Mentorship on Jan. 16, 2008, from the Texas A&M Health Science Center. Dr. Debrah Worsham of Center, Texas, was her region’s nominee for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry’s 2008 Dentist of the Year Award. One of 19 dentists nominated throughout the state, Worsham serves on legislative committees for the American Dental Association and the Texas Dental Association. She volunteers with Texas Mission of Mercy and as a precinct judge for Joaquin, Texas.

1988 Dr. Jon Williamson of Cedar Hill, Texas, received the Mastership Award from the Academy of General Dentistry on July 19, 2008. The award is the highest honor in the organization, recognizing dentists who have completed more than 1,100 continuing education hours in 16 disciplines within dentistry, including 400 hours dedicated to hands-on skills and techniques.


1993 Dr. Glenn Martin of Anchorage, Alaska, received the Academy of General Dentistry’s Mastership Award at the organiza-tion’s July 2008 convocation in Orlando, Fla. The highest honor in the AGD, the award recognizes dentists who have completed more than 1,100 continuing education hours in 16 disciplines within dentistry, including 400 hours of hands-on instruction.

1994 Dr. Ernestine Lacy, director of student develop-ment, received a nearly $200,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in March 2008 for HSC-BCD’s Bridge to Dentistry program. Dr. Kathy Kirk McRobbie of Rowlett, Texas, was commissioned in the fall as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. She is assigned to the Operational Health Support Unit at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. Dianna Prachyl of Mabank, Texas, has a new position within Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. She is the senior director of ambulatory services, where she oversees 40 outpatient specialty clinics and 3,000 patient visits per week. Prachyl has been with Children’s for nine years.

1997 Dr. Tuan “Tomy” Nguyen of Houston has been named by H Texas magazine as one of Houston’s top dentists for five consecutive years.

1999 Dr. Valerie Drake is one of seven dentists in Texas to have earned mastership designa-tion in the Implant Prosthodontic Section of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. Requirements for mastership include attaining ICOI fellow-ship, completing 40 implant cases,

fulfilling 100 implant dentistry continuing education hours in the preceding five years, obtaining a letter of recommendation and up-holding maintenance requirements to sustain the credential.

2001 Dr. Marko Alanis of Edinburg, Texas, is serving on the board of directors for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry.

2004 Dr. Melisa Christian of Dallas ran in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the women’s marathon April 20 in Boston. She qualified for trials after her impressive finish in the 2007 New York Marathon.

2005 Dr. Sloan Hildebrand of Dallas was awarded fellow-ship in the Academy of Dentistry International on Oct. 15. The academy is an honor society for dentists dedicated to providing continuing dental education to the dental profession in lesser-developed countries. Hildebrand recently volunteered in Burma to provide dental relief for those affected by Cyclone Nargis, a tropical storm in May 2008 that killed more than 80,000 and left thousands homeless. Dr. Gwendolyn Kines was hon-ored with a city proclamation for her volunteerism and preventive dental care in her hometown of Terrell, Texas. Mayor Hal Richards declared March 18, 2009, as Dr. Gwendolyn Kines Day.

2007 Dr. Carmen Elena Briceno (Ortho) received the Milo Hellman Award in May 2008 at the American Association of Orthodontists’ annual meeting in Denver. The Hellman Award is the premier research award in orthodontics.

In MemoriamDr. Edwin S. Hoot ’40Dr. Howard D. McCamey ’40Dr. William P. Menn ’43Dr. Francis E. Altaras ’44Dr. Elenzo H. Ramsey Jr. ’44Dr. Paul P. Taylor ’44Dr. Thomas R. Williams ’44Dr. B. G. Douglas ’45Dr. Clyde G. Smith ’45Dr. Leon B. Cohen ’46Dr. Myers Thornton ’47Dr. William Wilkerson ’47Dr. George Endicott ’48Dr. Jack H. Hittson ’48Dr. Robert H. Hargrove ’49Dr. John H. McCulloch ’49Dr. Tully A. Mayer ’50Dr. James A. Polk ’50Dr. Kent E. Toler ’50Dr. Warren H. Binkley ’51Dr. Madison S. Pace ’53Dr. Clarence W. Shahan ’53Dr. Frank L. Bond ’57Dr. Roy L. Bowden ’57Dr. George Byrne Garrett ’58Dr. Gilbert F. Hatcher ’58Dr. John E. Knudsen ’58Dr. Raymond L. Atkins ’59Dr. David E. Avery ’59Dr. Owen F. “Rick” Herold ’59 Dr. Robert M. Vorderlandwehr ’60Dr. Roy A. Waterhouse ’60Dr. Kenneth H. Porter ’61Lynette V. Dickson ’62Dr. Gerald E. Wood ’62Dr. Bernald R. Stubbs ’63Dr. Sam R. Elder ’66Dr. Christopher F. Anderson ’69Dr. Robert H. Stutts ’72Dr. Michael L. Olives ’73Dr. Charles R. Blanton ’74Jane L. Andreae ’80Vivian C. Boyd ’84Dr. Charles I. Williams II ’96Dr. Scott A. Sawyer ’05

Contact Lori Dees in the Office of Communications & Institutional Advancement at (214) 828-8471 or [email protected] if you would like to make a memorial contribution.

Alumni Association

Board of Directors

2008-2009

President

Dr. Brad Crump ’97

President-Elect

Dr. Scott Staffel ’95

Secretary-Treasurer

Dr. Todd Baumann ’02

Immediate Past President

Dr. Pamela A. Moore ’96

Board Members

Dr. Bun Baker ’71

Neelie Bruce ’09

Dr. Chris Cartwright ’78

Dr. Jon Clemetson ’02

Dr. Stan Cobb ’83

Dr. Valerie Drake ’99

Samuel Ellsworth ’10

Dr. Ty Hinze ’05

Dr. H. Lee Kavanagh ’02

Dr. Celeste Latham ’97

Laurie Morgan ’02

Dr. T. J. Randers ’05

Dr. Carmen Smith ’96

Dr. George Strunk ’75

Dr. Wayne Woods ’88

Dr. G. Mark Yarbrough ’73

New Members May 2009

Dr. Michael Ding ’04

Natalie Koeijmans ’10

Dr. Hershall Leinneweber ’71


Senior dental hygiene students ‘pay it forward’

Members of the Caruth School

of Dental Hygiene Class of 2009 focused not only on their own future but also on the students who would take their place. Every student of the 30-member class pledged or contributed seed money to create a new scholarship fund, the Dental Hygiene Senior Class Scholarship, to annually benefit a senior dental hygiene student. The idea was conceived by classmate Lynn Shaffer ’09. “This whole process [of dental hygiene school] has been life-changing for me,” says Shaffer, who returned to school after a career in banking. As graduation approached, “I was thinking ‘I wish I could leave something behind to benefit a future student or class.’” Shaffer approached Susan Mitchell Jackson, executive director of communications and

G I V I N G

Campbells establish fund honoring their daughter

The parents of one

special daughter, Kimberly Campbell, are honoring her life by establishing a fund in her name to benefit clinical research in orthodontics at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. Dr. Phillip M. Campbell ’71, ’73 and Kimberly’s mom, Skipper, have announced their intention to create the Kimberly Campbell Research Endowment through a series of charitable gifts. The first visible step in that quest recently was completed: the Kimberly Campbell Seminar Room. The new seminar room accommodates meetings and lectures and includes study carrels for orthodontic residents in addition to a large conference table. It is housed on the college’s seventh floor. “Baylor’s been good to me, and it’s a joy to give back to the school I love,” says Campbell. A longtime college supporter, he closed his Huntsville, Texas, practice in 2005 to join the HSC-BCD faculty in orthodontics as graduate-clinic director and holder of the Robert E. Gaylord Endowed Chair in Orthodontics. During his 35 years in private practice, Campbell served on the college’s board of trustees when the dental school was private and on the board of directors of the Baylor Oral Health Foundation. He received the Baylor College of Dentistry Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1993 and the Department of Orthodontics’ Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996. In 2002, he was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame. Campbell was instrumental in the success of the $1 million fundraising campaign for the Gaylord chair and later spearheaded the campaign to establish the Dr. Tom Matthews Endowment, which supports an annual lecture

McLaughlin selected for scholarship

Lindsey McLaughlin became interested in dentistry as a braces-wearing teenager

in middle school. She later worked for her family’s general dentist during college summer breaks and for a year before entering dental school. Now this family-oriented fourth-year dental student has received the first American Dental Partners Foundation/Carus Dental Scholarship at HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry. “After working for a general dentist, I discovered I really enjoyed it,” she says. “The staff was wonderful, and I appreciated the teamwork in the office. That is where I became familiar with the clinical aspect of dentistry as a chairside assistant and also experienced the business side of dentistry in the front office.”

in orthodontics. His devotion to the college and commit-ment to its sustained advancement are evident in his words and deeds. “All along, even back in 1978 when I made out my first will, I’ve named Baylor as a beneficiary of my estate. I’ve also donated two patents to the dental school, which should provide royalties in the future,” Campbell says. As for Kimberly, an only child, Campbell says she always wears a smile. “She has never had a sad day,” he insists. Kimberly’s parents have devoted their lives to her since her birth in 1967, with her mother providing around-the-clock care to meet her special needs. “I was quite pleased and honored on behalf of the college but not surprised when Phil shared his plans with me to establish the endowment,” says Dr. James S. Cole ’75, HSC-BCD dean. “He has been a great supporter in so many ways. However, as much as I admire his dedication to our college, he’s impressed me most indelibly as an exceptional father.”

institutional advancement, to discuss how to implement the idea. They established a fund at the HSC Foundation and created a brochure and donor cards. Shaffer then visited with her classmates about helping and shared the idea with the next class. She hopes future senior classes will adopt funding this scholarship as a tradition. “When I talked to the president of the junior class, she was very excited about it and wanted it to continue,” Shaffer says. “I wanted to begin a tradition of ‘paying it forward’ from one class to another.” The student aid staff at HSC-BCD is impressed by the students’ initiative. “We are thrilled to see such a beneficial commitment from the Class of 2009,” says Kay Egbert, director of student aid. “Members can be proud of their efforts to relieve financial pressure from future dental hygiene students. We support their endeavors and hope this will encourage many more scholarships.” The scholarship fund is open to donations from past, present or future dental hygiene students and anyone else who would like to contribute. Contact the HSC-BCD Office of Communications & Institutional Advancement at (214) 828-8214 or [email protected] for more information.

Lynn Shaffer


Upon completion of dental school, McLaughlin plans to stay close to her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. “I spend time with my family in Fort Worth just about every weekend,” she says. “I’m glad to be so close.” Through a short essay and two letters of recommendation, McLaughlin demonstrated her strengths in teamwork, clinical excellence and leadership skills. All are criterion required of the scholarship’s recipients, who can be either third-year or fourth-year dental students. “We think that giving back to our profession through scholarships will only strengthen the future of dentistry,” says Dr. Ray Scott, president of Carus Dental, who worked closely with the college to establish the scholarship fund in 2007. The fund was created through donations by Scott and other Carus Dental dentists who made contributions to American Dental Partners Foundation specifically to benefit the scholarship at HSC-BCD. “We’ve made a commitment to continue giving to ensure that our endowment will keep growing for the benefit of many in years to come,” says Scott.

Self becomes first recipient of Kerney Laday Scholarship

DR. KIM SELF ’09 was selected last fall as the first recipient of the new Kerney Laday Scholarship

for HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry dental students.

Self plans to start her career in the public health setting, a calling she discovered in dental

school.

“When I was a D2, I went on a mission trip to Matamoros, Mexico,” she says. “I realized on that

trip that as a dentist I have the ability to really help people, to relieve them from pain.”

Self’s voluntary care for underserved communities, along with her other achievements,

earned her the Kerney Laday Scholarship, which was established for fourth-year dental students

who demonstrate academic achievement, clinical proficiency and community involvement.

Self’s second year in dental school was a time of discovery. Not only did she realize her

capacity to help others; she found excitement in the clinical applications of her dental education.

“Truthfully, when I was a D1, I had doubts; I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this whole dentistry

thing,” Self says. “But as a D2, when I started fixed prosthodontics and worked in the Sim Lab, that

changed. I really enjoyed the ‘art’ element of dentistry and seeing something tangible that had a

start and finish.”

Later in dental school, her passion for helping others took her north – extreme north – to

Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost point in the United States. There she did an externship during

summer 2008 and returned to volunteer during winter break later that year. Self says Alaska

appeals to her because the population, which is located primarily in remote villages, is largely

underserved. She hopes to live in Alaska for several years and care for patients long term.

The Kerney Laday Scholarship Fund was created by Energy Future Holdings to recognize

Kerney Laday for his service on the board of directors of TXU Corp. and his desire to help

deserving dental students fund their education. Laday is president of The Laday Company, a

management consulting and business development firm, which he formed in 1997 after retiring

from Xerox Corp. with 26 years of service, including several years as a vice president. Laday also

serves as a director of TDIndustries, The Beck Group, Rent-A-Center and Texas Health Resources.

“The college is really grateful to Mr. Laday and Energy Future Holdings for the faith they

expressed in us through the establishment of this generous scholarship,” says Susan Mitchell

Jackson, executive director of communications and institutional advancement at HSC-BCD.

“Mr. Laday appreciates the value of educating, recognizing and graduating well-rounded, highly

skilled, compassionate dental professionals, which makes Kim the ideal first recipient of the

Laday Scholarship.”

Kerney Laday Dr. Kim Self

Lindsey McLaughlin


Currently, little or no options exist in Pleasant Grove for the uninsured to get dental treatment. In an area with no rapid transit and an average per capita income less than half the Dallas average, the barriers to accessing dental care can be insurmountable. This acute need has been recognized before. The 2007 Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council report, Our Community Health Checkup, specifically recommends dental services for the uninsured in Southeast Dallas. But that will soon change. After the grant funding arrives in February 2010, the dental clinic is scheduled to open in September that same year. The project is one of a team effort. Jones, along with Dr. K. Vendrell Rankin ’77, professor and associate chair in public health sciences, and Susan Mitchell Jackson, director of communications and institutional advancement, collaborated on the project within HSC-BCD. The college pooled its resources with Community Dental Care, the Baylor Oral Health Foundation, Parkland Health and Hospital System, the city of Dallas and DISD to propose the project to the Crystal Charity Ball for funding. The Crystal Charity Ball has raised funds to improve the lives of Dallas-area children since 1952. It has twice before funded HSC-BCD public health projects: the Dallas County Sealant Initiative in 1999 and the Vickery Meadow Children’s Oral Health Project in 2005. “With the Southeast Oral Health Project, we’re building on lessons learned,” Jones says. “The Vickery Meadow project is a proven, sustainable model that we’ll use and improve in Pleasant Grove.” Annually, the Southeast project will provide an estimated 16,000 dental appointments and interactions with children. Within two years it will be completely self-sustaining.

Grant funds future Southeast Dental Clinic

Children in Southeast Dallas soon will get a tremendous improvement in their oral

health care, thanks to funding coming to HSC- Baylor College of Dentistry from the Crystal Charity Ball. HSC-BCD and its community partners will receive $500,000 for the Southeast Oral Health Project, announced in February by the Dallas-based Crystal Charity Ball Committee. The project’s goal is to essentially “adopt the community,” says Dr. Daniel Jones ’89, professor and chair of public health sciences at HSC-BCD. It is projected to improve the oral health of the community’s children with a comprehensive, four-pronged approach: screening, prevention, referral and treatment. The project will start exactly where it can reach the most children: at school. Dentists and HSC-BCD students will annually visit schools in Pleasant Grove to provide oral health screenings, oral health education and oral hygiene kits to every student. It is estimated this alone will serve 10,000 children annually. For second-graders, they’ll also receive an invaluable preventative tool. Each student will receive free sealants to minimize tooth decay for several years, courtesy of HSC-BCD’s sealant program, led by Dr. Stephen Crane ’73, assistant professor in public health sciences, and staffed by D4 students. Children who need additional care, an estimated 1,800 of them, will be referred for treatment at the new Southeast Dental Clinic, located within their own neighborhood at the existing Parkland Community Oriented Primary Care Center. It is this final component that will help meet the area’s tremendous need for a public dental clinic. Dental decay is the most common chronic disease among children, and Dallas Independent School District officials say dental problems are the leading reason why children miss school. A child’s chances of existing dental problems, however, are tripled if the family has no dental insurance.

This is the third

dental health

project supported

through the Crystal

Charity Ball.

Top: Parkland health center administrator Argentry Fields is thrilled about the new dental clinic. Bottom: The Southeast Oral Health Project will benefit children when the new clinic opens in fall 2010.


G I V I N G

Gift ReportTEXAS A&M HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY is grateful for the financial support it receives from loyal and diverse constituencies. These gifts represent the tangible and lasting means of assuring that the college’s quest for excellence continues. In this issue of the Baylor Dental Journal, gift report-ing for HSC-BCD, Baylor Oral Health Foundation and Baylor College of Dentistry Alumni Association reflects cumula-tive giving by individuals and organizations during the 2008 calendar year. Not included in these listings are competitively awarded grants and con-tracts managed through the Texas A&M Research Foundation. Every effort has been made to make each list complete and accurate, but inevitably some errors or omissions may have oc-curred. We would appreciate receiving corrections, com-ments or questions. Please direct any concerns to HSC-BCD’s Office of Communications & Institutional Advancement at (214) 828-8471. You also may contact this office for information on ways to continue your support of the college and its mission. We heartily thank our alumni, faculty, staff, stu-dents, friends and members of the corporate and founda-tion communities for their generosity and commitment to the college.

Up to $249Alliance of the Dallas County Dental SocietyMs. Maria A. Anderson ’94AnonymousMrs. Mary Ellen Ausmus- Laursen ’68Mrs. Frances F. Bell ’57Dr. Jim L. Burk, Jr. ’64Ms. Margaret A. Countryman ’57Ms. Lori L. DeesDr. Jacob Geller ’56Dr. Jerry L. Greer ’74Dr. James H. Hall ’73Ms. Donna G. Hanner ’59Ms. Phyllis HuckabeeMrs. Nancy L. KerrDr. Steven F. Kolb ’83Dr. Ernestine S. Lacy ’94Dr. H. O’Dell MarshallDr. Trent M. Nguyen ’06Mr. and Mrs. Alan PiperDr. John H. ReedMs. Lynn ShafferDr. Larry R. Stewart ’78Dr. Todd J. Svane ’84Ms. Emma J. Terrell ’57Mr. Abdolreza Vaezzadeh

In-Kind Contributions3M UnitekAmerican OrthodonticsAstra TechCarestream Health Inc.GAC International Inc.Dr. Daniel L. Jones ’89LED DentalDr. Mazin N. Nakhleh ’86Nobel Biocare USA, Inc.Panadent Corp.Piezosurgery Inc.Speed System Orthodontics - Strite Industries LimitedDr. Reginald W. Taylor

Gifts In Honor Of:Dr. Edward R. Genecov ’56Dr. Timothy M. Huckabee ’87Dr. Claude R. Williams, Sr.

Gifts In Memory Of:Mr. John L. ThompsonDr. Phillip Earle Williams ’26

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery DepartmentPediatric Dentistry Support FundPeriodontal Resident Endowment FundRobert S. Staffanou Scholarship Fund Patricia Clendenin Wessendorff Caruth School FundStraumann FundTom Matthews Lectureship Whiteaker-Hurt Endowed Chair

$50,000 or more Straumann USA

$25,000–$49,999 Dr. Phillip Campbell

$10,000–$24,999Astra Tech Dr. Bettye M. Whiteaker-Hurt

$1,000–$9,999 William and Loretta Anderson Dr. Jay Arnette Baylor Orthodontic Alumni Association BIOMET 3i Brasseler USA Dental, LLC Dr. Ralph Brock Ronald and Cheryl BryantCapricorn Foundation Mrs. Marge Demoudt DENTSPLY Dr. William H.Dunklin, IIIDr. Gregory G. Farthing G. Hartzell & Son Hu-Friedy Dr. James Dean Jensen KLS Martin L.P. Keystone Dental, Dr. Dean Schwartz The Murrell Foundation Nobel Biocare Osteohealth P & G Company Dr. Michael M. Perry Dr. Robert S. Staffanou FamilyMrs. Ruth Staffanou Dr. Robert M. StecklerDr. Paul P. Taylor Dr. Danny Watts Mrs. Patricia Clendenin Wessendorff Dr. David Wilbanks

TEXAS A&M HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY CONTRIBUTORS

$1,000,000 or moreBaylor Oral Health Foundation

$100,000–$999,999Energy Future HoldingsNobel Biocare USA Inc.TG

$10,000–$99,999Dr. C. Moody AlexanderDr. Richard G. AlexanderBaptist Foundation of TexasDr. Phillip M. Campbell ’71Dr. Jeffrey S. Genecov ’85

$5,000–$9,999Biomet 3iBiomet MicrofixationKonrad and Clara Lux TrustThe James D. and Kay Y. Moran FoundationTexas Association of Orthodontists

$1,000–$4,999American Dental Partners FoundationMr. and Mrs. John G. HoffmanLaclede Professional ProductsMarjorie K. and Milton P. Levy Fund Dr. Elaine R. Schilling ’95

$500–$999Dr. James A. Baker ’74Dr. Colin S. Bell ’79Dr. Payal BhanDr. Kirby L. Bunel, Jr. ’88Dr. Dalton ConnerMr. Christopher M. HuckabeeTommie and Sylvia HuckabeeDr. Joseph D. James, Jr. ’74Procter & Gamble Inc.

$250–$499Alpha Omega FoundationDr. David M. Grogan ’81Mrs. Susan Mitchell JacksonDr. Kenneth NelsonDr. Stephen M. ParelPracticon Inc.Dr. Sterling R. Schow

BAYLOR ORAL HEALTH FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTORS

THE MISSION OF THE BAYLOR ORAL HEALTH FOUNDATION is to provide HSC-Baylor College of Dentistry with funds and support to sustain its institu-tional preeminence through excellence in students, fac-ulty, research and outreach. BOHF does this by manag-ing and raising private dollars for world-class faculty, lead-ing-edge research, academic programs and scholarships. Private support helps the college go beyond the limits of state and federal funding to provide innovative and high quality programs for thousands of students and patients touched by BCD. The 2008–2009 foundation directors are Joel Allison, Stanley Allred, W. Mike Baggett, George W. Bramblett, Jr., Bill E. Carter, Gary D. Elliston, Ruben E. Esquivel (vice chair), V. J. Horgan, Terry Kelley, Dr. Linda Niessen, Carol Seay, Dr. W. Keith Thornton, Dr. Robert V. Walker (chair), Dr. Terry Watson, Dr. Bettye M. Whiteaker-Hurt and Fritzi Woods (secretary). Advisory directors are Milton P. Levy, Jr. and Clara Hoffman. The following gifts reflect giving to the foundation in calendar year 2008. They were donated to benefit one of these funds held at BOHF:

Baylor Orthodontic Support FundBaylor Periodontics Alumni Fund BCD Graduate Prosthodontic ProgramBetty J. Scott Scholarship FundJesse T. Bullard LectureshipKimberly Campbell Orthodontic Research Fund

COMING SOON: Online contributionshttp://giving.tamhsc.edu


$500–$999 Dr. Terry B. Adams Dr. Gwang Ho Ahn Dr. J. Moody Alexander Dr. Bong Chan Bae Bradley Family Trust Dr. Jesse Bullard Dr. Linda A. Crawford Dr. Stephanie Crise Dr. Robert W. Gallagher Dr. Stephen P. Girdlestone Dr. Hilton Neil Goldreich Drs. Steven J. and Joy A. R. Hernandez Dr. Brigitte D. Herrmann Michael and Lorna Kakesako Dr. James S. Moore Periodontal Health Group Dr. Bruce K. Reeder Dr. Sherri J. Reuland Dr. Stephen P. Shepard Dr. Sung Gi Shin 3M

$250–$499 Dr. Amy Bender Dr. Tony Dacy Dr. John B. Farmer Dr. Van Hill Dr. Arthur V. Khurshudian Miracle Dental Laboratory of Houston, LP Mr. Earle Nye Dr. Harold W. Simpson Dr. Michael A. Sitters Dr. Kathia D. Steel Dr. Richard A. Steele Tidtke Marketing Group, Inc.Dr. Daniela A. Zambon- Fagundes

$100–$249 Dr. Mike D. Allen Dr. Raymond Barbre Dr. Scott Bates Dr. William T. Buchanan Dr. Nancy R. Chaffee Jack and Beppie Comes Dr. Robert S. Croft Dr. Patrick D. Crowe Dr. Fanasy P. Deming Dr. Noel P. Dragon Dr. Jean E. Driscoll Dr. Troy N. Elms Dr. Bryan Elvebak Ms. Margaret Furst Ms. Mary K. Gandy Dr. John A. Gerling Dr. Kimberly Hansen Gronberg

Dr. Barry James Dr. Jeffrey James Dr. Jeff Johnson Dr. Seuss Kassisieh Dr. Jekyong Jay Kim Dr. Herbert Klontz Dr. Harold J. Koppel Dr. Mark LaHaye Mrs. Mary Ellen Ausmus- Laursen Dr. Rodney Lewis Dr. Sheng-Po Lu Dr. and Mrs. James F. Lunardon Dr. Jeremy R. Lustig Dr. Adam Martin Dr. Frank Miller Dr. Maryam Mojdehi-BarnesDr. W. Jim Moore Dr. Jacqueline Moroco Dr. Karen Neat Dr. Christopher T. Nevant Dr. Patrick M. Ohlenforst Dr. Dan C. Peavy Dr. Michael D. Plunk Dr. Alan V. Reed Dr. Arthur C. Reed Ms. Kay Rickets Dr. Lee M. Romine Dr. J.M. Rowan, Jr. Dr. Wayne Sankey Dr. Kirk D. Satrom Denny M. and Mary Smith Dr. William B. Snipes Dr. Chester E. Spencer, Jr. Dr. Thomas M. Stark Dr. Cory Stephens Dr. Marvin G. Stephens, Jr. Ms. Emily J. Streck Dr. Kim Travers Dr. John R. Valant Dr. Charles W. Weathers Dr. Evan G. Wilson Mrs. Melissa Wise

Up to $99 Ms. Mary J. Armstrong Ms. Frances Bell Mrs. Helen BlackwoodDr. Patricia L. Blanton Dr. Gary C. ColemanMs. Peggy Countryman Ms. Virginia P. Davis Mrs. Guy Dynek Mr. John EirscheleJames and Sherry Englbert Dr. Gayle GlennMs. Donna Hanner Cynthia Jayne McKeever

Scholar’s Club $500–$999

Dr. Robert A. Baker ’75Dr. John N. Conniff, Jr. ’73Dr. Demetra C. Dorsey ’98Dr. Rusty Dunavant ’02Dr. John S. Findley ’70Dr. Sandi L. Hamm ’88Dr. Nathan E. Hodges ’00Dr. Joseph D. James, Jr. ’74Dr. Eugene M. Kouri ’61Dr. Pamela A. Moore ’96Dr. LaVan R. Parker III ’94Dr. Nancy L. Rajchel ’87Dr. Donald H. Roberts, Jr. ’74Dr. Francisco J. Romero ’74Dr. Kevin L. Seidler ’78Dr. Julie A. Stelly ’87Dr. Charles D. Stetler ’89Dr. Mary K. Swift ’94Dr. Edward J. Vlosich ’84Dr. Jason P. White ’06Dr. Paul Wong ’79Dr. Debrah J. Worsham ’85

McCarthy’s Club $250–$499

Dr. Terry B. Adams ’78Dr. Rebecca A. Aduddell ’96Dr. Monica Boehmer ’89Dr. Welleyn L. Bullis ’67Dr. Hugh R. Burch ’67Dr. Jason Carlyon ’02Dr. Chris S. Cartwright ’78Dr. Robert J. Christian ’69Dr. Evelyn P. Clark ’93Dr. Leon A. Conkling ’72Dr. Kirk A. Coury ’87Dr. Mark A. Craig ’90Dr. Paul G. Davis, Jr. ’83Dr. Weaver G. DeHay ’76Dr. OE Dickinson ’54Dr. Michael L. Dobbins ’68Dr. William P. Glaros ’74Dr. Kerry M. Goad ’78Dr. James B. Goates ’76Dr. Billy A. Gray, Jr. ’78Dr. David M. Grogan ’81Dr. James H. Hall ’73Dr. Kenneth M. Hamlett, Jr. ’74Dr. Jennifer A. Hathaway ’92Dr. WR Haught ’67Dr. Marvin M. Hewlett, Jr. ’73Dr. Dudley M. Hodgkins ’76Dr. Cory B. Jaetzold ’06Dr. James R. Kersten ’69Dr. Arthur H. Kuhlman ’71Dr. Lester H. Kuperman ’70Dr. Ernestine S. Lacy ’94

Dr. Thad Langford ’74Dr. William T. Lee, Jr. ’67Dr. Joy K. Lunan ’80Dr. Thomas M. McDougal ’64Dr. Paul E. Menton ’66Dr. Maryam Mojdehi-Barnes ’97Dr. Frank H. Moore, Jr. ’69Dr. William D. Northcutt III ’57Dr. Anandkumar N. Patel ’97Dr. Ned H. Patrick ’71Dr. Daniel C. Peavy, Jr. ’62Dr. Robert C. Penny ’74Dr. Kevin E. Porter ’92Dr. David W. Price ’81Dr. Murray R. Ray ’68Dr. Roger B. Salome ’69Dr. Carina L. Schwartz-Dabney ’93Dr. Kirk E. Scott ’96Dr. Donald M. Skelton ’70Dr. Johnny C. Smith ’81Ms. Janice L. Snyder ’75Dr. Corbett K. Stephens ’01Dr. Marvin G. Stephens, Jr. ’71Dr. Eugene D. Stevenson, Jr. ’88Dr. Casey Stroud ’01Dr. George W. Strunk ’75Dr. Ronald C. Trowbridge ’73Dr. James M. Watson ’84Dr. Terry D. Watson ’67Dr. Scott Waugh ’74Dr. Thomas M. Weil ’65Ms. Patricia Whalley ’66Dr. John C. White ’84Dr. Steven Widner ’86Dr. James E. Williams ’83Dr. Andy Wilson ’95Dr. Ronald L. Winder ’73

Century Club $150–$249

Dr. Weldon B. Adair ’49Dr. John E. Adcock ’75Dr. Lichelle Aldana ’93Dr. Deanna E. Aronoff ’91Dr. Stanley W. Ashworth ’71Dr. Cary B. Askins ’72Dr. Pamela J. Asseff ’93Mrs. Mary E. Ausmus-Laursen ’68Dr. Bryan A. Austin ’93Dr. Stephen L. Baird ’81Dr. John T. Baker ’67Dr. Richard Baker ’68Dr. John D. Barrett ’77Dr. Todd Baumann ’02Dr. Jerry R. Beachum ’59Dr. David Beal ’78Dr. Robert A. Bettis, Jr. ’64Dr. Bryan W. Bishop ’84Dr. Patricia L. Blanton ’74

John H.C. and Mary Louise Riley Ms. Emma Jo Terrell Dr. Keith E. Thayer Dr. Julie Vargo

Gifts In Honor Of:Dr. Patricia BlantonDr. William W. Hallmon Dr. Cory StephensDr. Marvin Stephens Dr. Bettye Whiteaker-Hurt

Gifts In Memory Of: Dr. William C. HurtDr. Robert S. StaffanouDr. Paul P. TaylorMr. R. Garrow Wessendorff

BAYLOR COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CONTRIBUTORS

EACH MEMBER of the association is encouraged to contribute to the BCD Alumni Association Fund, which is managed by the Baylor Oral Health Foundation. Below are gifts that reflect giving to the Alumni Association in calendar year 2008.

Ambassador’s Club $10,000 or more

Dr. Carlos F. Navarro, Jr. ’84

Dean’s Club $1,000–$4,999

Dr. Bun Baker ’71Dr. Richard C. Baker ’62Dr. Sheila T. Birth ’84Dr. Misty J. Brown ’95Dr. Neil A. Bryson ’75Dr. Kenneth Q. Carlile ’73Dr. Stacy V. Cole ’77Dr. Thomas B. Crump ’97Dr. Larry D. Herwig ’84Dr. Frank L. Higginbottom ’71Dr. Kelly A. Kirtland ’98Dr. Don N. Le ’98Dr. Phuong Nguyen ’01Dr. William R. Phillips III ’97Dr. Robert L. Reames, Jr. ’69Dr. Scott M. Staffel ’95Dr. John M. Tate ’77Dr. Calvin Vo ’03Dr. Robert V. Walker ’47Dr. David S. Wilbanks ’73


G I V I N G

Dr. Marvin L. Blaugrund ’71Dr. James C. Boley ’63Dr. Amanda J. Boothe ’08Dr. John W. Boutz ’71Dr. Hollis R. Bray ’62Dr. Leonard L. Brewster ’59Dr. Rex E. Brewster ’60Dr. Carroll D. Brown, Jr. ’77Dr. David N. Brown ’76Dr. Burt C. Bryan ’79Dr. John A. Buist ’81Dr. Arthur T. Burciaga ’87Dr. Jim L. Burk, Jr. ’64Dr. Thomas D. Calabria ’84Dr. Phillip M. Campbell ’71Dr. Richard H. Carnahan, Jr. ’70Dr. James R. Carrell, Jr. ’02Dr. Michele L. Carter ’06Ms. Diana J. Casey ’00Dr. Thomas D. Charbeneau ’78Dr. Jon Clemetson ’02Dr. Stanton W. Cobb ’83Dr. Gregory T. Cohlmia ’74Dr. Michael N. Cohlmia ’67Dr. Ramiz Cohlmia ’59Dr. Mitchell A. Conditt ’85Dr. Michael S. Connally ’99Dr. Stephen J. Cosentino ’86Ms. Margaret A. Countryman ’57Dr. Gerald D. Cox ’78Dr. Stephanie S. Smith Crise ’95Dr. Douglas R. Crosby ’81Dr. Herbert F. Cross, Jr. ’75Dr. Carly Cunningham ’04Dr. Russell Cunningham ’02Dr. Steven T. Cutbirth ’79Dr. Bradley B. Daniels ’80Dr. Terry A. Darden ’63Dr. Roland S. Davies ’75Dr. Stephen E. Davis ’73Dr. Susan Delk ’01Dr. Thomas H. Dembinski II ’74Dr. Jack M. Dempsey ’62Dr. Mark S. Denny ’85Dr. Paul S. Denson ’07Dr. David M. Dick ’78Dr. Todd E. Dickerson ’91Dr. Richard L. Dodson ’48Dr. John Dow III ’81Dr. Valerie A. Drake-Ernst ’99Dr. Philipp M. Dunn ’87Dr. Rufus H. Earl ’57Dr. Kristi Elia ’00Dr. Scott Ellis ’79Dr. Paul D. English ’78Dr. Douglas W. Escue ’74Dr. Dale L. Farmer ’83Dr. Eugene P. Flanagan, Jr. ’81Dr. George F. Forney, Jr. ’59

Dr. Debra C. Frankfurt ’80Dr. Elbert A. Franklin ’79Dr. Howard Frysh ’90Dr. William D. Gaither ’61Dr. William E. Gandy ’72Dr. William J. Garard, Jr. ’77Dr. William C. Gaylord ’64Dr. Mark S. Geller ’73Dr. Lynne S. Gerlach ’87Dr. William H. Gerlach ’87Dr. Mark S. Geyer ’80Dr. Mary B. Ginderske-Criswell ’67Dr. Andrea P. Gonzales ’93Dr. John J. Graves ’74Dr. Lou Ann G. Gray ’80Dr. Dale W. Greer ’77Dr. Gary A. Greer ’80Dr. Randall L. Griffith ’77Dr. James T. Grogan, Jr. ’65Dr. Kim Gronberg ’02Dr. Kenneth L. Hammond II ’74Ms. Donna F. Hanner ’59Dr. Milvern R. Harrell ’69Dr. Paul M. Harrington ’69Dr. Donald W. Haskins ’62Ms. Julia D. Hawk ’67Dr. Robert F. Hawke ’73Dr. Brent Hawkins ’04Dr. Robert E. Henderson ’75Dr. William D. Henderson ’66Dr. Charles R. Henry, Jr. ’72Dr. Ronald C. Hermes ’79Dr. William R. Hernandez ’60Dr. James B. Herrington ’86Dr. Jay S. Herrington ’78Dr. Jim D. Highfill ’73Dr. Jed Hildebrand ’03Dr. Gene C. Huff ’60Dr. Bob C. Hunsucker ’89Dr. David K. Hunter ’89Dr. Howard D. Iba ’70Dr. Joseph E. Irving ’81Dr. Jeffrey W. James ’99Dr. Barry James ’72Dr. Stephanie Jennings ’00Dr. Thomas S. Jeter ’71Dr. John A. Johnson ’76Dr. Warren K. Johnson ’03Dr. Jerry L. Jones ’71Dr. Stephen B. Jones ’83Dr. Tony D. Jones ’80Dr. John M. Kidwell ’76Dr. Thomas B. King ’51Dr. Chris L. Kirby ’89Dr. Karen A. Knight ’88Dr. Mark H. Kogut ’77Mrs. Sarah Kong ’05Dr. Kirk E. Kooker ’86Dr. Seth Ramsey Koschak ’79

Dr. Laura M. Spencer LaCroix ’99Dr. Miranda C. Lacy ’98Dr. Thomas B. Larkin ’63Dr. Wesley A. Lasater ’70Dr. Paul N. Latta ’91Dr. Tanya Pierce Lawhon ’04Dr. John D. LeBlanc ’74Dr. Robert E. Lee III ’69Dr. Guy M. Lewis ’84Dr. Jack W. Lewis ’90Dr. Scott A. Logan ’84Dr. William B. Long ’45Dr. Dan H. Loving ’58Dr. Larry D. Luethke ’77Dr. Dana Ly ’02Dr. Brock Lynn ’80Dr. Donald M. Mabry ’75Dr. Betsy Spitzer Maxwell ’03Dr. John P. McCasland ’57Dr. Suzanne McCrory ’89Dr. Robert L. McGee ’61Dr. Byron M. McKnight ’81Dr. Danette C. McNew- Hovenden ’88Dr. Michael R. McWatters ’73Dr. Patrick Migliore ’77Dr. David Mikulencak ’02Dr. Barbara A. Miller ’83Dr. Charles W. Miller ’80Dr. Frank R. Miller ’61Dr. James C. Miller ’84Dr. Loren M. Miller ’84Dr. Terry Miller, Jr. ’85Dr. Jack O. Mills ’61Dr. P. Montoya ’90Dr. Edward M. Moore ’77Dr. Davis W. Morgan ’89Dr. Scott A. Morse ’88Dr. Willis H. Murphey, Jr. ’66Dr. Scott Anthony Myser ’08Dr. BC Nelson ’90Dr. Scottie Nguyen ’03Dr. James S. Nicholson, Jr. ’74Dr. Jimmy W. Novak ’75Dr. Bert H. Orck ’79Dr. Carol E. Owens ’71Dr. Gayle A. Owens ’71Dr. Shannon Owens ’02Dr. Stephen E. Owens, Jr. ’70Dr. Rupi Patel ’91Dr. Daniel C. Peavy, Jr. ’62Dr. Gary W. Penn ’78Dr. Richard M. Peppard ’83Dr. Chris Perkins ’90Dr. Richard E. Phelan ’78Dr. Todd Phelan ’04Ms. Frieda A. Pickett ’66Dr. Jacqueline M. Plemons ’86Dr. Jay R. Pontious ’77

Ms. Dianna C. Prachyl ’94Dr. Larry J. Pritchard ’75Dr. Martha E. Proctor ’86Dr. Robert J. Prough ’77Dr. William L. Purifoy ’84Dr. Judith A. Ragsdale ’86Dr. Hedley Rakusin ’73Dr. Harlan L. Raley ’51Dr. Lee C. Ramage ’79Dr. Thomas B. Randers, Jr. ’05Mrs. Tonya S. Ray ’78Dr. Terry D. Rees ’68Dr. John C. Reimers ’75Dr. James H. Reisman ’76Dr. Everett Renger, Jr. ’70Dr. Steven Z. Richardson ’93Dr. Melissa Rivera ’03Dr. Matthew B. Roberts ’07Dr. J. Dean Robertson ’41Dr. Stephen D. Robirds ’80Dr. Dale C. Rogers ’87Dr. Thomas Ray Rogers ’79Dr. Jessica Rohlffs ’02Dr. John L. Rumley ’65Dr. Carlton L. Sage, Jr. ’67Dr. Brian Salome ’03Dr. Edward H. Sauer ’77Dr. Gregory B. Scheideman ’79Mrs. Judith A. Scott ’66Dr. Andrea M. Scoville ’83Dr. Sue Seale ’70Dr. Kurt A. Seidler ’80Dr. Jill Sentlingar ’04Dr. Ty Shafer ’03Dr. Stephen P. Shepard ’77Dr. Ronald T. Sherwood ’79Dr. Walton V. Shofner ’52Dr. Joe J. Simmons, III ’98Dr. Charles T. Simms, Jr. ’74Dr. Kelli P. Slate ’94Dr. Grace E. Smart ’86Dr. Bruce S. Smith ’86Dr. Diana B. Smith ’78Dr. John W. Smith ’81Dr. Joseph K. Smith ’64Dr. Joseph A. Snyder ’80Dr. Robert Sorokolit ’02Dr. Marlene L. Spady ’88Dr. Jonathan L. Staker ’96Dr. William A. Stanley III ’75Dr. Claude R. Stephens, Jr. ’81Dr. Harold R. Stewart ’89Dr. Larry R. Stewart ’78Dr. Barry Stovall ’75Dr. David A. Struble ’83Ms. Kerry B. Sugg ’76Mrs. Nancy E. Sykes ’87Dr. Mohsen Taleghani Dr. Robert E. Tanner ’88

Dr. Albert M. Tate, Jr. ’67Dr. Matthew Bradford Thompson ’07Dr. William K. Thornton ’69Dr. David I. Tindle ’88Dr. Nathaniel G. Tippit, Jr. ’75Dr. David H. Utzinger ’63Dr. Patricia L. Valdivia ’87Dr. Peter A. Vanicek ’84Dr. Paul D. Wallace ’83Dr. Mark N. Waters ’81Dr. Ronald D. Weaks ’71Dr. Russell J. Weed ’69Dr. Robert Wells ’77Dr. Jon P. Wheeler ’99Dr. Larry W. White ’59Dr. Tom Wickersham ’92Dr. Patrick B. Wilcox ’86Dr. Duane Wilson ’91Dr. Graham Wilson ’66Dr. John B. Wise ’87Dr. John F. Zummo, Jr. ’80

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This “Impressions” page, a new highlight of the Baylor Dental Journal, is designed to capture a moment in time in the rich history of our Dallas dental school. The people of Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry have called the school by various names: State Dental College from 1905 to 1918, Baylor University College of Dentistry from 1918 to 1971 and Baylor College of Dentistry from 1971 to 1996, when the name became longer to reflect the affiliation with the Texas A&M University System. Through the ebb and flow of history, the dental school has been nurtured by people who reaped its benefits and perpetuated its legacy. Enjoy this glimpse into the mirror of time.

I M P R E S S I O N S

The Plugger 1917Freshman Class History

O ctober 2nd, 1916! An important date in the lives of 80 men who

gathered in Hall A for their introduction to the faculty.

The largest Freshman Class in the history of S.D.C.! No

wonder we were given such a hearty reception, and made to feel that we

were an important part of State Dental, and not altogether mere fish.

The year has been a profitable one, for with the increased

facilities for teaching we were prepared to do more, and better work

than any previous class. Of course, there were a few who soon became

discouraged and dropped out, for it didn’t take us very long to see

that we would have to do some hard studying and conscientious work

to succeed. However, with Dr. Gibbs we have done a good year’s work

in Chemistry. Likewise, Dr. Milliken has worked hard and faithfully to

teach us Anatomy, and we have gotten so we can give some fairly good

descriptions in Osteology. Histology doesn’t hold so many terrors, as

it did when we heard our first lecture on Karyokinesis—Thanks to Dr.

Perrella for being a good fellow.

When we think of our first week in laboratory, I’m sure it brings

forth a smile—impression—impressions in compound, and impressions

in plaster; but that is over and now we can make a partial plate, a full

upper and lower, a shell crown, a Richmond crown, carve a bone tooth,

prepare a cavity, and slip downstairs before second roll call.

True, we haven’t done our very level best in everything all the

time—no dental student ever does that—but as we look backward over

the past eight months we feel that we haven’t spent all the time in vain.

And there have been some never-to-be-forgotten times socially,

which have brightened and cheered us when there seemed to be no

“silver lining,” for who could worry when there are so many pretty

maidens in Dallas who are ever ready to sympathize and encourage?

The freshmen weren’t long finding “the prettiest, sweetest and dearest

girl in the whole world,” so life hasn’t been so bad after all, has it boys?

With finals only a few weeks off, we have dusted our text books,

and have gotten our notes together, and are praying that we will soon

be Fish-no-more.

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BDJ-HR October 2009