Dental Education News: November 2021
Highlights
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine: Zambon to Retire as Dean of UB Dental School After 39 Years of Service to UB

Joseph J. Zambon, DDS, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Periodontics and Endodontics and dean of the School of Dental Medicine, announced that he will retire from UB, effective Jan. 5. A UB faculty member since 1982 and an internationally recognized authority on periodontal pathogens, Zambon was appointed dean of the School of Dental Medicine in 2016, after serving as interim dean for one year. Read more.
NYU College of Dentistry’s Dr. Richard Valachovic’s WSJ Letter to the Editor Responds to ADA’s Opposition to Medicare Coverage for Dental Care

Dr. Richard Valachovic submitted a Letter to the Editor at Wall Street Journal in response to ADA’s opposition to medicare coverage for dental care. In his letter, Dr. Valachovic states that opposition by the American Dental Association (ADA) to proposed legislation to provide dental benefits through Medicare Part B runs counter to the popularity of the legislation among many dentists and the general public. Read more.
Oral Health Care Access
NYU College of Dentistry and the VA Launch Dental Program for Veterans

On Monday, November 8, NYU College of Dentistry, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, celebrated the official launch of a new program to increase Veterans’ access to dental care. The program, called VOCARE (Veterans Oral Care Access Resource), is part of the VA’s VETSmile pilot program. Read more.
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine Unveils New Mobile Clinic for Community Dental Care

Columbia’s mobile dentistry program is back and ready to deliver health screenings and low-cost dental care to residents of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx. On Nov. 12, officials and community leaders joined leaders from Columbia University at its Manhattanville campus in West Harlem to celebrate the debut of the new Mobile Dental Center operated by Columbia’s College of Dental Medicine (CDM). Read more.
Research
NYU College of Dentistry: New Life for a Cancer Drug That Reprograms Pain Pathways to Treat Chronic Pain, in Study by NYU Dentistry’s Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke

Chronic pain associated with nerve injury and chronic bone pain from metastatic cancer are unmet medical needs. A new study led by Wolfgang Liedtke, MD, PhD, an adjunct professor of molecular pathobiology at NYU Dentistry, identified the compound kenpaullone as a promising treatment that could be repurposed to alleviate pain. Kenpaullone functioned as an analgesic in preclinical models of pain in a new study published in Nature Communications. Read more.
University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine: Heartburn Drugs May Have Unexpected Benefits on Gum Disease

The use of heartburn medication is associated with decreased severity of gum disease, according to a recent University at Buffalo study. The research found that patients who used proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) – a class of drugs commonly prescribed to treat heartburn, acid reflux and ulcers – were more likely to have smaller probing depths in the gums (the gap between teeth and gums). Read more.
Awards & Grants
Columbia University College of Dental Medicine Scientists Awarded $3.97M to Study Link Between Alzheimer’s and Periodontitis

A new research grant from the National Institute of Aging/National Institutes of Health, titled “A Longitudinal Study of Periodontal Infections and Alzheimer’s Disease: The WHICAP Ancillary Study of Oral Health,” was awarded to researchers from Columbia University. The five-year, $3.97 million grant is jointly led by James M. Noble, MD, MS, an associate professor and neurologist at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Panos N. Papapanou, DDS, PhD, professor of dental medicine, chair of the Section of Oral, Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Sciences, and director of the Division of Periodontics at the College of Dental Medicine. Read more.