Page 36 - Dentistry Magazine 2022

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DENTISTRY 2022
OTHER NOTABLE RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Discovery that impacts lives. The 18th annual Research Day brought together experts across disciplines to discuss cutting-edge discoveries in oral biology, cancer treatment and prevention and more on March 4, 2022. Janice Lee, DDS, MD, FACS, clinical director and chief
of the Craniofacial Anomalies and Regeneration Section
of the NIDCR, headlined the event as a keynote speaker. School of Dentistry faculty also shared their research, including Mark Herzberg, DDS, PhD, on the use of Calprotectin to diminish the “global problem” of oral cancer, nine oral biology student researchers and seven DDS student summer researchers. The day concluded with a presentation from Paul Olin, DDS, MS, on aerosols in the dental cubicle. Though spanning across areas of expertise and methodology, each presentation underlined a passion for discovery, a drive for discipline and, above all, a commitment to research that impacts lives.
Experts contribute to national oral health report.
A revolutionary report on the state of oral health in America involves expertise from two School of Dentistry experts on oral health integration and the workforce. Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges, a report from the National Institutes of Health, was published
in December 2021 as a follow up to the seminal 2000 Surgeon General report. Karl Self, DDS, MBA, associate professor and director of the Division of Dental Therapy, and Christine Blue, DHSc, MS, RDH, associate professor and assistant dean for faculty development, served as contributing authors. “I hope it will inspire a vision of what can be accomplished,” said Blue. “To be able to contribute to how things have evolved in the past 20 years and share my experience in Minnesota was exciting,” he said. “The report is so broad, but what really excites me is the focus on access to care.”
Improving oral health in hospitals. Cyndee Stull, DHSc, MDH, RDH, director of the Division of Dental Hygiene, hopes to impact overall health with a project being funded by Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation, whose mission is to improve oral and overall health outcomes in Minnesota, while advancing health and social equities. Stull and her colleagues created a new hospital rounding experience in 2016, in which students partnered with third-year medical students to become part of the patient rounding team. Based on the success of that program, she and Keeley Flavin, BSDH ’16, MSDH ’21, implemented a 20-hour– per-week dental hygiene consult. The Delta Dental of
Minnesota Foundation grant will allow Stull to develop a full-time dental hygiene consult service, implement a quality improvement plan and evaluate the impact of a hygienist in the hospital setting pitalized patients, but often oral care during a hospital stay is not prioritized,” Stull explained. “We suspect that we will be able to reduce the time to diagnosis for some patients, reduce the length of stay for others and improve patient outcomes,” she said.
Improving lives through prosthodontic rehabilitation.
Heather Conrad, DMD, MS, FACP, FRCD(C), associate professor of prosthodontics and interim chair of the Department of Restorative Sciences, partnered with Clinical Associate Professor Jacqueline Medina, DDS,
and Director of the Oral Health Clinical Research Center Eric Schiffman, DDS, MS, for ‘The impact of maxillofacial prosthetic rehabilitation on Oral Health-Related Quality
of Life and Health-Related Quality of Life patients with
oral cancer.’ The study is moving forward thanks to a grant from the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation, allowing Conrad to provide prosthetic procedures and measure primary and secondary outcomes of quality of life improve- ment for 20 patients. “We are hopeful that we will find that prosthetic rehabilitation of a patient with an intraoral tumor resection will have an improved oral-health related quality of life and improved health-related quality of life.”
Supporting vaccination efforts by dentists. A study funded by Merck will allow Cyndee Stull, DHSc, MDH, RDH, and Priscilla Flynn, DrPH, MPH, to administer a survey to dental providers examining their hesitancy and willingness to provide HPV vaccinations. The researchers hope this study will identify reasons behind a troubling lack of HPV vaccinations as HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, the number one cancer associated with HPV, continues to rise. “Dental providers have the potential to influence patients’ vaccination decisions,” Stull explained. “However, dental providers are hesitant to discuss HPV and advocate for the vaccine. Understanding the source of this hesitancy can direct future efforts to build dental providers’ confidence and willingness to discuss HPV and recommend the vaccine.” She and Flynn are excited to use the funds from Merck to improve oral health outcomes.
“I think we’re at the beginning of a cultural shift,” said Flynn. “It’s always good news to have your research ideas validated by funding.”