News

Michelle Arnett, RDH, MS, BS, assistant professor of dental hygiene, received a Colgate CARES award to explore the efficacy of motivational interviewing (MI) at oral hygiene appointments. The Colgate Award for Research Excellence is a year-long research grant that provides $30,000 to a researcher in their first five years as an investigator. According to Colgate, “the goal of the program is to advance oral healthcare therapies in the realm of basic science, translational science and clinical care.” Arnett is the second dental hygienist in the Colgate CARE grant history to win this competitive grant. 

Dental school can be challenging. A new environment surrounded by new people, where new skills must be quickly learned and implemented, often leads to stress and discouragement. Armed with experience and aided by student affairs staff, School of Dentistry students are taking what they learned and passing it on to their classmates.

Jackie Callaway-Campbell, MDT ’21, took a big risk when she moved halfway across the country from Delaware to Minnesota to become a dental therapist. “I’m just a humble girl from the East coast, trying to make her way here in Minnesota,” she joked. “I’m surviving the winters, living for the summers, and looking for a cheese steak.” Almost a year out from graduation, Callaway-Campbell is glad she made the leap.
 

“Are we there yet?” It’s a question every parent has heard on a car ride. And now, it’s a question dental experts are asking when it comes to the inclusion of various forms of technology in dental education and practice. It’s also the question Cortino Sukotjo, DDS, PhD, MMSc, FACP, director of the predoctoral implant program at the University of Illinois-Chicago sought to answer in regards to virtual and augmented reality. He explored the question at a Digital Grand Rounds presentation on Wednesday, March 16th.

Sara Johnson, assistant dean for student and resident affairs for the School of Dentistry, received the Patriot Award on March 15, 2022. Awarded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), the Patriot Award recognizes “the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families, and granting leaves of absence if needed,” according to the ESGR.

Questions are what drive scientific discovery. Big questions—the ones that keep us up at night—foster a desire for learning that never stops. They dare us to dream, to think differently. And they are how we transform our patient care. The School of Dentistry holds as a guiding principle a commitment to lifelong discovery through research that innovates the practice and study of dentistry. A core part of that commitment is the Oral Health Clinical Research Center (OHCRC).