17 minute read
Research
An inside look into the future of dentistry By Jonathan Toma, Dental Class of 2022
In June 2019, several faculty, residents and student researchers attended the 97th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This year, the session was combined with the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) Annual Meeting, making it one of the largest dental conferences in the world.
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At the meeting, hundreds of lectures, presentations and demonstrations were provided by pioneers in the fields of dental materials, 3-D imaging, 3-D printing and more. Many of these presentations were to small groups, allowing attendees the opportunity to speak to the presenter to gain more insight about advancement in the field.
As a student researcher, I was excited to represent University of Detroit Mercy in the AADR/Dentsply Sirona Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and its Application (SCADA). This distinguished opportunity provided a unique perspective into dental research. During the two-day competition, I met dental students, faculty and dentists from around the world. I gained new insight into the breadth of dental student research and advancements in all facets of dentistry and oral health. This opportunity instilled in me a further understanding of the need for continued research and innovation in dentistry. The
Jonathan Toma, DS2 and assistant professor, Joshua Thomson, PhD.
future of dentistry is promising, and I saw this as I got an inside look at the research being done by colleagues.
One of the best parts of the conference was learning more about the research of other students, residents and faculty at Detroit Mercy Dental. The research community at Detroit Mercy is full of amazing student researchers and wonderful mentors and our school had a large representation at the conference.
My classmate, Nazanin Tanha, DS3, summed it up when she said, “We get the chance to elevate our knowledge, hang out with fellow researchers and enjoy exchanging ideas and experiences in a friendly environment where everyone’s innovative ideas are respected and welcomed. At Detroit Mercy Dental, we have several research events each year organized by research faculty and students, but this conference was on a different level. This was an unforgettable experience!”
Getting involved with research is something I would recommend to all students, even if you do not plan to pursue a career in academia. Attending the 2019 IADR was incredible, but only a small part of the gratification that being involved in research provides.
Gabriel B. Holdwick, D.D.S. ’14 has volunteered as a speaker for the American Dental Association’s Success Program for the past several years. Through this initiative, the ADA sends guest speakers to dental schools around the country. He most recently spoke at Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tenn. At the 2019 International College of Dentists Annual Convocation in September, Holdwick became a member of the International College of Dentists, a group representing 12,000 dentists from 122 countries around the world. ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) Fellowship Award was presented to the following alumni at the Convocation Ceremony held during the 2019 AGD Scientific Session in July. Fellowship is obtained by completing extensive continuing education programs and passing the Fellowship Exam. • Andrew Ambroski, D.D.S ’08 • Leena Bahu, D.D.S. ’00 • Heather Stratton, D.D.S. ’02 • Connie Tse-Wallestein, D.D.S. ’06 • Michael J. Vilag, D.D.S. ’13
The place to be DETROIT in Dentistry
By Kari Radjewski
DETROIT IS CONTINUING TO PROVE ITSELF AS A GREAT PLACE. AS TOLD BY THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS AND ALUMNI, FOR ORAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, IT IS THE PLACE TO BE.
In relatively a short amount of time, Detroit’s image has gone from abandoned and undesirable to a hot spot for lifestyle, culture and entertainment. As the only university in the city with Detroit in its name, experiencing this new era after a long period of negative attention leaves us feeling extremely proud and optimistic about the future.
We watched the construction of Little Caesars Arena nearby and the demolition of Joe Louis Arena; out our windows, we see Michigan Central train station undergoing renovation; and with each new retail and restaurant development, we continue to cheer the city to success. The downtown corridor is alive and constantly evolving.
Students and alumni both take part in Detroit’s success – by living, studying, working and playing here.
Despite incredible growth downtown, Detroit continues to be a health professionals shortage area for dentistry. In fact, when compared to the rest of the United States, Detroit has about three times less dentists per population. The situation is despairing but presents tremendous opportunity for students to learn and alumni to build a career. The need for dental providers in Detroit is abundant.
STATISTICS
According to the US Census Bureau, July 2018 DETROIT POPULATION 672,662 residents
FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT GENERAL PRACTICE DENTISTS 121 Approximate data provided by the State of Michigan
RATIO OF DENTISTS TO POPULATION:
DETROIT 18 to 100,000
NATIONAL 61 to 100,000
According to the American Dental Association
TAYLOR JOHNSON Dental Class of 2023
Taylor Johnson recently moved to the Riverfront neighborhood of Detroit from St. Petersburg, Fla. to begin her dental education at Detroit Mercy.
In 2018, she participated in the Summer Enrichment Program, a pipeline opportunity Detroit Mercy Dental provides for prospective underrepresented minority students. She had never been to Detroit prior to the program, and what she heard about the city wasn’t great.
The academic experience left a lasting impression and during the five-week program, she took time to explore the city. It didn’t take much for her to fall in love with the friendliness of the Midwest and energy Detroit exudes.
Johnson’s family, though, was skeptical. Sure, they supported her pursuit of dentistry and it would be a great adventure to move. But to Detroit?
After a visit, they realized just why Johnson loved it so much.
“Over the summer, I hosted 12 family members,” Johnson said. “We rented bikes and scooters to tour downtown. We stumbled upon so many cool spots — they were impressed with how diverse Detroit is in both language and culture!”
From vibrant music and arts to food and design scenes, small communities of like-minded people are bringing out the best of diversity for Detroit. For Johnson, the School of Dentistry is one of those communities.
“At school, the faculty, staff and students are reflective of that diversity and because of it, I feel like I belong,” she said.
At the Oral Cancer Walk in September, where students and others raised awareness about oral cancer prevention and raised money for the school’s biopsy fund, Johnson met several community members who participated in the outreach event. “I helped recruit participants for the health fair preceding the walk and handed out oral health kits,” she said. “I noticed most individuals who attended had major oral health needs and were referred to the school for follow-up care. A handful of homeless individuals joined us, too. I saw up close the people I may treat one day – and realized how important it is I am here.”
This experience helped Johnson better understand the local population and she left with a desire to serve more individuals in need and plans to participate in more outreach events with her classmates.
“I’m endlessly inspired by the possibility of Detroit,” she said. “I’ve been here a short amount of time, but I am very excited about the future.”
Whether or not Johnson envisions herself practicing in Detroit after graduation is still up in the air, though.
LIZETTE RAMIREZ Dental Class of 2022
For the better part of Lizette Ramirez’s life, she has been a Detroiter.
She had a seemingly normal childhood growing up in Mexicantown where she walked to the corner store for a candy bar and played with stray cats in a nearby park.
“At the time, I was oblivious to the crime happening around me,” Ramirez said. “Looking back, I can see it. I remember one summer arson was a big deal. Detroit has had its moments where it lived up to its reputation, but I found peace and quiet where I could.”
Making trips downtown were infrequent and were never to simply enjoy the city. Her family’s visits always had a purpose. “My mom used to be a folklore dancer, so we would go to Hart Plaza to watch her or see different cultural events,” she said. “If we ever went downtown, it was to go to where we were going, but never to leisurely enjoy it.”
A few years later, when Ramirez returned from Ann Arbor where she completed her undergraduate studies at University of Michigan, Detroit was a much different place. A city she once knew to be rough around the edges had really smoothed out.
“Downtown Detroit has grown so much since I was young. From Campus Martius to the Riverwalk to Midtown – there is a real social scene. It’s hard to keep up with everything new. There are many reasons to spend time there,” she said. “Classmates study at the DIA or at various coffee shops in Corktown. Even Mexicantown has become somewhat of a tourist attraction.”
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As someone who grew up in Detroit, Ramirez feels very blessed to learn here.
“Through academic and social activities, I am seeing many different sides to Detroit. Whether it be finding a place to study or hanging out with classmates after school, I have enjoyed rediscovering the city with a different perspective and sharing new experiences and memories with my classmates,” she said.
Unfortunately, much of the city’s growth has been at the expense of the poor. Gentrification is taking over neighborhoods or the city isn’t investing in impoverished areas. She has noticed this in the neighborhood where she grew up, which has her thinking about her future career. Although she has a few years to go, her goal is to work in community health, or at least volunteer in a free clinic, to help a predominantly Hispanic population.
SAMER JASSAR Dental Class of 2020
“There is a lot of academic and professional opportunity in Detroit,” said Samer Jassar who originates from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Jassar has spent his education capitalizing on all the opportunity that comes his way.
During the third year of dental school, Jassar began providing care to patients as a student dentist. He realized that the relationship between the school and its patients is symbiotic: The services students provide are an essential resource to patients and patients are essential to the education of the students.
“Many of our patients at the school don’t have any other options. Their cases are complex, so the learning opportunity is rich” he said. “They have so many different needs, wants, conditions and are from all walks of life. Not only am I able to develop my skills clinically, but my interpersonal communication skills are constantly challenged. Every patient can teach you something new.”
One opportunity Jassar takes advantage of to enhance his academic experience is participating in the free student-run clinic in Detroit. On Saturdays, under supervision of faculty, he and classmates provide care in a fast-paced environment to patients with vast needs at Malta Medical and Dental Clinic at St. Leo's Catholic Church. “At Malta, we are able to do more treatment in one visit that we would at the school. It’s a great learning experience and has been a major boost to my confidence,” he said.
In addition, Jassar said he values the interprofessional learning opportunities incorporated into his education. Detroit is an ecosystem for learning and collaboration. The school’s urban location lends itself to partnering with neighboring universities and hospitals.
“We’ve had different opportunities to learn alongside students in nursing, social work, physician assistant and medicine programs at Wayne State University and Oakland University,” he said. “Learning from them challenges me to think critically about each patient and how to provide the best care.”
As part of his curriculum requirements, Jassar recently traveled to Grand Rapids to participate in an external rotation at a partnering off-site clinic.
“Being there and providing care in a real-life professional environment, I noticed how prepared I feel. I am confident reviewing the charts, looking at an x-ray, discussing treatment with faculty and the patient. I really know what I’m doing,” he said. “I came to Detroit Mercy because I wanted to be practice ready. I’m almost there.”
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BASAM SHAMO, D.D.S. '13
As Detroit began reinventing itself, Basam Shamo, D.D.S. ’13 of Ferndale took notice. On weekends he would spend time visiting the city to try new restaurants and attend events. He wanted to be part of the movement, so in 2017 he accepted a position as an associate dentist in the Midtown neighborhood.
“I was surprised to discover that I would see a very minimal amount of lowincome or Medicaid patients. I expected that we would have a much larger number because there simply aren’t many dentists in Detroit,” he said.
Rather, the patient demographic at the practice consists of many young professionals, health care workers and city employees. As Detroit evolves into a real metropolitan city, patients want their providers located close to where they work and live. They even navigate the city like city folks typically do.
“A lot of patients don’t have a car, by choice. They get to appointments via the QLine or bike and scooter rentals or use Uber and Lyft,” he explained. “When we need to refer out, transportation presents a challenge because specialists in the city are pretty nonexistent. City patients do not want to go to the suburbs for appointments. We end up referring to the School of Dentistry for a lot of specialty cases.”
Shamo hopes to get more dental professionals interested in opportunities in Detroit via organized dentistry. He currently serves as Secretary for the Detroit District Dental Society (DDDS), one of the country’s oldest dental organizations.
“We try to get oral health professionals involved in Detroit by engaging them in networking or volunteering at community events,” he said. “This may eventually lead them to practicing in the city.” There is opportunity to make a difference and be a difference within the profession. DDDS members recently helped at the Detroit Lion’s TeamSmile event, they provide and pass out oral health kits with Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit during the Christmas season, and are increasing the number of volunteers who provide care at Malta Medical and Dental Clinic at St. Leo's Catholic Church so more patients can be seen.
“These events expose providers to the need in Detroit,” Shamo said. “Whether it be on a volunteer basis or building a career, we hope it will chip away at the profound gap there is when it comes to access to oral health care in the city.”
BETH NOWAK, R.D.H. '01, B.S. '01
In 2009, four years into her career, a new opportunity brought Beth Nowak, R.D.H. ’01, B.S. ’01 to downtown Detroit. It was a change of pace and patient base compared to previously held positions in Dexter, Canton and Howell, Mich.
“I expected it would be mostly adults and very few kids,” she said. “I was right.”
A downtown practice brings mostly professionals into the office. Patients fill the schedule by taking breaks from work, coming during lunch or instead of going to happy hour.
“We are busy all the time. And compared to the other practices I worked at, I provide much more periodontal treatment and see more complex treatment plans.”
At the start of Nowak’s experience working in the city, Detroit was facing its toughest times, having recently filed for bankruptcy and crime rates were on the rise. But throughout the past decade, she has watched the office and the downtown area transform and it has been exciting to watch.
“Our patients have always ranged in age, culture, religion, lifestyle, but even more so in recent years,” Nowak said.
As the patient base diversifies, it brings new and unexpected challenges into practice. “Some patients are here on a shortstay and have never been to a dentist before because it is not part of their culture back home,” she said. “When there is a language barrier, we introduce visual aids. Some cultures remove their shoes before sitting in the chair. It’s these types of experiences that make working in Detroit unique.”
The pace of change has really sped up since 2017. Most significantly is the number of young professionals joining the practice.
“It’s special to hear that someone would want to move from out-of-state or overseas, even major cities like Chicago or Washington, D.C., to live in Detroit. And they are all so enthusiastic about it,” Nowak said. “Detroit is really marking the map.”
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Surprisingly, despite all the growth happening, Nowak is only aware of two other dentists in the city and specialists are even more difficult to come by. Detroit is on the rise, and oral health professionals aren’t quite keeping up.
“There is a major need and opportunity for oral health professionals to establish themselves here,” she said. “I hope to see that happen soon.”
DETROIT 1 DENTIST PER 5,559 POPULATION
JOSEPH ABBATE, D.D.S. '80
“They call me the Downtown Dentist,” Joseph Abbate, D.D.S. ’80, who has lived in Detroit all his life, said.
Straight out of dental school, Abbate started a practice in the Renaissance Center and has enjoyed every moment. When he opened, there were a lot of people downtown. It wasn’t until the late 1990’s that it started declining.
“It was sad to watch the city deteriorate. But it didn’t affect my practice much,” he said. Being one of few dentists in the city both then and now, he said maintaining a full schedule has been easy.
“If there is a patient who gets pulled into a meeting and has to late cancel, there’s one waiting upstairs who has time to take the elevator down and get their appointment out of the way,” he said. Abbate’s location is convenient for his patients and he’s purposefully tried to keep it convenient for them to receive dental treatment by rising to the challenge of complex treatment plans.
“I probably take on more difficult treatment than other general dentists because my patients don’t want to deal with being referred out to the suburbs,” Abbate said. “Over the years I’ve taken a significant number of advanced courses for both endodontics and oral surgery. This way I can treat a lot of cases in-office.”
This is becoming even more necessary as his patients become increasingly residential.
“These days, I see a lot more moms with strollers than I used to,” he said. “Families are joining our practice – within the past five years, the number of families we see has probably doubled.”
To keep up with the increased patient base, the practice moved to a larger suite within the Renaissance Center. “It’s not just more families. It’s former patients who lost their job coming back now that they have dental insurance,”
NATIONAL 1 DENTIST PER 1,639 POPULATION
I’ve seen in the practice because Detroit is doing so well.”
After nearly 40 years of practicing in the city, it feels good to go out on a high note. Soon Abbate will retire, and as he plans on spending his golden years at his home on the Atlantic Ocean in Florida, he encourages younger providers to follow in his footsteps.
“My career has been rich and fulfilling both personally and professionally,” Abbate said. “Detroit is an absolutely wonderful place to work with incredible opportunity.”
