Last December, six coordinators from the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ASDOH) held their second oral health fair at the UMOM New Day Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Over 20 volunteers and faculty were a part of the project. They served over 100+ patients at the homeless shelter. Oral hygiene instruction, screenings and fluoride varnish were administered to the patients. Thanks to Crest/Oral-B, goodie bags filled with toothpaste and floss was given to the patients.

The theme of our project was the Crest Girls and Oral-B-Boys. The boys wore “Oral-B-Boy” signs as they played musical chairs and danced with the kids. The Crest Girls face painted, played games, and provided oral hygiene education. This was one of my favorite ASDA events and the kids made the event worth it. We were fortunate to have Jamba Juice donate 100 smoothies for everyone at the event. After the kids went to the oral hygiene booth, they were awarded with a ticket to grab a Jamba Juice. The kids also played games such as musical chairs, coloring station, nutrition station, pin the Crest tooth brush on the tooth cavity, and much more!

The enthusiasm from the volunteers, faculty, and children was incredible. We look forward to continuing the event next year!

Check out photos from the event here!

~Erin Aying,  Arizona ’14

Our next feature in the “website shout out” series is the wonderful website for Marquette ASDA, located in Milwaukee, WI.  I had the pleasure of speaking with Kyle Everson ’13, the MU  legislative liaison and webmaster as well as David Hamm ’14, webmaster, and the Class of 2014 website’s webmaster.  Here is a little insight as to how they have developed an impressive website from the ground up.

1) What was your inspiration for the site originally?

Kyle Everson, ’13: MU ASDA had been talking about creating a website for a while, but it seemed like they were just spinning their wheels. I had a little experience with websites, because I had created a website for my class. I then did a little research and played around with apple’s iWeb. iWeb was extremely easy to use and I was able to find answers to anything I wanted to do with Google searches. My goal with the ASDA site was mostly to create a place to host individual class websites, share information on ASDA events and have a place that we could allow for people to pay online for items.

2) I liked your web design and the links to the different classes websites.  How do you keep these updated?

Kyle Everson, ’13: The class of 2013 is the site that I run, and was the first “class website” at Marquette. I have arranged it so that individual classes run their websites, they are just hosted and linked on our main website. The class of 2014 website is entirely run by David Hamm ’14.

3)     How did you go about creating the new design of the website? 

David Hamm, ’14: My primary goal was to create a website in which each visitor could navigate with minimal effort. After referring to my collection of websites that I bookmark for inspiration, I came up with the conclusion that I’d want two navigation bars–one for the main website and a second for MUSoD-related links. To add a stylistic element that reflects what Marquette ASDA is, I made a translucent collage of past events in which Marquette ASDA participated. Overall, everything graphical was designed in Adobe Photoshop CS5 and compiled in Apple’s iWeb program.

4)     What is your favorite aspect of working on the website & being a part of ASDA?

Kyle Everson, ’13: My favorite aspect of the website was the ability to expand individual class websites and gaining knowledge of websites. I used the information I learned with the ASDA site to create my wedding website! My favorite part of ASDA is meeting dental students from around the country and having fun at ASDA social events.

David Hamm, ’14: Working on the ASDA website has been tons of fun. Graphic design has always been one of my favorite hobbies: I’ve created multiple logos, wallpapers, etc. whenever the inspiration comes to me. By being able to combine this hobby with my interest in technology, I was able to offer my talents to help out ASDA, and I haven’t looked back. With this new website design, I am always on the lookout to further improve the Marquette ASDA website, as well as enjoying learning new ideas to possibly incorporate.

5)     What advice would you give for other chapters looking to strengthen their communications?

David Hamm, ’14: Twitter is a powerful networking tool. With the increasing mobile market, people want their news quickly and briefly, and Twitter does just that. Each “tweet” is limited to 140 characters, so each user must be precise and to the point.  On my class’s website, I embedded a Twitter widget to let my classmates know when new study guides, notes, etc. have been uploaded to the site, as well as to notify them of any important news. Twitter offers this feature for free, and you can customize the widget’s size, color, among other things.

Kyle Everson, ’13: Well, we are still new at this, but I would say the most useful thing that we have done with the website is allowing individual class’s to host sites on marquetteasda.org. Google Calendar is also great to share events!

Thanks guys, and keep up the great work!

Interested in having the hard work of your website featured?  Submit your request right here.

~Brittany Sonnichsen, Connecticut ’12, chair, ASDA Council on Communications

On behalf of the American Student Dental Association, I would like to congratulate all of the dental students who matched this morning in Phase II of the dental Match.

The programs that participate in Phase II of the Match are General Practice Residences (GPRs), Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGDs), Oral-Maxillofacial Surgery, and Pediatric Dentistry.

I was fortunate to have matched during Phase I of the dental Match just 2 months ago so the memories of that day are fresh in my mind. I can vividly remember how incredible it was to open up that e-mail to find out I had matched. It was one of the best days of my life and I hope this day will be the same for you.

Match day is a special day, culminating years and years of hard work. I want to encourage all of you who matched to take the time and celebrate such a wonderful accomplishment. Share this day with your family, friends, classmates, professors, clinical instructors and anyone else who helped you get to this point.

I, for one, will be enjoying this day with all of my friends and classmates at our UCLA Match Day Party. On the Facebook invitation for this event, my classmate Jaclyn Pak said it best:
“MATCH DAY is finally here. We have spent the last (almost) 4 years together: learning, studying, napping in class, eating, pulling all-nighters, partying, laughing, suffering, and hopefully-maturing. We will soon be graduating and parting ways; but FIRST, let’s celebrate…”

Let the celebration begin. Congratulations to you all!

If you matched, let us know! Leave a comment telling us what program you matched to!

~Matthew Ronconi, Los Angeles ’12, contributing Editor

Mike Staver, Annual Session 2012 Keynote Speaker

Mike Staver, CEO, The Staver Group, is the keynote speaker at ASDA’s Annual Session, Feb. 29-March 3. His presentation “Leadership Isn’t For Cowards” will teach dental students about the power of commitment; motivating others; and three things every leader should avoid. Here’s a sneak peek at what he has to say…

Great leadership doesn’t require lofty positions. Instead, it’s about the degree to which you are willing to influence those around you. And the key to great influence has to do with identifying and leading in alignment with your values. As dental students you are clear about the legal and ethical requirements as a health care provider but this is a completely different way of viewing your leadership. You can be the most ethical, legal dentist in the country but if you have not clearly considered what your core values are and how those impact the treatment of staff, the way you set up your office and your overall way of doing business then you will be a very ethical, legal dentist with a failing practice.

As you read this you probably know fellow students, professors and others that are smart, articulate and on the fast track but can’t get along with people or that don’t know how to communicate. I am reminded of a dentist in North Carolina that was a good practitioner but couldn’t keep staff and had a hard time building his practice. The primary reason for his challenges had nothing to do with his skill, knowledge or ability to follow the ethical and legal requirements of the profession. His challenge was that his style was so abrasive and so challenging that it just wasn’t worth it to his staff and to most patients after the first visit.  Finishing dental school will be a huge accomplishment and one that has the potential to provide for you and your family for years to come. The key to differentiating yourself in the market where you settle will not only be THAT you practice great dentistry but how you do it.

The good news is it isn’t complicated. You are already demonstrating what your values are in the way you treat people, the way you communicate with others, how generous you are, how you humble you are or aren’t, the way you study, treat fellow students and have a heart for service. While those are just a few examples, you get the idea. As student leaders now and community, practice and leaders in your field later you will find that your greatest influence a leader will not come from your skillsets when someone is in the operatory but more from your skillsets before you begin the work. Your leadership will be manifested in how you treat staff, what your patients hear you say and how you bring to your practice an energy that could only come from you.

The bottom line is pretty straightforward: every time a patient leaves your office or an employee drives home one thing is certain, they will talk about you. The question for you to consider is, what do you want them to say? What are the words you want people to use to describe you, in the office, in the community, at the board, etc. Leadership is about influencing the stories people tell about you. The way you do that is to make certain that you are clear about what’s important. Obviously you want them to say you are professional, ethical, and do great work. What other words do you want people to use? What is the story you want told? Now is the  time. You are working hard to become a member of a highly esteemed profession. Make yourself focus on the things that you value. Align your behaviors with those things and your will reap the benefits.

Here are the steps:

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the story you want people to tell about you?

2. What are the values you most respect in those you admire?

3. What can you do right now to start aligning the way you lead with the story you want to be told about your leadership?

Mark Salling from Glee at the dentist.

2012 is shaping up to be a pretty exciting year. We have a lot to look forward to: the Olympics, Presidential elections, leap year, and possibly…a dental reality TV show!

Rumors swirling on the internet suggest a TV show is currently in production highlighting the New Jersey office of Dr. Anthony Vocaturo and Dr. Don Lapine. The celebrity dentists’ show aims to be like a “Cake Boss with teeth.” “Smile and Style,” another proposed show, will feature the Manhattan office of Dr. Michael Gulizio and Dr. Steven Cordoves. There’s no confirmation when either of these shows will air, but as a lover of reality TV, I’m on the edge of my seat!

A dental reality show has the potential to reach a large population that might not have oral health at the top of their priority list. Patients with dental phobias will realize that us dentists aren’t so terrifying after all, and they will see that dental visits can be virtually painless with technology today. A reality TV show could be a fantastic educational opportunity, and hopefully it will urge patients neglecting their mouths to visit the dentist again.

What would you like to see in a dental reality TV show?
~Megan Guthman, Alabama ’14

photo via Ms. Concierge's Blog

Recently, Paula Deen came clean — and we aren’t talking about licking the bowl.
Deen publicly announced her diagnosis of  Type 2 diabetes, a fact she’s known since 2008. The southern chef is famous for her decadent dishes laced with copious amounts of butter, sugar and cream cheese. Her diabetes declaration happened to coincide with her endorsement of the global diabetes company, Novo Nordisk.

While Deen is unique in her ability to make diabetes lucrative, she is not alone in her diagnosis.

According to the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 25.8 million children and adults in the United States—8.3% of the population—have diabetes.  79 million more people are classified as “pre-diabetic.”

As future dentists, we have a responsibility to recognize the oral manifestations of diabetes and refer appropriately.

Oral manifestations include, but are not limited to:

• tooth decay
• periodontal (gum) disease
• salivary gland dysfunction
• fungal infections
• lichen planus and lichenoid reactions
• infection and delayed healing
• taste impairment

source

For all we know, it could have been  Paula’s dentist who sent her for a screening.  Judging from the brilliant shade of white  (bleach 1 anybody?) her teeth are, it’s evident she visits the dentist…

source

Have you ever referred a patient for a medical consult because of suspected diabetes?   Let us know what you think!

~Kallie Law, Alabama ’12, contributing editor

A N.Y. Times article published in November 2011 discusses “microcavities” (a.k.a. incipient lesions) and the recommended treatment options.

While some dentists recommend “watchful waiting” for incipient lesions, especially in patients with limited previous decay history – other dentists recommend immediate action.

This article reminds me of another article we discussed in my evidence-based dentistry course. That article was in Reader’s Digest (I don’t recall the date) and it was about a man that traveled across the country visiting various dentists along the way for comprehensive exams and treatment plans. What he found was a huge discrepancy in the findings and recommended treatments, ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

Overall I think these article remind us of the need to adhere to evidence-based dentistry and stay up-to-date on the most current research and findings. Additionally to practice ethically and in accordance to recommended standards.

Visit the ADA’s EBD website for more information and links to research databases.
~Katie Divine, Minnesota ’13, contributing editor

Continuing with our series of chapter website shout 0uts, it was rumored that the folks in the ASDA chapter at the University of Florida had just created a new website and blog in August. Curious, I visited ufasda.com and was impressed with their initial effort!  Getting a chapter website off the ground and running is no small feat, so to find out how they did it I interviewed UF ASDA webmaster Eddy Sedeño, ’14, for the skinny.

Where did you learn web design?

I’m mostly self-taught.  I took one basic webdesign class my Freshman year of college, but a lot has changed with web development since then.  Like Mouthing Off, our site is built on the WordPress platform, which has a great user interface and a lot of support.  There are plenty of WordPress tutorials and forums to answer questions I had when I ran into roadblocks.

What was the biggest challenge you faced building your chapters site?

Honestly, content.  It’s not that there’s not enough information to put on our chapter’s site, but we have a lot of content in many different places – our chapter’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, newsletters and on the blog.  It’s a lot for one person to create the content and to manage all the outlets for it.  Once we got the website up it became the single place where our members need to go for all the latest chapter news, state dental society news, and national ASDA news.  Consistently creating content can be a bit overwhelming on top of the responsibilities of a dental student.  To help with content we looked at other chapter’s sites, the national site, and our state dental association’s site.  Since most of these other sites have RSS feeds set up, it’s easy to have their feeds linked to our site.  Doing this makes it easy for our readers to get all the dental info they need in one place.

What advice would you have for other chapter’s looking to start a website?

Don’t put all the responsibilities of the site on one webmaster.  If you create a website committee, it will really help.  One person can be responsible for the layout, one person can be responsible for content, one person can be responsible for pictures and recruiting additional contributors.  Obviously each chapter will have different roles to get their site done.  A team effort is the only way to get a lot of content without an overwhelming amount of work.

How do you determine who’s allowed to contribute to the site?

Mostly our chapter’s board contributes but we have it set up so the RSS feeds from various organizations, our chapter’s Facebook page, and our chapters Twitter feed all appear in our blog.  We have general body members who have wanted to contribute, so we set them up to post to the site.  We’ve also posted electronic versions of our newsletter.

What feature of the site are you most proud of?

Really, getting the entire thing going has been the biggest accomplishment for our chapter.  We’re proud to have one place with our chapter’s calendar, news, photos and information that will allow our chapter to continue to develop the site to be more useful in the future.

~Burton Coleman, Tennessee ’12, District 4 trustee

We’re all in dental school because we believe in the value of oral health. We know that it’s very important to brush your teeth and some of us even enjoy doing it. I am one of those people. I love getting that minty fresh feeling! However, the actual task of brushing is not usually engaging enough to keep my attention for two full minutes. This is why I really like to multitask while brushing. I almost always find something else to do while brushing my teeth. The following is my Letterman-esque Top 10 Things to do While Brushing Your Teeth:

#10. Watch TV – I can’t miss my stories to clean my teeth.
#9. Study – Studying’s definitely not among my favorite things to do, but a little oral hygiene helps ease the pain.
#8. Read a Book – Just try not to drool on the pages.
#7. Pack my Backpack – This helps get me out the door in the morning.
#6. Floss – Just kidding. This is impossible. Don’t try this. You might choke. I’ll give you a real one.
#6. Text – I obviously can’t speak to someone while I’m brushing.
#5. Meander – Give yourself a walking tour of your apartment.
#4. Angry Birds – It only requires one finger to play.
#3. Go Potty – There’s something very Zen about cleaning the entrance while clearing the exit.
#2. Do Email – Typing with one hand and brushing with the other is a lot like rubbing your head and patting your belly at the same time.
#1. Shower – This gives you a full-body clean. It’s amazingly refreshing! I recommend everybody try this.

What about the rest of you? Anyone have a different favorite activity to do while brushing? Or do you also enjoy some of these habits? Leave your replies below.

~ Ben Youel, Illinois ‘13, District 7 trustee

Hey predentals! Have you ever wondered what real dental students have to say about their experiences about dental school?

Wonder no more! Students were interviewed at the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health about tips on how to get into dental school. Advice ranging from their application to networking were discussed.

Notable tips mentioned:

• “Be unique and standout.”
• “Get good letters of recommendation”
• “Network. Call up the schools!”
• “Be a leader in the community.”

Listen to their interviews here: http://www.asdohasda.org/pre-dental-videos.html

~Erin Aying, Arizona ’14