Showing up and showing off
Social distancing wasn’t about to keep Caruth School of Dental Hygiene students from presenting their research posters this year. So they improvised…virtually.
Dr. Faizan Kabani, assistant professor in dental hygiene, made the decision to go ahead with dental hygiene’s portion of Texas A&M College of Dentistry’s annual Research Scholars Day. He says waiting for the “all clear” for the COVID-19 pandemic was too unpredictable. So students made their pitches in early March, this time via online platform Zoom.
“I am immensely proud of each individual student and all teams on their perseverance during these extraordinary times,” he says. “We have received countless positive comments and feedback from our stakeholders on the admirable professional and scholastic nature of our student’s virtual research presentations.”
Kabani says that, not surprisingly, students took to the technology-based presentations like pros, even sharing their tech savvy with their mentors.
“Overall, this has been another unprecedented year for us in research,” he says. “Our research program continues to achieve new milestones and sets the bar higher for our incoming students. We have and continue to produce extraordinary evidence-based practitioners. I feel blessed to be a part of our students’ journey.”
The dental hygiene school and the Dallas Dental Hygienists’ Association executive leadership team provided awards, he says. The highest-ranking teams will compete nationally at the American Dental Hygienists’ Association Annual Conference scheduled for June in New Orleans.
Dr. Bruno Ruest, Predoctoral Student Research Program director, says a date for dental students’ portion of poster presentations has yet to be set.
Here are this year’s dental hygiene winners:
Dental hygiene student poster presentations
- 1st Place
Students: Danielle Allen, Courtney Fine and Malorie Newton
Poster: “Resin Infiltration Therapy: A Micro-Invasive Approach to Treat White Spot Lesions in Dentistry”
Mentors: Kathleen Muzzin, RDH, MS and Kayla Reed, RDH, MS
- 2nd Place (tied)
Students: Regan Gopffarth, Allie Brown and Taylor Cornuaud
Poster: “2017 AAP Periodontal Classification Guidelines: What Every Dental Office Should Be Implementing”
Mentors: Jane Cotter, RDH, MS
- 2nd Place (tied)
Students: Anh Nguyen, Sarah Laredo and Maria Mirakhmedov
Poster: “Miswak: An Alternative Approach to Traditional Oral Hygiene Care”
Mentors: Lisa Mallonee, RDH, MPH and Maureen Brown, RDH, BSDH
- 3rd Place
Students: Melanie Patterson, Kimberlynn Patzold and Abbigale White
Poster: “Infectious Disease Disclosure by Dental Health Care Providers: A Patient’s Right to Know?”
Mentors: Leigh Ann Wyatt, RDH, MA, MS and Tracy King, RDH, MS
Dallas Dental Hygienists’ Association (executive leadership)
- 1st Place
Students: Alexandra Politz, Lauren Scott and Hannah Montz
Poster: “Ammonium Hexafluorosilicate: A Prospective Alternative to Silver Diamine Fluoride”
Mentors: Kathleen Muzzin, RDH, MS and Kayla Reed, RDH, MS
- 2nd Place
Students: Regan Gopffarth, Allie Brown and Taylor Cornuaud
Poster: “2017 AAP Periodontal Classification Guidelines: What Every Dental Office Should Be Implementing”
Mentors: Jane Cotter, RDH, MS
- 3rd Place
Students: Danielle Allen, Courtney Fine and Malorie Newton
Poster: “Resin Infiltration Therapy: A Micro-Invasive Approach to Treat White Spot Lesions in Dentistry”
Mentors: Kathleen Muzzin, RDH, MS and Kayla Reed, RDH, MS
- Honorable Mention
Students: Anh Nguyen, Sarah Laredo and Maria Mirakhmedov
Poster: “Miswak: An Alternative Approach to Traditional Oral Hygiene Care”
Mentors: Lisa Mallonee, RDH, MPH and Maureen Brown, RDH, BSDH
