Smile, it’s the new year! May the new year bring us new joys, new memories, and new ideas to make the world around us a better place.
Best wishes from the Dental Central Team.
Category Archives: What’s New
Alpha Omega Spreads Holiday Cheer to Floating Hospital
In preparation for the holidays, Alpha Omega (AO) members came together on November 30 in the spirit of the holidays to create handmade cards for the children at Tufts Medical Center. The cards cards were delivered by AO to the 6th floor of the Floating Hospital to spread holiday cheer and lift the spirits of our young friends. AO looks forward to making this an annual event!
Check out AO’s Dental Central page for more details on the Tufts chapter of the international dental fraternity, and stay tuned to hear more about the community service activities that AO has in store!
HDA Clothing Drive for Rosie’s Place
Kimberly Myers (D18), Alexandra Peacock (D18), and Dr. Leopoldo Correa
Tufts Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) held their annual Clothing Drive for Rosie’s Place during the months of November and December 2016.
Rosie’s Place is a women’s shelter located ten minutes from Tufts School of Dental Medicine that has been helping women in the Boston area since 1974. In addition to providing two warm meals per day to homeless and low income women, it is an educational and resource center to empower women.
HDA is grateful for your help in making a great impact this Holiday season!
– Photos shared by Dr. Leopoldo Correa, HDA faculty advisor
D19 Community Service at Urban Edge Turkey Drive
Arietta and Alex playing games with some kids
Sarah, Alex, Jackie, Arietta, and Alex with Valia (one of the program coordinators)
Justin Spiegelman
Arietta, Sarah, Jackie and Abby
The group with a new friend
During the Thanksgiving Holiday, for the second year in a row, some of the D19 class members: Sarah Barr, Jackie Liu, Abby Manzella, Arietta Rigopoulos, Justin Spiegelman, and Alex Stanco, had the opportunity to volunteer at Urban Edge’s annual Turkey drive! The organization helps families in need, especially through affordable housing in order to strengthen the communities and families.
This community service event is such a great way to give back to our community and provide oral health education to both adults and children. We played games with the children, who especially loved showing us how to brush the teeth of the monkey! The adults enjoyed playing jeopardy and wanted to answer all of the questions on the board! Many of the attendees also recognized us from last year, which was so touching because many of them asked us follow-up questions about oral hygiene and a lot of them inquired about coming to TUSDM for their dental needs. It really shows that being consistent and participating in community events, outside of the clinic or dental office, can make a huge impact in oral health care.
We had such an awesome time interacting with the community and we are also planning on working with Urban Edge again in August for the Back To School BBQ, where they will be handing out school supplies to the children in the community.
To learn more about D19 community service endeavors, contact Co-chairs Jackie Liu and Abby Manzella at D19CommunityService@gmail.com.
– Written by: Jackie Liu (D19)
HPSP Troop Drive Thank You
Thank you from the troops!
Thank you from the troops!
A note from Dr. Charles Rankin, Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) faculty advisor:
Good morning,
I just wanted to give all an update on this year’s Drive for the Troops. We collected enough to send out nine good sized packages to some of our troops serving in the Middle East. During the past week, I received Thank You notes from a couple of military dental clinics in Kuwait and Qatar. I’ve attached the pictures that they attached with the notes. To quote their e-mails “It is very thoughtful of you and the HPSP students to think of us during the holidays.” “We truly appreciate the time you and your HPSP students took to put together and send those care packages. The contents were outstanding! We can honestly say those were two of the best care packages we’ve received during our entire deployment.”
I’m sure I’ll receive e-mails and photos from the others as we head into the holidays,
I thank each and every one of you who took the time to donate an item or cash to support and encourage those young women and men serving overseas at this time of the year. Being overseas as a young Air Force dental assistant myself, I know that during the quiet times, my thoughts would go to home and family. It’s kind of nice to be remembered. Thank you for remembering them.
I wish you all the best holiday season and look forward to being with you for another year.
Dr. Rankin
Upcoming Event: Annual Student Leader Dinner and Training
An Invitation from Nancy Marks, Dept. Public Health and Karen Alexander, Student Affairs
____________________________________
Annual Leadership Dinner and Training for Student Organization and Class Leaders–Spaces limited per group!**
Building and Sustaining Your Organization’s Mission and Vision
Interactive training! Learn how to define what you want to accomplish and communicate it. Also, how to make decisions as a team.
Plus, eat some good food and share a few laughs.
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017
4:30pm-7:00pm
**2-3 leaders from each active student organization/class leaders welcome! We strongly encourage groups to send a D19 and D20 if they are, or will be, in a leadership position in the coming year!
To sign up: Talk to your group and send your name, organizational position and group/class to nancy.marks@tufts.edu.
Tufts Implant Club: Straumann Implant Workshop
Tufts Implant Cub invites you to their implant workshop with the Straumann dental implant company!!
Sign-up is now open for our first hands-on implant placement workshop. If you are interested, please head over to our Facebook page for more details on the workshop as well as instructions for signing-up.
There is limited space and the sign-up will close on December 15th!!
Carly Martin (D18): Oral Screening at Cathedral of the Holy Cross Health Fair
Dr. Mehta and Alec Eidelman performing a screening
(R to L) Dr. Nehring, Carly Martin, Alec Eidelman, Lauren Trager, Nick Vaillancourt, Dr. Mehta
Carly Martin (D18) participated in the Oral Screening at Cathedral of the Holy Cross Health Fair on November 29th, 2016, along with Alec Eidelman (D18), Lauren Trager (D18), Nick Vaillancourt (D18), Dr. Mark Nehring, and Dr. Noshir Mehta. Located in South End, the Cathedral occasionally offers free health clinic to the local community. Carly reflects,
“It was great to be a part of an inter-professional health fair where we got to work with patients together and interact with health care professionals from different fields.”
Good oral health is an important part of good overall health. Proud to have had our TUSDM members to represent the dental community at the fair. Carly shares that she would do this event again (:
Maureen Favorito, RDH at Mildred Ave Elementary School Health Fair
On November 16th Maureen Favorito, RDH, who is a member of the TUSDM’s community Dental Hygiene team, had participated at the Mildred Ave Elementary School Health Fair. She is also a member of Smart Smiles, a school-based oral health program that seeks to help prevent dental problems among Boston’s children and to identify, treat, or refer for treatment any student who has existing oral health problems. She and her assistant had Jeopardy games and tooth brushes! Maureen shares more about her experience:
“My assistant and I helped out at the Mildred Ave Elementary School Health Fair. We had a Dental Table and played a Dental Jeopardy game with students in grades K-5. The game was a little advanced for the age group, so we asked our own age appropriate questions regarding Dental Health and nutrition. The teachers gave the students the toothbrushes at the end of the day. I think the children all learned some new dental and nutrition tips.”
Year 1 in Review: A D19 Perspective for the Incoming Class
-By Benjamin Smith (D19)
Wow, what a year! On behalf of the D19 class, I would first like to thank all of the faculty, staff, and administration at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) that worked with the D19 class this past year. You made our transition to dental school as seamless as possible and a truly inspiring experience. First year dental students face unique challenges regardless of their backgrounds, whether it be in didactic courses, clinical, hands on work, or personal matters. Whenever these challenges occur, it has been comforting to know we have outstanding professors, clinical instructors, deans and administration who are there to lead us in the right direction. As D19s, we have also learned that we are advancing through dental school collectively, elevated by our support for each other.
I would also like to welcome the D20s to TUSDM! We are thrilled to have you on board, and have already heard so many great things about your class. Soroush and Meghana will take great care of you. Know that our whole class will be there as mentors, colleagues, and friends. I hope we can provide you all with as much foresight as the upperclassmen did for us, to make your first year enjoyable and successful. Be proactive. Use us as a resource; we have been in your shoes just a short time ago. The D16s, D17s, and D18s have proven to be invaluable to us, and we appreciate their mentorship and friendship. We are anxious to do the same for you.
D20s, the first part of our journey, like others before us, began in Dental Anatomy with Dr. Falzone last August and ended with Immunology and Basic Human Pathology this summer. There is a reason she is “Mama Falzone;” she will take such great care of your class like she has done for all prior classes. You will realize that you are receiving your foundation for dentistry in the Dental Anatomy course from the very best. Before you know it, you will be taking more classes than you realized; Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Nutrition, and Operative Dentistry begin. You will learn the value of balance. At first, it may seem impossible to accomplish your duties in the Gross Anatomy lab, prepare and mount an articulator so you can produce a functional wax up of maxillary incisors and mandibular molars in proper occlusion, while simultaneously getting ready for your first operative practical, an occlusal prep on #30. And don’t forget, you have a nutrition project and a Biochem exam on lipids and amino acids (Do not forget about the amino acids!). Like us, you will realize that you can excel and experience a well-rounded, highly satisfying lifestyle in Boston, the greatest city in the world (Go Pats!).
In the midst of your fall course load, you will earn your white coat with your classmates. This day will emphasize the camaraderie you and your new friends have already created, and you will share this proudly with your families and loved ones. You will experience a vision of the light at the end of the tunnel when you put your arms through your fresh new coat, and take a photo with Dean Thomas. In a flash, we were celebrating the conclusion of our first semester and the holidays at Venu with all of our classmates.
Continue reading Year 1 in Review: A D19 Perspective for the Incoming Class
