FACULTY Profile: Dr. Gustavo Mendonça

Combining Prosthodontics, Research and Digital Technology

It seemed early on that Gustavo Mendonça would follow in the career track of two uncles and an aunt who are dentists. As late as the middle of his dental school training at the Federal University of Uberlandia in his native Brazil, he was expecting to join the practice of one of his uncles when he graduated. But then he began to realize that high-end academic research had an appeal, as did the satisfaction of teaching what he knew to others. From that point on, he began to build a resume that would lead to academia, first in Brazil, then to the United States at the University of North Carolina and, in 2014, to the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. As a Clinical Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics, Mendonça covers a lot of ground. His foundational expertise is in prosthodontics, so he teaches a variety of pre-doctoral and graduate courses related to that specialty, from traditional partial and complete dentures to the ever-expanding field of implants. On the research side, over the course of his graduate work and faculty career he has completed important studies in bone molecular biology, particularly as it relates to dental implants. His PhD research focused on the role of nanoscale features on implant surfaces and how it affects the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) into osteoblasts. Various parts of his research, including the impact of MSCs on bone healing and osseointegration, have been supported by grants from the Foundation of the Academy of Osseointegration. He became a fellow of the academy last year and was earlier this year named chair of its Research Committee. In the last several years, he has added a new area of expertise – dental digital technology – to his research and publishing. It’s part of his longstanding interest that began in dental school and as a graduate student in the early days of the digital impact on dentistry. His experience is benefitting the dental school as he leads, as co-chair with Dr. HsunLiang (Albert) Chan, the school’s Dental Technology Committee. It advises school administrators about the most important technologies, equipment and software arriving in the dentistry arena, considers faculty proposals and provides recommendations on what should be integrated next into the clinics, curriculum and training for faculty and students. Sitting in his office in the new Faculty Commons, Mendonça calls up a digital image of a patient’s oral cavity on his large computer screen. He rotates the 3-dimensional image of the teeth and jaws left to right, up and down and around to the back so that he can look at even the smallest of details from literally any angle. Captured by an intraoral scanner, images like this are what help students and faculty collaborate on improved and precise treatment plans. The images are the first step in creating digital impressions, surgical guides, partial and complete dentures and many other appliances on 3-D printers. It is a revolutionary change compared to only a few years ago when the slower and less precise traditional methods for making impressions were the only option. “Using this technology allows us to be efficient when seeing the patients, to scan, to make a crown, many times the same day or the next hour. Or send it to the lab efficiently as a digital file,” he said. “We teach the students to do it efficiently so the patients don’t have to spend a lot of time sitting in the dental chair and everything comes out fitting better and working better for the patient.” Mendonça collaborated on a recent literature review that indicates intraoral scanning reduces working time and improves patientreported outcome measures compared to conventional impression techniques. It also verified the effectiveness of the procedures based on available prosthodontic outcomes. While the move to digital dentistry is quickly changing dentistry and dental education, it can’t be done overnight. Mendonça and the rest of the faculty still teach the traditional dental courses even as digital dentistry is implemented in some areas faster than in others. Whether teaching long-understood science or helping students discover and master the newest technology-enhanced treatment methods, Mendonça feels a responsibility to be an excellent teacher and committed mentor, just as key faculty were in his dental school and graduate days. His approach was validated shortly before he joined U-M when students at UNC voted him “Faculty of the Year” for his teaching skills. Even as a teaching assistant before he moved into academia full-time, he said he realized the value of a good instructor or professor and how much they can impact the life of other people by helping them learn. “It feels very rewarding to participate in all stages of the student learning,” he said in a written essay about his academic career. “It is a very good experience to follow students from the beginning of their training in the pre-clinical courses and see how they develop skills and learn how to critically provide their patients with the best treatment… It all challenges me to continue to improve my skills and knowledge to always present the best to the students, dental community and patients.”

Mendonça confers with Dr. Junying (Jayden) Li, a Clinical Assistant Professor, about a 3D-printed stackable surgical guide.

Faculty Retirements

Several School of Dentistry faculty retirements were announced this summer, including two long-serving professors – Robert Bagramian and Charlotte Mistretta – who were at the school for 52 and 49 years, respectively.

Lawrence M. Ashman Robert A. Bagramian Thomas S. Marshall

Clinical assistant professor of dentistry in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/ Hospital Dentistry. After joining the school as a clinical assistant professor in 2007, he initiated and became director of the Orofacial Pain Clinic. He developed a two-year CODA-accredited advanced dental education program in orofacial pain. He educated students and residents on the significance of orofacial pain, temporomandibular disorders and sleep dentistry. Professor of dentistry and a faculty member at the School of Dentistry for more than 50 years. Shortly after earning his Dr.P.H. in epidemiology in 1969 from U-M, he joined the dental school faculty and became a full professor in 1975. He served as an acting chair of the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine from 2005-06. From 2012-14, he was the interim director of the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research. In the early 1970s, when Bagramian was chair of what was then the Department of Community Dentistry, he initiated the school’s Community Outreach Program, which included two mobile dental vans that traveled around the state so that dental students could treat migrant workers and other underserved populations. Bagramian’s research focused on healthcare behavior, epidemiology, care delivery, etiology and health disparities. Clinical assistant professor of dentistry. After graduating from U-M with his DDS in 1979, he served in the U.S. Air Force, earning an advanced degree in prosthodontics, Marshall joined the school as a clinical assistant professor in 2008. He was appointed as a teaching-intensive faculty member in 2018, and developed seminars for the Advanced Education of General Dentistry program. He served as course director for several predoctoral and graduate courses in clinical, didactic and preclinical teaching.

Kenneth B. May

Associate professor of dentistry in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences & Prosthodontics. He earned his DDS in 1988 and his MS in prosthodontics in 1990. He joined the dental school as a lecturer in 1988, serving as a course director at the pre-doctoral and graduate levels. He directed the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Recruitment Initiatives from 2007-13, and served as outreach and recruitment director for the Office of the Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He was co-chair and member of the Multicultural Affairs Committee and recruited dental students through the pre-health careers programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Charlotte M. Mistretta

William R. Mann Professor of Dentistry. After joining the school as a senior research associate in 1972, she was appointed assistant research scientist in 1974, associate research scientist in 1976 and research scientist in 1982. She was appointed professor with tenure in 1991 and served as the inaugural director of the Oral Health Sciences Ph.D. Program from 19932010. She also held appointments in the Center for Human Growth and Development and in the School of Nursing. She was Associate Dean for Research and Research Training from 2005-13. Her research in taste development received international attention, including a Research Career Development Award from NIH, the Claude Pepper NIH Award for research excellence. She received the U-M Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award and the Distinguished Faculty Mentoring Award.

Shannon D. O’Dell

Curator of the Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry. She joined the dental school faculty in 2003 as assistant curator for the Sindecuse and was promoted to curator in 2004. She researched, documented and expanded the museum collection, integrating museum standards to revitalize and create professionally designed exhibits. Her research on early women dentists culminated in the 2012-16 exhibition, “Women Dentists: Changing the Face of Dentistry.” She published “Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry, 19922017” as a chapter for the book, “Object Lessons & the Formation of Knowledge: The University of Michigan Museums, Libraries & Collections 1817-2017.” She served a two-year term as president of the Medical Museums Association and received the American Academy of the History of Dentistry’s HaydenHarris Award.