First-Year Residents’ Report (Cont.)

In October, we had the pleasure of hosting candidates for the orthodontic Class of 2025. We organized some games and trivia to introduce them to the residents, followed by an in-person interview on campus the following day. All of us are very excited to welcome the incoming class into our program this July.

We also had the chance to travel to San Diego this year for the annual PCSO conference, now recognized as WOCON. Amidst attending lectures by some of the most renowned orthodontists including some of our own faculty, we also had the pleasure of watching some of our recently graduated residents present and win the first and second place awards for their research that they conducted while in residency. We would like to thank all who donated to the Arthur A. Dugoni Orthodontic Endowed Scholarship Fund for sponsoring us and giving us the opportunity to attend such an amazing conference. Most recently, we had the incredible opportunity to participate in a regional Angle Society Meeting at the scenic Castlewood Country Club. Speaking with some of the nation’s best orthodontists, we were filled with pride to see how many dental school alumni were in attendance. In addition, we were overjoyed and bursting with pride to be able to support Dr. Bianchi who presented on his treatment philosophy. He impressed the members with the high standard of care upheld at the Dugoni School as well as the routine use of cutting-edge technology during treatment planning and the delivery of patient care.

We look forward to continuing our journey in this wonderful speciality throughout these next two years. As we continue to battle the waves of research and journal articles, we will persevere towards our destination: becoming excellent orthodontists, well rounded individuals, and clinicians that will make our Dugoni School family proud.

New Faculty

Dr. Christopher Oviedo earned his DDS degree from University of Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in 2009. He went on to serve as a Dental Officer in the United States Navy for three years and spent nearly five months on the ground in Afghanistan during that time. After satisfying his obligation with the Navy, “Chris” entered residency at the University of Southern California in 2012 and earned a certificate in orthodontics and master of science in craniofacial biology. Upon graduation, he worked in the South Bay Area and Monterey County for four years and was able to complete his final case to become a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. In January 2020, he purchased an orthodontic practice in San Francisco, formerly owned by the dental school’s own Dr. Jetson Lee.

Dr. Oviedo enjoys a wide range of topics essential to quality orthodontic treatment. He was especially interested to learn about mixed-dentition treatment at the Dugoni School, which he employs in his practice. Otherwise, he is interested in incorporating systems in his practice that are both precise and efficient. Many of these systems integrate digital technologies with indirect methods of delivery. He also has a special interest in skeletal anchorage and has attended meetings regarding this topic on four continents.

Dr. Oviedo enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with the residents and encourages them to think about orthodontic concepts and rationale for treatment. “Dr. O,” not to be confused with our amazing department chair, is committed to lifelong learning and recently joined the Pacific Orthodontic Research Group (PORG). Dr. O’s father was also a dedicated orthodontist and inspired Chris to join the profession, which he feels fortunate to be a part of.

Dr. Heeyeon Suh earned her DDS from Seoul National University School of Dentistry in Korea in 2009. She subsequently completed specialty training in orthodontics and earned a PhD at the same institution in 2015. Her PhD research focused on predicting soft-tissue profile change after orthognathic surgery using a sophisticated statistical method, resulting in two first-author publications. She also completed her orthodontic training at University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry in 2022. Her research project during residency was about open-bite treatment with clear aligners, which was published and presented at multiple conferences.

Dr. Suh worked as a part-time research faculty in the University of the Pacific orthodontic department, helping dental students, residents and faculty with her data analysis and presentation skills. She is passionate about utilizing novel statistical methods and machine learning to predict and evaluate orthodontic treatment outcomes. She has been focusing on answering questions regarding soft tissue changes after surgical-orthodontic treatment, treatment effect of maxillary expanders, growth prediction and tooth movement with clear aligners.