WORD OF
SUMMER 2016
MOUTH THE DENTAL COLLEGE of GEORGIA
AHA MOMENTS Inaugural Faculty Member Sank Teeth into Career
WORD OF
MOUTH
THE DENTAL COLLEGE of GEORGIA Word of Mouth is produced biannually by The Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University in collaboration with the Division of Communications and Marketing.
SUMMER 2016
OPENED WIDE News at a Glance............................................................................ 2 Newsmakers...................................................................................... 5 A World of Accomplishment..................................................... 7 State of the College Address Cites Unprecedented Progress Onward!.............................................................................................. 8 Class of 2016 Sets Out to Make Mark on Dentistry
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Aha Moments................................................................................... 10 Inaugural Faculty Member Sank Teeth into Career Paving the Way............................................................................... 17 Award Recipient Fosters Goals of Students, Colleagues
Dean Carol A. Lefebvre, DDS, MS Provost Gretchen B. Caughman, PhD Vice President Communications and Marketing Jack Evans College of Dental Medicine Communications Coordinator Millie Huff Editor/Writer Christine Hurley Deriso Assistant Editor John Jenkins Art Director Tricia Perea
PHOTOGRAPHY Phil Jones Kim Ratliff Eric S. Love David Russell
©2016 Augusta University
Hijacked Cells.................................................................................. 20 Study Probes Cause of Periodontal Disease Smiles in Abundance.................................................................... 22 Students, Volunteers Treat Underserved Children Taking Root....................................................................................... 25 Challenges Inspire Student to Dig Deep Making an Impression.................................................................. 27 Students Seek to Increase Minority Representation ‘What We Do’................................................................................... 28 Community Pours Heart, Soul into Vidalia Clinic Enjoying the Ride........................................................................... 32 Alumna Balances Dentistry, Competitive Running A Matter of Trust............................................................................. 34 Distinguished Alumna Forms Lifelong Bonds Welcome Home!............................................................................. 36 Alumni Weekend Pulls Out All the Stops Advancement................................................................................... 38 Perpetuating a Legacy of Helping
augusta.edu/dcg
Class Notes....................................................................................... 40
FROM THE
DEAN
DR. CAROL A. LEFEBVRE
Dear Readers, WHAT A PLEASURE and a privilege it was to confer diplomas May 13 to the inaugural graduates of The Dental College of Georgia. Of course, the Class of 2016 actually comprises the 43rd set of graduates of our venerable and prestigious college, but this is the first year the diplomas bear the name of what we consider our most comprehensive and appropriate moniker ever: The Dental College of Georgia. The name, which was changed last year, truly speaks to the breadth, scope and vital importance of Georgia’s sole dental school, and we are so proud to send its inaugural ambassadors into the world to improve the oral health of citizens statewide, nationwide and beyond. This edition of Word of Mouth will give you an idea of just how vast their impact will be. The cover story, for instance, charts the incredibly prolific career of recently retired faculty member Dr. David Pashley. Pashley’s research revolutionized dentistry in so many ways, including ousting the ouch for those with sensitive teeth. Such progress continues apace within our walls, including findings shedding new light on periodontal disease. Research, of course, represents only one leg of our tripartite mission, and you’ll find voluminous examples in these pages of accomplishments in education and clinical care as well. It is difficult to overstate how inspired and proud we are of the students featured in this issue. Michael Hall, for instance, lived out of his car for portions of his undergraduate education, sacrificing mightily to pursue his dream of a dental career. And dozens of our students have helped provide care for some of the state’s neediest citizens during rotations at the Lloyd Darby Compassionate Care Dental Clinic in Vidalia, Georgia. As you can see, the Class of 2016 has quite a legacy to uphold and perpetuate. The good news is there’s not a doubt in my mind that they’re up to the task. n
NEWS AT A GLANCE
DEAN CAROL LEFEBVRE and her associate deans and chairmen showed off their chili-cooking abilities during The Dental College of Georgia Fall Frolic Oct. 30 on the grounds of the Harrison Education Commons. Events included free hot dogs, a photo booth and costume contest. The Department of General Dentistry, aka the Peanuts Gang, snagged the award for best group costume. Nipping at their heels with an Honorable Mention Award were zombie-clad prosthodontic residents. The Department of General Dentistry, aka the Peanuts Gang, won the award for best group costume at the Fall Frolic on Oct. 30.
THE DENTAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA’S Student Recruitment and Admissions Committee pored through 938 applications, conducted hundreds of interviews and analyzed thousands of pages of supporting documentation over a six-month period to select the 95 members of the Class of 2020. The students will begin their freshman year in the fall.
THE DCG CHAPTER of the Hispanic Dental Association conducted free dental screenings recently at the St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church Health Fair and the 23rd Hispanic Festival of Augusta. The chapter also sponsored the fourth annual International Flavors Event March 30, an international meal representing various DCG cultures. Dr. Roger Arce is the faculty sponsor.
THE DCG ADMINISTRATION is completing a strategic plan aligning academic, clinical and research initiatives. The plan includes mission, vision and value statements. Dr. Kevin Frazier, vice dean, oversaw the leadership retreat during which the plan was created, with deans and chairs collaborating on content regarding education, clinical services and research.
THE DCG CHAPTER of the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association has received the 2015 award for Most Improved Chapter. The chapter received the 2014 award for Best Event based on its professional photo shoot and guest lectures on ethics and professionalism during SPEA Week. This year, the chapter doubled its number of SPEA activities, with twice the number of participants for each event. Events have included a Relax and Wax tutoring session, Social on the Quad and other events promoting professionalism and ethics.
FOR THE SECOND YEAR in a row, our students have logged a 100 percent pass rate on part one of the National Board of Dental Examiners test. They performed a full standard deviation or more above the national average in anatomic sciences and dental anatomy and occlusion. Their overall exam score was almost a full standard deviation above the mean. Our students’ pass rate has surpassed the national mean for the past three years.
THIRTEEN MEMBERS of the DCG community have been inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon. Student inductees, who are elected from the top 20 percent of the senior class, are Alex M. Culberson, Natalie Echols Evans, Mariesa L. Manente, Dexter W. Mattox, Michelle J. Paterson, James Nathan Raley, Molly Hawkins Ruiz, Jennifer M. Ryan and Marielle Youmans. Dr. Allison 2
Buchanan, assistant professor of oral health and diagnostic sciences, was inducted as a faculty member. Dr. Michael Davenport, assistant professor of general dentistry, was elected as an honorary member.
DCG WAS SEEING PINK Oct. 29 in honor of dental student Travis Garnto’s wife, Susan, who is battling breast cancer. The REST 5901 Clinic Mentor Group of Dr. Kate Ciarrocca, assistant professor of oral rehabilitation, sponsored a sale of pink scrubs, with proceeds benefiting the Garnto family. More than 150 scrubs were sold, and many others wore pink on the day of the sale in her honor. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death among women.
DR. JAN MITCHELL, associate professor of oral rehabilitation, oversaw a continuing-education course in London over spring break, welcoming faculty, alumni and community dentists to expand their dental expertise in the British capital. The event followed a DCG continuingeducation course last year in Italy and adds to our evergrowing presence in overseas sites throughout China, Europe and elsewhere around the globe.
DCG INDUCTEES into the 2015 Authentic Leadership Pipeline I Program, sponsored by the Augusta University Leadership Academy, are Drs. Kate Ciarrocca, Kevin Frazier, Alan Furness, Sajitha Kalathingal and Michael Pruett.
THE GEORGIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION ALLIANCE hosted a dinner Oct. 9 at the North Augusta Municipal Building for our students and their spouses. The alliance, whose members are spouses of dental students, partners with the GDA in areas including legislative advocacy, dental health education and the well-being of the dental family. GDA Past President Doug Torbush and PresidentElect Ben Jernigan were among the attendees. Alliance liaisons Julie Vaughn and Jackie Koon coordinated the event.
ZOMBIES DESCENDED on the city en masse during the annual Give a Smile 5-kilometer race Nov. 15 in Augusta’s Lake Olmstead Park. The zombie theme ensured lots of double-takes, particularly since this set of zombies picked up the pace of the typical zombie slow-motion slog. Proceeds benefited the Give a Smile Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 by our students seeking to offset the costs of vital dental treatment for patients who otherwise would go without it.
CRYSTAL THOMAS, an oral and maxillofacial surgery administrative assistant, and Raul “Jason” Escobar, an oral and maxillofacial surgery dental assistant, recently completed training for the Community Emergency Response Team. The Augusta Fire Department and Emergency Management Division provided the seven-week training, which was sponsored by the Augusta University Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response.
First-year DCG students visited Heritage Academy as part of the Kids with a Future Initiative.
GIGANTIC TOOTHBRUSHES, stuffed animals and colorful posters were among the props our first-year students used during a recent visit to Augusta’s Heritage Academy. The students spent the morning teaching kindergartners and firstgraders about the importance of oral hygiene, emphasizing the importance of brushing, flossing and eating a healthy diet. It was one of several school visits organized through the students’ Kids with a Future initiative, which they highlighted during a presentation to the American Association for Dental Research in Los Angeles.
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WE RAISED ALMOST $8,000 — $5,000 over our goal — for the American Heart Association’s annual campaign. The college received the Division Leap Frog and Division Over Goal awards. Pam Bales, an administrative assistant in the Department of Orthodontics, received the Individual Sweet Talker Award and achieved Super Surfer status by raising over $1,000 individually. Dawn Fulmer in Financial and Business Operations received the Most Individual Spirit Award.
SILLY SELFIES and other fun photos flooded the internet last fall in support of the Oral Cancer Foundation. The Dr. Wayne Herman Society in Oral Medicine, Pathology and Radiology sponsored the online contest to raise funds for the foundation. THE DREAM TEAM, our intramural flag football team, was undefeated in its 2015 season, claiming its championship title at Augusta University’s Christenberry Fieldhouse with a 36-14 win over Charlotte’s Web, comprised of medical and physical therapy students. Dream Team members are Frank Aguebor, Atijah Collins, Marcus Cowan, Dylan Holtman, John Jackson, Blake Jones, Robert Lancaster, Alex McRee, T.J. O’Shea, Brock Pumphrey, Hazie Simon and Charles Smith.
THE STUDENT NATIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATION partnered with the Georgia Cancer Center for an Oral Cancer Walk April 16 to raise awareness about oral cancers, including the importance of self-checks and regular screenings by a dentist or physician. Walkers offered complimentary oral screenings for attendees.
HINMAN UPDATE • More than 135 high school and undergraduate students attended a DCG predental student recruitment event during the 2016 Hinman Dental Meeting in Atlanta March 17-19. Associate Dean Carole Hanes and 11 students familiarized the attendees with the admissions process and other dental college-related information. • The Hinman meeting drew more than 20,000 dentists and dental staff, including hundreds of members of the DCG community. • Honorees during the meeting included Dr. Jorge Gonazlez-Ocasio, a third-year oral and maxillofacial surgery resident, who received the Best Presentation Award for his table clinic session, and four recipients of Hinman Scholarships: third-year students Ashley Clayton, Ashley Farmer, Kassidy Looper and Anthony Rella. • An alumni reception followed at Taco Mac.
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NEWSMAKERS ERIC ANDERSON, a third-year student, has been named the 2016 District 4 Delegate of the Year by the American Student Dental Association. Anderson is president of the DCG chapter of the association. DR. ROGER ARCE, assistant professor of periodontics, received a $50,000 American Academy of Periodontology Teaching Fellowship to advance his career in academia. Fellowships are awarded to qualified faculty members within their first three years of teaching at a U.S. dental school. See page 20 for more information about Arce’s career. DR. LEON ARONSON, adjunct professor of orthodontics, has received the Merit Award from the Orthodontic Education and Research Foundation of St. Louis University’s Center for Advanced Dental Education. He is a 1967 graduate of the St. Louis University Department of Orthodontics. DR. BABAK BABAN, associate professor of oral biology, was recently selected Featured Podium Presenter during the Janssen Immunology Symposium in La Jolla, California. He also co-chaired the Microbiology/Immunology Basic Science I Study Section Committee of the American Heart Association.
Dr. Ahmed El-Awady
investigation into the implications of untreated dental disease before and concurrent with complex medical and surgical procedures.
DR. PHILIP BAKER, associate professor of oral rehabilitation, has been elected a fellow of the International College of Dentists.
DR. AHMED EL-AWADY, a DCG periodontology resident, has received the American Academy of Periodontology’s 2015 Balint Orban Memorial Award. The award honors those who exemplify its namesake’s example of advancing the scientific foundations of contemporary periodontics. The academy’s foundation also awarded ElAwady a $25,000 AAP Educator Scholarship.
TAMIKA BROWN, a first-year dental student, is completing a David E. Rogers Fellowship at the New York Academy of Medicine this summer researching the influence of loan repayment programs on career choices in community health. DR. KATHARINE CIARROCCA, assistant professor of oral rehabilitation, has been named to the editorial board of the Special Care in Dentistry journal. DR. ELADIO DELEON, chairman of the Department of Orthodontics, has been named chairman of the American Board of Orthodontics.
DARRELL GENTRY, associate dean of business and finance, was among 16 Augusta University faculty recognized during the university’s Black History Month Faculty Recognition Celebration. The event was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
DR. SCOTT DE ROSSI, chairman of the Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, has been selected by the American Dental Association to help review a congressional
DR. CAROLE HANES, associate dean for students, admissions and alumni, received the General Dental Association Award of Merit, the association’s highest
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honor. Hanes has served on numerous committees of the association. She has been secretary of the Eastern District Dental Society for 14 years. She has obtained over $4 million in Health Resources and Services Administration funding enabling senior dental students to serve needy citizens throughout the state. DR. VAN HAYWOOD, professor of oral rehabilitation, has been recognized as a “Leader in Dental CE” for the 15th consecutive year by Dentistry Today magazine. DR. STEPHEN HSU, associate professor of oral health and diagnostic sciences, discussed the oral-health benefits of green tea polyphenols as guest speaker of the University of Texas School of Dentistry’s Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences’ recent seminar series. DR. DANIEL LEVY, director of the Craniofacial Clinic, has been certified by the American Board of Orthodontics. DR. KURT METZLER, assistant professor of oral rehabilitation, received the 2015 Pierre Fauchard Academy Excellence in Dental Education Award. The academy is an international honorary dental organization dedicated to recognizing and growing leaders in the dental profession, founded in 1936 by Dr. Elmer S. Best, a Minnesota dentist. The academy is named for the father of modern dentistry, French dentist Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761).
Dr. Carole Hanes
DR. JAN MITCHELL, associate professor of oral rehabilitation, has received The Dental College of Georgia’s 2015 Teaching Excellence Award.
DR. MARIO ROMERO, assistant professor of oral rehabilitation, has received The Dental College of Georgia’s 2016 Outstanding Faculty Award. Romero has been published in more than 50 national and international peer-reviewed journals and has lectured extensively on restorative dentistry.
DR. JOSE MORALES, assistant professor of orthodontics, has received the 2016 Hamilton B.G. Robinson Award. The award honors Robinson (1910-92), a former president of the International Association for Dental Research and former editor of the Journal of Dental Research.
DR. LINDA SELEM, resident in the Department of Endodontics, has received the inaugural Connie L. Drisko Resident Award for Professionalism. The award honors the former and recently deceased dean of The Dental College of Georgia.
DCG DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS Stephanie Perry has been appointed to the American Dental Education Association’s Associated American Dental Schools Application Service Task Force. The task force is composed of senior admissions officers and students selected by the association from among the country’s dental schools. Perry will serve a three-year term.
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A WORLD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT: STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS CITES UNPRECEDENTED PROGRESS
THE NAME HAS CHANGED, but the fact that The Dental College of Georgia stays true to its original mission is best exemplified in its strongest asset: its students. This was the resounding theme of Dean Carol A. Lefebvre’s 2016 State of the College Address, delivered in March.
citizens. Further expanding its reach to the state’s neediest citizens, Lefebvre noted that senior dental students completed 18,000 procedures last year in its 23 clinic sites. The sites, including one recently re-established in Savannah, Georgia, are housed in 17 counties throughout Georgia. The college also expanded faculty and student involvement in Albany, Georgia. And the dental college continues to partner with other entities to expand that reach. For instance, Associate Dean Carole Hanes recently received a three-year, $1.5 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant to help attract dentists to underserved areas. In total, HRSA has provided $4.2 million to the dental college to advance this goal. Lefebvre applauded the college’s international efforts as well, citing its affiliations with schools or clinics in China, France and Italy.
THE LIFEBLOOD OF DCG Lefebvre cited dozens of statistics during the address attesting to the health and vibrancy of the state’s sole dental school, renamed The Dental College of Georgia last year to more accurately reflect its widespread scope and significance. But as has been true since its inception in 1969, virtually all roads lead to its lifeblood: those earning degrees today that will enable them to serve the oral health needs of citizens for generations to come. “Our students continue to be an exceptional group of future dental professionals,” she said, INTERNATIONAL RENOWN noting that the current first-year Such a broad record of class of 90 students represents 26 accomplishment has inspired different undergraduate degrees extensive external support, Lefebvre with an average undergraduate said, reporting that more than grade point average of 3.63. “Equally $1.2 million in donations poured impressive is that over half of the into the college last year, including class comes from areas where there $200,000 in scholarships from the are shortages of dental professionals, Thomas P. Hinman Dental Society. and we know our DCG dentists will Donations also reflected the DCG make a difference in the oral health community’s own generosity; for of the communities they will serve in instance, the Class of 2015 raised the future.” $10,000 for The Dental College of And nowhere, Lefebvre stressed, –DEAN CAROL A. LEFEBVRE Georgia Student Crisis Fund. can students get a better value. Research on topics including oral The average debt burden of a DCG cancer, periodontal disease and dental materials continued student is $180,000, compared to $250,000 nationwide. to attract worldwide renown in fiscal year 2015-16, Lefebvre She lauded the faculty and staff as well in cultivating the said, congratulating her colleagues on receiving almost students’ best attributes. “Our great team of faculty and $1 million in National Institutes of Health funding during staff has worked hard this year to give our students and the period. The college developed new ways to increase residents the best dental education possible and at the research productivity as well, including through its FOSTER same time provide excellent oral health care,” she said. Program (see page 17). The program (Faculty Opportunity The proof, Lefebvre said, is in the pudding: the Class Strategies Toward Effective Research) partners seasoned of 2017 logged a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the faculty members with less-experienced colleagues to National Board Dental Exam Part I. navigate the intricacies of research. Goals include reducing individual effort, saving time, establishing comradery and EXPANDING ITS REACH engaging students in research. Lefebvre also expressed pride in the considerable Lefebvre thanked her colleagues for setting so much outreach that is part and parcel of every member of the progress in motion and promised even better things to DCG community’s experience. She reported that 125 children were served during the college’s annual Give Kids a come in the future. “With all of our past accomplishments counted and celebrated,” she said, “I look forward to the Smile Day in February, just one of many volunteer initiatives opportunities the next year holds.” n specifically targeting socioeconomically challenged
“Our great team of faculty and staff has worked hard this year to give our students and residents the best dental education possible ...”
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Dr. Keel speaks at the Augusta University commencement ceremony held May 13.
ONWARD! Dean Carol A. Lefebvre jubilantly presented hoods to The Dental College of Georgia Class of 2016 during the hooding ceremony May 13. The students, the first with the new name, The Dental College of Georgia, imprinted on their diplomas, also participated in the commencement ceremony May 13.
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AHA MOMENTS
Inaugural Faculty Member Sank Teeth into Career
D
R. DAVID PASHLEY has made too many lab discoveries to count during his half-century dental career, but only a few have yielded such startling “aha!” moments that he was too excited to sleep. This was one of them.
had to find things that would go down into the tubules and plug them,” Pashley says. EXHIBIT A He laughs that he often cites the experience as Exhibit A when dental students balk about having to learn seemingly extraneous subject matter. “So many of my students have complained over the years about having to learn so much chemistry,” he says. “They’ll say, ‘When are we ever going to use this?’ I tell them I use everything I’ve ever learned.” The chemical Pashley found to be most effective – indeed, astonishingly effective – in plugging the pores was calcium oxalate. “It’s bright white and works with the dentin to instantly form acid-resistant crystals that fit into the tubules and work like a charm,” Pashley says. “I said, ‘Wow, this stuff clogs dentin better than anything!’ I was tremendously excited.” Pashley rushed to the office of Dr. William Moretz (then-president of the university then called the Medical College of Georgia) and said he wanted to patent the technology. Just one problem: The university didn’t have a patent policy. But Moretz appreciated the significance of the finding and directed his staff to develop one. Once it was in place, Pashley obtained the patent — a boon to science, the university and his lab.
A SENSITIVE SUBJECT Pashley, who had joined The Dental College of Georgia in 1970 when recruited from the University of Rochester by founding Dean Judson C. Hickey (see “A Package Deal,” page 12), had drawn on his extensive training – a PhD in physiology in addition to his dental degree – to solve a vexing problem: how to eliminate the pain of tooth sensitivity. The year was 1979, and it was a resident’s research project that nudged him toward the dilemma, which was generally perceived as more annoying than crucial by the average dentist. Sure, dentists hated that some of their patients winced in pain when eating an ice cream cone or enduring a cold blast of water during a cleaning. But tooth sensitivity – the pain resulting when exposed dentin comes in contact with a shot of hot or cold air, liquid or food – was generally endured as an unavoidable evil, both by patient and clinician. But Pashley, who has never encountered an obstacle he didn’t want to overcome, welcomed the resident’s interest in seeking a solution. “Dentin looks hard as a rock, but it’s very, very porous,” Pashley says. “The pores are microscopic, so it’s really a sieve. That’s why it’s so sensitive.” Together, he and the resident began exposing dentin to various chemicals to see whether any could plug the pores that reached to the roots and caused that piercing shot of pain upon contact with the nerve. “After we knew the structure of dentin and how big the tubules were, we
‘THE RASCALS’ But a patent went only so far in tapping into the potential of the discovery. “There was no infrastructure in place,” Pashley says. “Just getting a patent doesn’t cover marketing. I couldn’t get any of the big companies interested.” He finally persuaded a small dental-materials manufacturer to partner with him in creating an oxalicacid treatment that dentists could apply in the office. continued
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DR. DAVID PASHLEY
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Pashley (center) with Drs. George Schuster (left) and Mohamed Sharawy
A PACKAGE DEAL When founding Dental College of Georgia Dean Judson C. Hickey began the school in 1969, his aspirations were as lofty as the evergrowing Augusta University skyline. He had precious few resources at hand – the school operated from a trailer and a dirt parking lot for the first three years of its existence – but Hickey had unerring instincts and an inviolable commitment to what really mattered. One of his top priorities, for instance, was to recruit a faculty with expertise not only in dentistry, but in basic science as well. “Dean Hickey set out to test a hypothesis of teaching,” says Dr. David Pashley, one of the inaugural faculty members. “He said he’d sat through too many dental lectures by physicians who knew nothing about dentistry. He set out to change that.” He wanted all of his basic science faculty to have not only a dental degree, but a PhD in an area such as physiology, oral biology or pharmacology. Such credentials were few and far between, but he found a wellspring of what he was looking for at the University of Rochester in New York. “There was a group of us who’d all gone to grad school together, then joined the Rochester faculty,” Pashley says. “We were all smart guys, but there was
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no prima donna. We worked well together and didn’t let egos get in the way.” Hickey liked what he saw and wanted a package deal. “He came and emptied Rochester out,” Pashley recalls with a laugh. The faculty were happy to move en masse to a balmier climate and fell instantly in love with Augusta. “It was such a nice change,” Pashley says. “In Rochester, I remember getting a foot of snow on my birthday – on April 24. My wife called it Rotten-chester; she couldn’t wait to get out of there. So Augusta looked awfully good to us.” The enthusiasm was palpable as the faculty embarked on starting a school from scratch. “The students and faculty had an instant rapport,” Pashley says. “Things really started off with a bang.” Pashley was among the last of that group to retire; he closed his lab in the Hamilton Wing of the Research and Education Building this spring. But although their numbers have dwindled considerably, their legacy lives on. “Dr. Hickey created just a fantastic school,” Pashley says. “It was a pleasure to be a part of it.”
The treatment was highly effective but temporary. Pashley knew the long-term solution lay in adding the chemical to everyday products such as toothpaste that people could use regularly at home. Still, the major producers of those products dragged their feet. “Patents expire in 17 years, and I saw that they were going to wait me out, the rascals,” Pashley says with a chuckle. That’s exactly what happened: As soon as the patent expired, the market exploded with products using his technology to target tooth sensitivity. Pashley adds breezily that he wasn’t entirely left out in the cold: The big guns turned to him as a consultant, a role he still plays as his technology is incorporated into an increasingly broad array of products, including dentin desensitizing strips similar to mouthwash and toothwhitening strips. And although he regrets that neither he nor the university received their full due for the discovery, Pashley has the satisfaction of knowing that the world of science took notice. He collaborates with researchers throughout the world and received the Augusta University Research Institute’s 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. His studies have been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health, the most competitive source for grant-funding, for virtually the duration of his career. “That’s your tax dollars at work,” he says with his trademark understated wink and nod.
me going to dental school?’” Pashley recalls. “I said I thought it was a good idea.” His wife recalls a less understated response. “When I asked if he thought I could do it, he said, ‘Oh, yeah! You can do anything!’” She had taught high school science during her husband’s training, and Pashley was happy to support her dreams. She applied to The Dental College of Georgia and was accepted. Her husband marvels in retrospect that she managed to keep so many balls in the air. “She would make a week’s worth of meals on Sundays and organize a week’s worth of clothes for the boys,” he says. “The kids hardly even noticed she was in school.”
MUTUAL SUPPORT And tooth sensitivity is just one of many frontiers he has conquered, having developed countless innovations in dental materials. Most recently, for instance, Pashley created a technique that significantly extends the lifespan of tooth-colored composites, making fillings and sealants much more durable. He notes wryly that his wife, while hugely proud of the accomplishment, wasn’t a big fan of that particular study. “I was about to retire when I wrote a five-year grant [seeking funding for the research],” he says. “Well, research grants are difficult to get, and I didn’t think my proposal would be approved. But they loved it.” He pauses mischievously for the upshot: “My wife said she’ll kill me if I write another five-year grant.” With the study recently completed, he retired for good this spring. And his wife wasn’t nearly as cranky about the delay as she intimated. After all, who is she to talk? Pashley and wife Edna, his college sweetheart, were raising their two young sons after moving to Augusta when she floated an idea. “We were raking pine straw in the yard one day and she said, ‘What do you think about
Pashley and wife Edna, early in their DCG tenures
SHOP TALK Upon graduation in 1979, she completed a residency in pediatric dentistry, then hung her shingle on Central Avenue in Augusta. “The boys (Steve and Tom) would walk to her office from school,” Pashley says. “I remember once she had Steve count the root tips of a tooth she’d extracted to make sure she’d gotten everything out. She handed him the bloody tooth and continued
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he backed up against the wall and started fainting.” Pashley laughs that the couple concluded their son needed more, not less, exposure to their livelihood. “I said, ‘We can’t have him fainting over a little drop of blood!’” Pashley says. Pashley himself put his sons to use when he was assisting his colleague, Dr. Gary Whitford, in a fluoride study. As study participants, both boys had to provide urine samples to determine their fluoride content. Pashley remembers son Tom quipping, “My mom’s a pedodontist (then the title of a pediatric dentist) and my dad’s a pee-dodontist.” Between bloody extracted teeth, urine samples and interminable shop talk at home, both boys opted out of following in their parents’ footsteps. “That’s what you get when you have two dentists in the house,” Pashley observes merrily. BEST FRIENDS Today, son Steve is a tax attorney in Chattanooga, and Tom is president of the Pinehurst Golf Resort in the North Carolina Sandhills. At press time, Pashley and his wife, who herself joined and retired from the DCG faculty after selling her private practice, were planning to move to the area to be closer to their grandchildren. Pashley said he might even have to consider taking up golf. “I’m a workaholic,” he concedes. “A round of golf lasts four hours. I could write half a paper in four hours.” But although he’ll miss his career, he relishes the thought of a slower pace of life, particularly considering that his college sweetheart will still be by his side to enjoy the next phase of their adventure. “She’s my best friend,” he says simply. “That’s what makes it work.” His colleagues are already mourning his retirement. Whitford, for instance, notes, “Dave and I were recruited together from the University of Rochester, and for the next 45 years, our labs have been located next to each other. Our mutual love for teaching and research produced a valuable and fruitful collaboration that will be sorely missed.” Dr. Frederick Rueggeberg, professor in the
Department of Oral Rehabilitation, heartily concurs. “Dave is a great role model for everyone to look up to and to emulate in their own lives, both personal and professional,” he says, citing characteristics including selflessness, boundless curiosity and an utter lack of ego. The latter, he says, accounts for Pashley’s generosity in sharing his expertise with others worldwide, welcoming collaboration for the good of the dental profession. Another colleague in the Department of Oral Biology, Dr. Mohamed Al-Shabrawey, admires Pashley for “thinking before he talks and delivering the right message. He is the most humble and smiling professor.” Dr. Mohamed Sharawy, professor of oral biology and like Drs. Pashley and Whitford one of the original Dental College of Georgia recruits, adds, “I consider David my best friend. He’s a well-respected and competent colleague and brother.” In addition to taking up golf, Pashley looks forward to voracious reading and writing in Dr. David Pashley with his youngest granddaughter, retirement. And his wife Smanatha Pashley doesn’t expect him to completely leave dentistry in the dust. “He’s still editing papers,” she says. “He does a very good job. And he’s always teaching himself new things. If he doesn’t understand something, he works at it, figures it out and goes from there. To me, he sometimes seems overloaded, but he just sails right through.” Whatever the future holds, Pashley says, he and his wife are excited to watch it unfold. “We’ve had a wonderful life,” he says. “Life should be a fun journey, and it has been.” n
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Dr. Frederick Rueggeberg
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PAVING THE WAY Award Recipient Fosters Goals of Students, Colleagues
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R. FREDERICK RUEGGEBERG’S explanation of his life’s work is simple: “I like to use my hands and my head.” Rueggeberg, professor and section director of dental materials in The Dental College of Georgia, has gotten more mileage from those skills than he probably ever imagined. OPTIMAL ENVIRONMENT Rueggeberg, a Delaware native, earned a master’s degree in dental materials from the University of Michigan after completing dental school at Emory University, then sought out an environment complementing his interests. “[The Dental College of Georgia] had a great reputation for innovation in dental materials, which is like engineering for dentistry,” he says. Rueggeberg joined the faculty in 1987 and immediately immersed himself not only in researching dental materials, but in teaching the skill to students, residents and colleagues. “I like both teaching and research,” he says. “It’s exciting to do an experiment; you never know how it’s going to turn out. And when you meet someone who gets interested in the project, it’s a lot of fun to work together. Once they get started, some find they really, really like it.” Over the years, those projects have included researching innovations in composites, fillings and other restorative materials. Rueggeberg often researches products in the development stage, testing
them to ensure they will deliver on whatever claims will be made to dentists or the general public upon commercialization. “It’s a limited field and a small number of companies involved in developing these products, so the higher-ups don’t change very much,” Rueggeberg says. “You get to know them personally. Some are unbelievably outstanding in terms of integrity. It’s a joy to work with them.” KEEPING THEM HONEST As for those who fall somewhat short of that ideal, well, he tries to keep them honest. “I test a whole lot more than what the company wants done,” he says. “I’m more interested in the overall science behind the innovation than in any particular product.” That being the case, much of the research he’s conducted through the years has much broader implications and applications than was necessary to fulfill his grant obligations. Recent projects include studying biologically inert materials – those that won’t leach into the mouth and create a biologic response. “One material I’m testing, for instance, claims to be very biocompatible while rebuilding enamel,” Rueggeberg says. “Some testing on it has already been done, but not as extensively as ours. The students working with me will present the research and publish our findings, if we think it’s warranted.” His latest endeavor is the next logical extension: not only working with others on individual projects, but paving the path to their own future research careers. continued
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Student Brian Jock and Dr. Alan Furness
FOSTER-ING EXCELLENCE About a year ago, Dr. Kevin Plummer, interim chairman of the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, approached Rueggeberg and two of his colleagues, Drs. Martha Brackett and Alan Furness, with a request. He asked them to conceptualize a plan to help secure more research time for overstretched faculty. So they created the FOSTER Program: Faculty Opportunity Strategies Toward Effective Research. The program partners experienced researchers with relative novices. Those
novices include junior faculty as well as select students and residents. The college reserves time for the teams to work together on a research project. Rueggeberg notes that the projects not only advance science, but teach the novice how to navigate the grant process and other intricacies involved in research. “With one project, we’re able to satisfy the needs of multitudes of requirements for promotion and tenure and prerequisites for admission into specialty programs,” he says. The projects also potentially enable the
ABOUT THE LEEPER AWARD The Omicron Kappa Upsilon Stephen H. Leeper Award for Teaching Excellence rewards significant contributions to the advancement of dental education. Recipients have implemented innovative techniques and/or exhibited consistent excellence in dental education and have established original and creative methods of educating and engrossing students, faculty and administrators. The award was established in 1997 to honor Leeper, who served on the Supreme Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon from 1969-96. He began his career in dental education in 1967 teaching removable prosthodontics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry. He retired after serving as dean of UNMC College of Dentistry from 1989-2000. He is a fellow of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists, an honorary member of the American College of Prosthodontists and a member of the Nebraska Dental Association’s Hall of Fame.
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participants to present and/or publish their research. “We try to strategically populate each project with those goals in mind,” Rueggeberg says. ‘AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY’ The program kicked off its first set of projects this summer. The participants – seven senior faculty members, 14 junior faculty members, 21 dental students and a dental scholar student – are completing a total of 16 projects. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s also an incredible opportunity,” Rueggeberg says. “We’ve made a very aggressive undertaking, but the end result is having homegrown faculty who can eventually do this independently with less and less hand-holding.” Teaching innovations such as this haven’t gone unnoticed by Rueggeberg’s colleagues. He recently received the 2016 Omicron Kappa Upsilon Stephen H. Leeper Award for Teaching Excellence. “The Leeper Award was a total surprise,” he says. “When you look at past recipients, their level of achievement is astonishing. I’m incredibly honored.” n
“I like both teaching and research. It’s exciting to do an experiment; you never know how it’s going to turn out. And when you meet someone who gets interested in the project, it’s a lot of fun to work together. Once they get started, some find they really, really like it.” –DR. FREDERICK RUEGGEBERG
Dr. Martha Brackett and Travis Garrito, senior dental student.
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HIJACKED CELLS Study Probes Cause of Periodontal Disease
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DENTAL COLLEGE OF GEORGIA periodontist is probing a case of hijacking in an attempt to cut the perpetrators off at the pass. The hijackers are oral bacteria – microorganisms that wreak havoc in the gums, potentially causing tooth loss and even systemic disease. Dr. Roger Arce, an assistant professor of periodontics, is pursuing his theory that the targets of the hijackers are dendritic cells. In a healthy mouth, these cells present antigens – molecules capable of producing an immune response – to signal the immune system to combat the bacteria. But in an unhealthy mouth, these gatekeeping cells seemingly aren’t doing their job. This enables oral bacteria to run amok – a condition called periodontal disease, which affects almost half of all Americans. “Dendritic cells are involved in the response to any infection,” said Arce, who earned a dental degree from La Universidad del Valle in his native Colombia, South America, and a PhD in oral biology and a periodontology certificate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We think that in the case of periodontal disease, the dendritic cells are prone to be hijacked by oral bacteria. This reprograms the cells to do the bidding of the oral bacteria.” To put his theory to the test, Arce and his mentor, Dr. Christopher Cutler, chairman of the Department of Periodontics and DCG associate dean of research, use genetically engineered mice depleted of dendritic cells. “This impaired function should give us insight into how the dendritic cells contribute to periodontal disease,” Arce said. “We anticipate the mice will either have less periodontal disease or more aggravated disease.” The mice offer a telling window into the physiology of humans, he noted. “We know the disease pathogenesis between humans and animals isn’t exactly the same, but our genes are, on average, close to 90 percent the same.
We have very similar genetic information. Also, we can specifically deplete genes responsible for the formation of dendritic cells to see the functional outcome, which cannot be done in other biological systems.” The stakes are higher than the public may realize. “Periodontal disease ultimately affects the tissues that support teeth,” Arce said. “As the bone gets assaulted [by bacteria], teeth start shifting and harboring a lot of bacteria. The final outcome is tooth loss, and the condition may become systemic. For instance, researchers now suspect a link between periodontal and cardiovascular disease.” U.S. rates of periodontal disease are among the highest in the world, Arce said, citing risk factors including smoking, diabetes and vitamin deficiencies. But Arce suspects a genetic predisposition as well in at least some of those with the disease, and his mice studies should help illuminate the mechanism. The researchers’ lab, the Periodontal Molecular Immunology Lab, was the first to propose this mechanism in human periodontal disease. “It’s not an exclusive mechanism, but we see it in some humans predisposed to having this condition,” he said. The research, partially funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, is a perfect fit both for Arce and the university, he said. “Augusta University offers an environment very conducive to my area of expertise,” he said. “This is a wonderful opportunity.” And he has high hopes that the study will promptly yield clinical applications. “For the first time in the lab, we’ll be able to experimentally test our hypothesis,” Arce said. “This will enable us to complete the cycle of translational research in the search for future treatment alternatives for periodontal disease in humans. I’m absolutely excited.” n
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Dr. Roger Arce
“We think that in the case of periodontal disease, the dendritic cells are prone to be hijacked by oral bacteria. This reprograms the cells to do the bidding of the oral bacteria.” –DR. ROGER ARCE
A STEALTHY MENACE As prevalent as periodontal disease is in the United States, many people with the condition are blissfully – yet dangerously – unaware that they have it. Symptoms, which are somewhat vague and relatively easy to miss, include reddened, swollen and/or bleeding gums. But only a dentist can definitively diagnose it. “X-rays and clinical exams are needed for a diagnosis, so it’s important to see your dentist regularly,” said Dr. Roger Arce, a Dental College of Georgia periodontist. In addition to regular dental checkups, Arce advices regular brushing and flossing, along with a smoke-free and otherwise healthy lifestyle. “Diet may play a role, especially when it comes to the lack of vitamins,” he said. The disease is treated by local debridement of infection, sometimes in combination with systemic antibiotics. “But we can’t cure this disease, only arrest it,” Arce stressed, adding that he hopes research like his will pave the way toward better treatment and ideally even prevention.
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SMILES IN ABUNDANCE
Students and colleagues in The Dental College of Georgia and College of Allied Health Sciences brightened the smiles of approximately 125 Augusta-area children during Give Kids a Smile Day Feb. 5. The annual event is part of a nationwide initiative providing oral health screenings and treatments to underserved children. The Give Kids a Smile program, launched nationally by the American Dental Association in 2003, has provided more than 5 million children with free oral health care. In Augusta, more than 100 students, a dozen faculty members, residents and community dentists volunteered to provide cleanings, sealants and restorative dental work to children screened from Rollins Elementary School, Heritage Academy, New Holland Mennonite School and the university’s Healthy Grandparents Program, among other locations. n
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TAKING ROOT Challenges Inspire Student to Dig Deep
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ICHAEL HALL didn’t exactly have a stereotypical reaction to the news that he needed a root canal.
procedure, enthusiastically asked if he could watch. “Dr. Goodman handed me a mirror and explained everything as he went along,” says Hall. ‘RIGHT UP MY ALLEY’ The young football player was fascinated. His experiences during those few weeks had already sold him on the kindness and integrity of everyone he encountered in dental offices. But it was the root canal – the precision, delicacy, deftness and dexterity – that sealed the deal: Hall wanted to be a dentist. “That’s when I thought, ‘This is cool,’” Hall says. “My whole life, I’d heard such terrible things about root canals, but Dr. Goodman was explaining it to me and I wasn’t in pain. He was extremely interesting and detail-oriented. It was life-altering. My perception of dental care was so far from my experience at that exact moment. It seemed fun, interesting and right up my alley. That’s the day I decided to truly take it seriously.” A dental assistant who had participated in his care was cheering him on every step of the way. “I was studying exercise physiology at the time, and she’d kept telling me, ‘You should look into dentistry,’” Hall says. “I thought, ‘Thank you, but I’m fine.’ I’d never considered dentistry as a career; it seemed beyond me. But she kept bringing it up, and after the root canal, I thought, ‘Why haven’t I considered it?’ That’s when it actually took root.”
FORGING A NEW PATH It was during a football game playing linebacker as a scholarship recipient at Georgia State University that Hall cracked a tooth. The injury compounded alreadyexisting dental problems. Growing up in a single-parent home, the native of Dublin, Georgia, was determined to forge his own path after high school without further burdening his hard-working mother. But even with his scholarship, he found himself frequently unable to make ends meet. “Periodically, I was just out there floating around, at one point for five or six months,” he says of his living arrangements. “I bounced around from couch to floor to car to wherever. I struggled so hard while I was trying to figure out who I was and what I was going to become.” He certainly didn’t have the resources to pay for extensive dental care. “Once you cap out of your insurance, everything is out of pocket,” Hall says. “I didn’t have the money to pay for it, and I didn’t want to bother my mother. She’d already sacrificed enough for me. I knew I’d never succeed if I let someone else take care of me. I didn’t want to make my life someone else’s responsibility; I wanted to make it on my own.” But Hall’s cracked tooth clued in his coaches that he had multiple oral-health issues. “The injury made a bad problem worse,” says Hall. “I was in so much pain, I didn’t think I could play anymore.” He was exceedingly grateful to his coaches for arranging dental treatment – and extremely impressed with his care. “A generalist oversaw the treatment, and I saw several specialists,” he says. “They came in on Sundays to help me out and work around my schedule.” Dr. Alan T. Goodman, an Atlanta endodontist, performed the root canal. He was happy to comply when Hall, rather than expressing dread for the
FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE Still, Hall wondered if he should take a more secure path. Dental school was hugely competitive and arduously difficult. Would he get in, and if so, could he handle the coursework? Plus, “I was being scouted by lots of different [National Football League] teams and had practiced with a couple of them,” Hall says. “I wasn’t sure what to do.” But the fascination of science he had cultivated in those dental chairs now outweighed all other considerations. “I definitely love football and knew I had a very useful skill that people would pay me to use,” he continued
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Michael Hall (Number 47) in action
Georgia State Athletics
says. “But I was ready to focus more on school.” He applied to The Dental College of Georgia, still struggling to get by. “I’d take an extra job whenever I could, but things were tight,” he says. “Basically everything I owned was in my car.” But once he was accepted to dental school, he knew he had succeeded in forging his own destiny. And whatever concerns Hall had about falling short in dental school have proved utterly unfounded. As he completed his second year of dental school this spring, he was not only excelling, he had been named national president of the Student Professionalism and Ethics Association. “I served as chapter president, then was elected the national president,” says Hall. The association sponsors lectures, workshops, discussions and other activities to impress upon dental students the importance of an ethical practice and increase the culture of ethics and professionalism in dentistry overall. Hall grants that it’s no small task to squeeze in such a weighty task amid the rigors of dental school, but he’s determined not to let a single opportunity pass him by. “Dental school is like nothing anyone can anticipate,” he says. “It’s more work than I ever imagined, but it’s a very rewarding experience. It requires an extreme amount of commitment because what we’re learning matters. It’s a privilege to be a part of it.” His financial worries were largely alleviated as well, thanks to the scholarships that have largely funded his dental education.
at the same time,” he says. “She was always taking a class here and class there, but she finally moved to Athens to finish her degree and now has a master’s in occupational therapy.” His sister is now a full-time student as well, having enrolled in the University of South Carolina after completing 10 years in the military. Hall is eminently proud of his family and says the feelings are mutual. “They pretty much support anything I do,” he says. “They trust me to make good choices.” And Michael never loses sight of the struggles that got him to this point. For instance, that car that contained his life possessions when he applied for dental school? “I still have it,” he says. “It keeps me humble.” ‘THE REFLECTION IS REAL’ After graduation, Hall hopes to specialize in oral and maxillofacial surgery, noting that his goal is “to provide more pro bono care than anyone else.” He’ll never forget dentists reaching out to him at one of the most vulnerable points in his life, and he’s eager to pay it forward. “I know what it’s like when ends don’t meet or the timing is bad for one reason or another,” he says. “I’ve found myself in those circumstances, and I want to help others in the same situation.” But as difficult as his path has been, Hall insists he wouldn’t change a thing. “The challenges in life are what taught me what I was really made of. They build character and help you understand what’s important. In those moments, the reflection is very real. It’s weird to say, but the hard times have been very motivating. They were just as much a part of the journey as the rest of it.” n
TEEMING TO-DO LIST As for finding the time to fit it all in, he says with a laugh, “I just don’t sleep a lot. Some of my best work comes at 2 or 3 in the morning, when I’ll find myself jotting down ideas. I’m very much a pen-and-paper kind of guy. My to-do list has five or six different headings, each with 40 or so different items.” He acknowledges that some parts of his life are on hold but insists he’s happy to make the sacrifices. “My social life is almost nonexistent,” he concedes. “I’m very, very focused on the future right now.” He’s proud to say that his mother and sister are on the same page. “My mom and I actually went through school
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MAKING AN IMPRESSION S
Students Seek to Increase Minority Representation “Diversity and inclusion are critical components of the effective delivery of health care. It provides a sense of relief for patients and helps build confidence and trust in the profession.”
EVERAL STUDENTS at The Dental College of Georgia have dedicated extensive time and energy lately challenging the public to consider a seemingly simple concept: Do you consider your health care providers relatable? People who pursue health careers often cite the inspiration of a caring physician or dentist they knew growing up. Of course, the more relatable that health care provider was, the more likely he or she was to serve as a role model and help the patient envision following in those footsteps. So who are the role models for children who look significantly different, or speak a different language, or have a different culture than those providing their care? That’s but one of many compelling considerations and reasons to embrace diversity and inclusion in health care, according to the students, members of the DCG chapter of the Student National Dental Association. The students hosted Impressions Day March 5, introducing over 100 undergraduates nationwide to the dental profession. The undergraduates, members of underserved and underrepresented minorities, spent the day learning about the admissions process, interacting with mentors and meeting faculty and administrators. “Diversity and inclusion are critical components of the effective delivery of health care,” says Cornelius Daniel, historian of the DCG chapter. “It provides a sense of relief for patients and helps build confidence and trust in the profession.” Atijah Collins and Marcus Cowan, president and vice president of the chapter, respectively, concur. “The underrepresentation of minority groups impacts the effective delivery of dental education by excluding representation of some of the most at-risk populations in America,” Cowan says, adding chapter members are heartened that the Impressions Program, hosted by the college annually for 19 years, is helping remedy the problem. Hispanics, African-Americans and Native Americans have significant oral health disparities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
–CORNELIUS DANIEL, HISTORIAN OF THE DCG CHAPTER OF THE STUDENT NATIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATION
The problem is exacerbated by underrepresentation of these groups in dental schools, both among students and faculty, says Daniel. “The dental profession must seek to increase those numbers and provide innovative strategies to bridge the gap,” he says. Collins and Cowan also addressed the issue during the American Dental Education Association national meeting recently in Denver, contributing to a presentation at a Student Diversity Leadership Program as DCG representatives. “We discussed many issues and trends that affect a student’s experience while matriculating through dental school,” Collins says. “The program emphasized developing an inclusive cultural climate in dental schools. It was very inspiring to meet other motivated students from diverse backgrounds who have the same goal of increasing minority enrollment and retention in dental school.” The chapter members are gratified that the college “has been on the forefront, and a strong leader, in the push for more diversity,” and they hope to help intensify those efforts. Says Collins, “There must be a more directed and strategic approach to address these inequalities.” n
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‘WHAT WE DO’ Community Pours Heart, Soul into Vidalia Clinic Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of Word of Mouth articles highlighting community-based dental rotation sites for seniors.
Department of Physical Therapy, worked with local churches and community volunteers to establish the nonprofit when she was working for an area hospital and noticed that uninsured patients were reluctant to be screened for diabetes. “They didn’t want to know,” says Stanley. “They didn’t have the money to pay for treatment.” The nonprofit was born, creating a health clinic powered by funds from local churches, businesses and generous donors. Medications are provided by a local pharmacist and from pharmaceutical companies’ medication assistance programs. The clinic was an immediate boon to the community, but Stanley quickly realized how many of its patients needed dental care as well. “We were just overwhelmed by the need,” she says. “This is a very rural, impoverished community. We’re probably in the bottom 10 [Georgia] counties in terms of health indicators.”
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N UNPAID water bill solved the mystery. A patient at the Lloyd Darby Compassionate Care Dental Clinic in Vidalia, Georgia, dolefully admitted during a recent teeth-cleaning that she hadn’t been brushing. That seemed strange. The patient was always immensely grateful for the care she received at the clinic and generally complied with oral-hygiene instructions. Only further gentle probing revealed that the patient’s water had been cut off; she hadn’t been able to pay the bill. No water, no brushing. Says Dr. Lloyd H. Darby III, for whom the clinic is named, “I called the water department and made arrangements to have her bill paid. That’s what we do.”
PERFECT TIMING Approximately five years ago, Stanley approached Darby, a third-generation dentist in south Georgia. Darby, now 78 and a graduate of Emory University, was experiencing health problems of his own – melanoma, then lung cancer – and had already been considering selling his practice. But he still wanted to stay active in dentistry, so the timing was perfect. He happily signed onto the project. The East Georgia Healthcare Federally Qualified Health Center
BOON TO THE COMMUNITY More broadly, what he and his fellow volunteers do is serve hundreds of the community’s neediest citizens, most of whom would lack access to dentistry without the clinic. The clinic is a component of Mercy Ministries, a nonprofit seeking to better serve the health needs of the community’s many impoverished citizens. Mercy Ministries’ executive director, Dr. Nancy Stanley, a 1978 graduate of the Augusta University
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“We charge just enough to keep the doors open and the lights on.” –DR. LLOYD H. DARBY III
Dr. Nancy Stanley praying with a Mercy Ministries patient, Geraldo Lira, before his appointment
Dr. Lloyd H. Darby III with one of his many accolades for community service.
provided a facility for the clinic, and The Dental College of Georgia agreed to use it as a rotation site. Two seniors at a time sign on for two-week rotations, providing dentistry supervised by Darby. Other dentists pitch in as well. For instance, Dr. Michael Frazier (’08) helped staff the clinic before opening a practice in Rochelle, Georgia, that also offers extensive care to the uninsured.
the lights on,” he says, noting that his nephew, a Vidalia physician, observed that many of their fellow citizens are as needy as those in the desperately poor country of Belarus, where he has completed mission trips. Stanley sadly concurs. “These are like Third World conditions,” she says. “I’ve seen people who’ve had strokes and are disabled for life because they couldn’t afford a fivedollar blood pressure prescription. Some of our patients had never had dental care before in their lives.” And she is eager to dispel any preconceived notions about them. “Many of the impoverished people in our community have jobs but still can’t make ends meet,” she says. “And poverty keeps them from making healthy lifestyle choices. People on low or fixed incomes, for instance, tend to shop in the middle of the grocery store [choosing inexpensive packaged items rather than fresh fruits and vegetables] and buy dollar-menu items at fastfood restaurants. Their diet isn’t about health; it’s about eating whatever is cheap. Then they’re at high risk for lifestyle-related diseases that they can’t afford to treat. The number-one reason for filing for bankruptcy in this country is medical bills.”
RIGHT AT HOME “I helped set up the clinic and get it off the ground,” Frazier says. “Growing up in a blue-collar family, the patients were the kinds of people I could relate to. I’d had a lot of experience treating underserved patients in rotations during dental school too, and I felt right at home. I grew up next to a dairy farm and worked on farms most of my childhood. I knew what it was like not to have a lot of money for health care bills.” Darby says the most satisfying aspect of this phase of his career is doing what he loves without having money factor into the equation. “We charge just enough to keep the doors open and
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SAFETY NET Mercy Ministries, including the dental clinic, is improving their lives immeasurably. Says Darby, “At first, we did mostly extractions. Now, they’re coming in for repeat cleanings, which is wonderful. We’re the safety net for people falling through the cracks.” As exemplified by Darby’s reaction to his patient’s lack of running water, Mercy Ministries seeks to address all of its patients’ needs, not just the health-related ones. “We’re offering a hand up rather than a handout,” Stanley says. “We provide diabetes education, financial counseling, worklife classes like how to make a good impression during a job interview, all those things. We’re trying to remove barriers and give people a pathway out of poverty.” She is proud to report a 100 percent employment rate among the graduates of worklife classes. “One particular client couldn’t apply for positions because he didn’t know how to use a computer, so we taught him how,” Stanley says. “Now, his 9-year-old daughter sees her daddy getting a paycheck. We’re doing it one person at a time.” LOTS OF TEARS She, Darby and the students agree that the most fulfilling part of the service is sharing in the joy and pride of those who have overcome so many obstacles. “We see lots of tears,” Stanley says. “We just had a graduation for the work-life class, and one of the graduates said he wants to come back as a volunteer, helping other people the way he was helped.” And her staff does everything possible to optimize the experience for the students completing rotations in the clinic. She usually houses the students herself during their two-week stays. “My husband and I are empty-nesters, so I love it when my bedrooms are full,” she says. “But it’s definitely a community effort. For instance, [Meadows Regional Medical Center] provides them two meals a day.” Darby, who was named the 2016 Citizen of the Year by the Toombs-Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, raves about the students he mentors. “I’m as impressed as I can be by the people who come out of Augusta,” he says. “Every one of them is different, but I see the same thing I was looking for when I was trying to sell my practice: people with bedrock ethics and top-notch
learning. I tell them they’re the best dentists in the world.” Having just had his 11th clear PET scan following cancer treatment, he plans on mentoring them for a long, long time. “I think I’m pretty good,” says Darby, who was honored with a ceremony May 1 in which his name was added to the name of the clinic. “I’m sure something’s going to knock me down eventually, but I’ll keep doing this as long as I can.” n
Dr. Grayson Griffis (‘15) is among those providing treatment at the Lloyd Darby Compassionate Care Dental Clinic.
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Bridget Lyons competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials
ENJOYING THE RIDE Alumna Balances Dentistry, Competitive Running
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HEN BRIDGET LYONS was told upon enrolling at Augusta University that dental school is a marathon, not a sprint, the message couldn’t possibly have fallen on more receptive ears. Lyons tends to liken every challenge to a marathon because many of her challenges actually are marathons.
Atlanta Track Club on her off days. She’s been so successful that she recently competed in the Olympic Trials, a qualifying half-marathon in Los Angeles. “The three fastest runners will go on to the Olympics,” Lyons says. “I didn’t make it; my goal was 2:35, but it was very, very hot, and I finished at 2:45. I wanted that time, but just being there was incredible.” Back home, she runs in all kinds of conditions: parks, trails, city streets, sometimes with teammates and sometimes solo. She loves it all. “I like variety,” she says. “If I run by myself, it’s a good time to think and decompress. If I run with other people, it’s fun to interact and push each other. I’m not the most talented runner, but as long as you’re motivated and keep your head in the game, you’re just as competitive as anyone else.”
OLYMPIC HOPEFUL “I started running in high school,” says Lyons, who earned her dental degree in 2015 and now practices in Austell, Georgia. “I grew up playing soccer, and I really loved it. I was the only one on the team who liked the running part. I started running cross-country my sophomore year in high school, then joined the University of Georgia track and field team.” Her passion for the sport was so intense that she actually built a career around it. She practices dentistry three days a week and runs competitively with the
FIRST CHOICE She applies the dedication to every other pursuit, including dentistry. “Serving the community is what I
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Submitted photo
always wanted to do,” says Lyons, who never really considered any training ground other than Augusta University. “My mom was a physician there when I was growing up (Dr. Jill Miller, who oversaw student health during her tenure) and it always felt like home. It was definitely my first choice.” The laser-like focus she cultivated on running tracks served her well in dental school, she says. “I knew it would be difficult, but it’s not anything you can actually be prepared for until you experience it,” says Lyons, noting that her only disappointment was having to put her running on the back burner during those strenuous years. “But I still loved it. It was a great school, and my class was the first to be in the new building, which was really cool. They offered us so much.” And she found the same collegiality in the classroom that she finds with her fellow runners. “My class was awesome,” she says. “We were really close, and everyone was going through the same thing. I always had someone to talk to and people to empathize with me.”
Above: Bridget Lyons (left) with Dr. Priyanka Yadav, one of her office associates Left: Lyons and Stewart Helton, also a DCG student, emerged victorious in the Augusta University Half Marathon in 2013. Lyons won medals in the women’s divisions in: 2015 (second overall), 2013 (third overall) and 2012 (second overall).
LIFETIME RELATIONSHIPS Today, she extends that empathy to her patients at Austell Smiles Dentistry. “As a patient, you can expect a warm and caring environment,” she says on the practice’s website. “Patients are my priority, and I will listen to you and understand your dental needs. My philosophy is to establish lifetime relationships with my patients.” Her fluency in Spanish is one of the many skills she has cultivated over the years to optimize her rapport with a wide variety of patients. “Being in the medical field, having the ability to reach more patients with a different language is very useful,” she says. Lyons concedes that her twin passions consume nearly every waking moment, but that suits her just fine. “I feel like everyone can make time for what’s important to them,” she says. “You balance it out and try to enjoy the ride.” n
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A MATTER OF TRUST Distinguished Alumna Forms Lifelong Bonds
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R. LOUVENIA ANNETTE RAINGE considers it the highest form of flattery that someone nodded off in her presence last week in the middle of the day. “It was a young lady having a major procedure done, and she felt so at ease, she fell asleep,” says Rainge, a 1990 graduate of The Dental College of Georgia who practices general dentistry in Augusta. “Actually, a lot of my patients fall asleep. That’s how comfortable they are.”
all very close. Even now, when we get together, we have a lot of fun laughing and talking.” JUST LIKE HOME Rainge always envisioned herself in a helping profession, and she loved to work with her hands. Dentistry seemed like a no-brainer, and the DCG was her first choice. “It was a top-ranked school, and I liked how they handled first-year students,” she says. “We were able to see patients right away, and that was very important to me.” She received multiple scholarships during dental school and received the Student National Dental Association President’s Award. After graduating, she opened a practice on Lumpkin Road in Augusta. “It’s a very rural, serene and quiet part of town,” she says, “and there are lots of blue-collar workers in the area, so it reminds me of home.”
TENDER LOVING CARE Rainge’s total dedication to her patients – a dedication that engenders their boundless trust and respect – is among the many reasons she was named The Dental College of Georgia’s 2016 Distinguished Alumna. The Alumni Association presented the award to her during Alumni Weekend April 28 through May 1. “Dr. Rainge has met and exceeded all of the qualifications GOLDEN RULE for this award,” wrote Dr. T. Barrett She has practiced long enough Trotter (’73) in his nomination letter. that now many of the patients she “She has provided outstanding served as children are now adults, leadership and service to our and Rainge treasures the strong Dr. Louvenia Annette Rainge school and our profession for over bonds she has cultivated. “I think of 20 years. She would be a distinguished alumna of whom my patients as my family,” she says. “Lots of my pediatric all in the profession of dentistry would be extremely patients have adopted me as an auntie. I know them so proud.” well, it’s sort of like having a ministry. I treat people the As a child growing up in rural Nahunta, Georgia, way I’d want to be treated.” Rainge dreamed of wrapping others in care and Rainge enjoys sports and travels extensively in her kindness, a concept she’d experienced voluminously on spare time – Europe is a favorite destination – but the receiving end as the youngest of 12 children. She she’s admittedly a workaholic. “I just really enjoy my laughs that although her siblings’ TLC was always mixed profession,” she says. “I have great colleagues, fantastic with generous doses of bossiness, her family formed the friends and wonderful patients. My profession is tightest of units. “Both of my parents worked hard and so rewarding.” n served as tremendous role models,” she says. “We were
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DR. RAINGE AT A GLANCE n Valedictorian, Brantley County High School, 1979 n Dean’s List Graduate of Georgia Southern University with bachelor’s degree in biology, 1983 n Graduate of Harvard University Predentistry Health Professions Program, 1983 n Graduate of The Dental College of Georgia, 1990 n Owner, Rainge Family Dentistry, P.C. n Honorable Fellow, Georgia Dental Association n Fellow, Pierre Fauchard Academy n Fellow, American College of Dentists n Recipient, Eastern District Dental Society President’s Award n Recipient, Georgia Dental Association Committee Award, Council on Dental Health n Recipient, Augusta Dental Society President’s Award
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Jag 20 honorees
WELCOME HOME! REUNION DINNERS, golf games, continuing education and the investiture of Augusta University President Brooks Keel were among the activities featured during the university’s Alumni Weekend April 28-May 1. Highlights included the presentation of The Dental College of Georgia Distinguished Alumnus Award to Dr. Louvenia Annette Rainge (see page 34) and the presentation of Jag 20 Awards to 20 outstanding Augusta University alumni, including DCG graduates Drs. J. Darron Alford (’10), Jay Harris (’02), Shaunta King (’10), Amish Naik (’08) and Martha Wells (’06). Jag 20 honorees are alumni under age 40 who have made a significant impact in their career, community and alma mater. n
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Dr. Amish Naik
Dr. Darron Alford
Dr. Shaunta King
Dr. Martha Wells
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DALE CRAIL, DCG DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT dcrail@augusta.edu 706-721-8614
ADVANCEMENT: PERPETUATING A LEGACY OF HELPING
CHICHE PLEDGES LEADERSHIP GIFT Dr. Gerard Chiche, director of The Dental College of Georgia’s Ronald Goldstein Center for Implant and Esthetic Dentistry, has pledged a $100,000 gift over the next five years to advance the mission of the center. “Dr. Chiche has been not only tremendously generous, but extremely humble and modest,” said Dale Crail, DCG director of development. “He initially wanted no announcement of this gift, but agreed when we suggested that it might serve as an inspiration to others. This is the very definition of a leadership gift: one of our own stepping up to immeasurably advance the mission of Georgia’s sole dental college.” Said Chiche, “I have been in dental education for almost 35 years and have learned to appreciate environments where you are judged more on your results than your intentions. That’s exactly what I found when I arrived in Augusta in 2009.” Citing the DCG’s emphasis on academic professionalism and a wholehearted commitment to second-to-none resources, Chiche felt an immediate kinship with the center he was recruited to oversee: the Ronald Goldstein Center for Implant and Esthetic Dentistry. The center uses porcelain veneers, all-ceramic crowns and implants to improve smiles with techniques ranging from minor procedures to extensive full-mouth reconstruction.
I WISH everyone could have heard the moving stories shared by two Augusta University alums at our annual Scholarship Brunch during Alumni Weekend in April. The lives of two young women, one who was working three jobs and living out of her car, were forever changed by the generosity of others. The compassion of those who shared of themselves provided the encouragement and financial means that allowed these dedicated students to pursue their educations and succeed in their lives. And after reading Michael Hall’s story on page 22, I’m certain none of these students will ever forget the help that got them through. When their time comes, I’m also certain they will do everything they can to improve the lives of others. This year, the school awarded almost $450,000 in private financial aid. That’s a lot of money. But the amount is small in comparison to the over $13 million our 334 students paid in tuition. And our tuition ranks in the middle of all U.S. dental schools. Some of our peer institutions in the Southeast award over $2 million in scholarships, and we need to compete. To continue attracting and enrolling the best dental students and maintain our status as a premier dental school, we must increase the number and amount of scholarships awarded. If someone helped you achieve your dream of attending dental school, won’t you think about giving back to those students who follow in your footsteps? Five years ago, we opened the finest dental building in the nation to provide what we believe is the finest education in the nation. Now it’s time to focus on the people who fill that building. Thank you for your support. n
Dr. Gerard Chiche
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SUBMITTED PHOTO
A Zumax microscope in use
“The gift I pledged is open-ended, with the administration free to use it at their discretion,” he said. “I want this gift to be part of the school, to be part of the team, to be what we’re about, because I believe in our growth. The bottom line is I really believe in this institution.” Chiche directs the Oral Rehabilitation Program and holds the Thomas P. Hinman Chair of Restorative Dentistry. He is a past president of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry. Chiche has written and cowritten several textbooks related to esthetic dentistry, including Esthetics of Anterior Fixed Prosthodontics; Smile Design: A Guide for Clinician, Ceramist, and Patient; and Essentials of Dental Ceramics: An Artistic Approach. n
ZUMAX DONATES MICROSCOPES Zumax Medical Co., LTD, a medical instrument company that designs and manufactures diagnostic products, has donated 12 microscopes valued at more than $140,000 to the Department of Endodontics. “These high-quality microscopes are superb,” said Dr. Franklin Tay, chairman of the department. “They are very, very useful in learning particular aspects of endodontics (the dental specialty devoted to the soft inner tissue of teeth).” Tay noted that the microscopes will be used as teaching tools for students, residents and continuingeducation participants. Two of the microscopes are clinical microscopes, which are portable, and the others are tabletop models. All feature high-definition screens. The microscopes are already operational, and the gift will include installation of a threedimensional system. “These gifts are an invaluable addition to our teaching and clinical tools,” Tay says. “We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Zumax company.” n
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CLASS NOTES DR. S. JEFFREY CREWS (’78), who practices orthodontics in Rome, Georgia, has been elected a life member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon.
Dr. Kristina Schiefelbein
DR. WILLIAM MCCLENDON (’80), who practices orthodontics in Marietta, Georgia, has been elected a life member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon. DR. TOM MCDONALD (’83), who practices restorative dentistry in Athens, Georgia, has been elected a life member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon. DRS. DALE AND DEREK MILES (’84), endodontists in Savannah, Georgia, have been elected life members of Omicron Kappa Upsilon. DR. MEAGAN CHAFFINS (’15) has been certified by the American Board of Orthodontics. DR. JOSE MORALES (’15) has been certified by the American Board of Orthodontics. DR. TYLER RATHBURN (’15) has been certified by the American Board of Orthodontics. Dr. Brooke Loftis Elmore
DR. DONNA THOMAS MOSES, who completed a periodontics residency in 1992, has been reappointed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to the Georgia Board of Community Health. She is the founder of Periodontics, Implant Dentistry and TMJ in Carrollton, Georgia. DR. BROOKE LOFTIS ELMORE, who completed a general practice residency at DCG in 2009, has been named a fellow of the American College of Dentists. She is the former director of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program and is a clinical faculty member. DR. ALAINA LEIENDECKER, who completed an endodontics residency at DCG in 2012, has been named a diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. DR. KRISTINA SCHIEFELBEIN, who completed a general practice residency at DCG in 2013, has been named a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry.
IN MEMORIAM DR. ROBERT L. GORDON (’73) died May 31 at age 68. Gordon opened the first dental practice in Belvedere, South Carolina, where he served the community for 45 years. Survivors include wife Cynthia, four children and nine grandchildren. DR. PAUL J. LASALA (’75) died April 15 at age 69. LaSala, a Vietnam veteran,
practiced in Claxton, Georgia, for over 40 years. He enjoyed motorcycles and bodybuilding and was named overall Masters National Bodybuilding Champion in the over-60 men’s division in 2007. DR. DAVID R. THOMASON (’80) died May 12 at age 62. He practiced dentistry in Augusta, Georgia. Survivors include wife Karen and children Tiffany, Lindsey and Michael.
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DR. ROBERT L. STONE (’95) died May 1 in Columbus, Georgia, at age 46. He served as a maxillofacial surgeon in the U.S. Army at Brook Army Medical Center, as well as overseas in South Korea, Honduras and Afghanistan. Survivors include his parents, William and Diane Stone, sister Dawn and brothers David and Timothy.
DCG BIDS SAD FAREWELL TO PHENOMENAL SUPPORTERS DR. JOSEPH M. GREENE JR. A 35-year career devoted to the health needs of children is a stellar legacy in and of itself, but the family of Dr. Joseph M. Greene Jr. wanted that legacy carried even further. The family of Greene, who completed his pediatric dentistry residency at The Dental College of Georgia in 1977, established The Joseph M. Greene Jr. Endowed Lectureship at The Dental College of Georgia upon his April 11 death at age 66. “Joey was a tremendous individual, and his family loved him dearly,” said Dr. P.D. Miller, Greene’s brother-in-law and a Memphis, Tennessee, periodontist. “The Dental College of Georgia meant so much to him, and we could think of no better place to honor his legacy.” A patient remembers him as “always kind, gentle and caring,” with “patience and calm [that] made it easy on the kids he cared for. He was a blessing to all of us.” DCG administrators gleaned his compassion and dedication early on. “When he [began his residency], I could immediately tell he was a very good dentist,” said Dean Emeritus David Myers. “By the time he completed it, he had earned the respect and admiration of his fellow residents and the pediatric dentistry faculty. We all knew he would be an outstanding children’s dentist.” Greene went on to serve the children of the Harrisonburg, Virginia, area for almost four decades, serving as a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Dental Association and Virginia Dental Association. His family was able to tell Greene about the lectureship shortly before he died. “He was very much moved by the gesture and humbled to know that he would be long remembered in this way,” said Miller, who will deliver the inaugural Greene Lectureship next year. To contribute to the lectureship, which is housed in the Georgia Health Sciences Foundation, Inc., visit giving.gru.edu/ makeagift. n
Dr. David Owings
Dr. Joseph M. Greene Jr.
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Submitted photo
Historical Collections and Archives, Robert B. Greenblatt, MD Library
DR. DAVID OWINGS Citing his characteristics of unparalleled honesty, integrity and loyalty, The Dental College of Georgia bade a sad farewell to Dr. David Owings (Class of ’73) upon his death March 8 at age 78. “He was an amazing benefactor in so many ways and for so many years,” said DCG Associate Dean Carole Hanes, who worked closely with him over the years in his role as a member of the Admissions Committee. His committee membership was but one of many forms of volunteer service to his alma mater. Owings, who practiced general dentistry in North Augusta, South Carolina, for over 40 years, also served on the MCG Foundation Board of Directors, mentored many students, hosted social events and otherwise served as an unflagging supporter. “He was very supportive and loyal to DCG,” Hanes said. “He was so generous and so very proud of his alma mater. I can’t say enough about his contributions. We miss him already.” Owings’ son, Dr. Alan Owings (Class of ’92), noted that nothing came more naturally to his father than rolling up his sleeves for others. In addition to logging long hours at his North Augusta practice, Owings participated in 10 South American mission trips and never missed an opportunity to lend a helping hand. “I’d run into people all the time saying, ‘I saw your dad at Sno-Cap (a local eatery) and he treated me to lunch,’” his son recalled. “He just loved people.” Owings, who was named a Dental College of Georgia Distinguished Alumnus and a North Augusta Chamber of Commerce Small Business Person of the Year, continued his service even after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2005. “He took it pretty hard, but he adapted,” his son said. “And for several years after that, he continued coming into the office, checking hygiene after patients had their teeth cleaned.” But he knew the practice was in good hands, manned both by his son and his daughter, Dr. Rebecca Owings Sams, also a 1992 alumna. “I think Becky’s and my graduation from DCG just made his commitment that much stronger,” his son said. Other survivors include wife Wilma, daughter Tina Morris, seven grandchildren and one greatgrandchild.
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SUMMER 2016
HAVING A BALL Our Fall Frolic on Oct. 30 was one of many fun and festive activities hosted by the dental college during the 2015-16 school year. See page 2 for more information.
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