Dental Hygiene

Mu Lambda Chapter Brother Ryle Bell and Brother Reginald Salter both participated as expert panelist as apart of the Surgeon General Initiative Health Series on Dental Hygiene featuring the Fraternity’s Surgeon General, Brother Dr. Jeffrey E. Sterling, and a host of other expert panelists. Please check it out on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/SphinxTV1906.

Brother Ryle A. Bell, DDS, MS, FACD

Brother Dr. Ryle A. Bell is a Professor Emeritus in the College of Dentistry at Howard University. He was born in Barbados, West Indies, emigrating to the United States in 1964, where he attended New York City Community College majoring in Dental Laboratory Technology graduating Magna Cum Laud in 1966. He was a student-athlete, lettering in track and fencing and serving as captain of the fencing team during his tenure. On graduation, he was awarded the 1966 Otto Klitgord Award presented to the student-athlete for outstanding athletic performance while maintaining the highest GPA. In 1969 he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Long Island University and continued his studies at the Howard University College of Dentistry where he received his DDS degree in 1973. He was the first recipient of the Barbados National Development Scholarship in Dentistry and was elected into the prestigious Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor society as an outstanding student. On graduating he was appointed to the dental faculty as an Instructor in the Department of Removable In 1974 he was awarded a Louise C. Ball Fellowship to attend the Ohio State University where he studied Prosthodontics under Dr. Carl O Boucher, one of the world’s most eminent Prosthodontists. After earning his Certificate of Specialty in Prosthodontics and a Master’s Degree from the Ohio State University, he returned to the Howard University College of Dentistry to rejoin the faculty in the Department of Removable Prosthodontics where he served for forty years until his retirement in 2013. During his tenure as a member of the dental faculty, he rose to the academic rank of full Professor and has served both as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, the position that he held at his retirement.

Brother Bell has presented many lectures nationally and internationally, particularly in the Caribbean, and has published many articles in the dental literature. He has also been selected by his peers in the College of Dentistry at Howard University to receive the Distinguished Teacher Award as well as the Distinguished Alumni Award and has been chosen on many occasions by the students as an outstanding clinician and lecturer. In 1982 he was elected into Sigma Xi, the National Science Research Society, and selected as a Fellow of the American College of Dentists.

He has also been a significant resource person to Caribbean dental education. He had served two terms as an external examiner to the University of the West Indies’ Dental School located in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago, and has served as an evaluator on-site visit teams for Dentistry on behalf of the Caribbean Accreditation for Medicine and other Health Professionals. In addition, he was appointed to serve as a member of the Board of Accreditation for Medicine and other Health Professions for the Caribbean, (CAAM-HP) and participates in evaluation site visits for dental schools in the Caribbean.

Brother Bell was elected the first Chairman of the Board of the DC division of the March of Dimes, a position that he held for four years, where he has worked to help decrease the premature birthrate in the Washington, DC area and continues to participate annually in the Washington, DC, March for Babies through the Omicron Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity seated in southwest Washington, DC.

Brother Bell was duly initiated into the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, April 1, 1977, through the Omicron Lambda Alpha chapter in Washington, DC. He has been its Historian and Dean of Intake as well as serving in several other capacities. In 1985, he became a

charter member of the Omicron Eta Lambda chapter in Washington DC, serving as its President and Chapter Dean as well as in several other offices. Currently, he is the President of the chapter’s Education Foundation. He is also a member of Mu Lambda chapter and served as its Chapter Dean in beta testing the new IMDP process in addition to being a member of its Housing Foundation.

Brother Reginald Salter, Ph.D.

Brother Dr. Reginald Salter was raised in rural Georgia, a fact of which he is, to this day, proud. Brother Salter knew in sixth grade he would pursue a career in dentistry, growing up in a home where dental care was not an option. He committed to studying tirelessly in school and was awarded a scholarship to Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans where he received the Bachelor of Science. He went on to obtain a Doctorate in Dental Surgery from Howard University College of Dentistry in Washington DC. Brother Salter completed the advanced general dentistry residency in the U.S. Navy and served four years as a Lieutenant in the Dental Corps. While strategizing his next move in life, he pursued and received the MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix. Following his career in the Navy, Brother Salter returned to the Washington metropolitan area to practice with the National Health Service Corps and eventually opened a private practice in Waldorf, MD.

Inspired by students seeking entry into dental school who often shadowed in his practice, Brother Salter began spending his off day as an adjunct faculty member at the College of Dentistry at Howard University where he taught practice management and was a clinical instructor. He made the ultimate decision last year to retire from private practice after 20 years to pursue a career in dental education full time. In 2018, Brother Salter defended his dissertation on learning styles and accommodations for dental students diagnosed with a learning disability to receive a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Northcentral University. Brother Salter’s dissertation research centered around the implementation of learning styles of dental students diagnosed with a learning disability in curriculum design and accommodations strategies that will enhance student learning and test performance, mentorship of students of color interested in healthcare professions, developing strategies to introduce healthcare fields and admissions requirements for students at an early age of learning, and increasing diversity of practitioners in dentistry. He is also passionate about serving communities where access to care is not optimal. Brother Salter leads groups of students and alumni from Howard University to areas of Jamaica annually where this mission may be carried out.

He is currently an Assistant Professor of Restorative Dentistry at Howard University where he serves as Director for Student Activities and Programs. He is recipient of the professor of the year award in 2017 and 2019 at the College of Dentistry, 2019 Howard University Alumni Service Award, and 2019 Young Doctors DC Community Leader Award. He is a member of various dental associations, a Recruiting Alumnus for Xavier University of Louisiana, Founder of Delta Mu Chi Fraternity, Inc- a brotherhood for minority men in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy, an initiate of Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society, initiate of Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, and is a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Other Panelist included:

Ms. Tamana Spingher, RDH Brother Jay R. Anderson, DMD, MHSA Brother Roosevelt Allen, D.D.S., MAGD, ABGD