Dr. Lawrence Huber, DDS'60, received the Creighton University School of Dentistry's Alumni Merit Award during the Spring Dental Assembly in April.

Dr. Huber is Director of Occlusion at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry and has a private practice, specializing in prosthodontics, in Davenport.

Dr. Huber practiced general dentistry in Davenport for 12 years, from 1962 to 1974, following two years in the U.S. Air Force. He joined the University of Iowa College of Dentistry full time as an Instructor in Prosthodontics in 1975.

Dr. Huber currently is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Prosthodontics at Iowa. His primary teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate occlusion and temporomandibular disorders, as well as fixed and removable prosthodontics at the junior level.

The Creighton alumnus is on the advisory board of NGA Associates and is a past trustee of Seminars for Occlusal Studies. He also has served as past chairman of the Section on Dental Anatomy and Occlusion of the American Association of Dental Schools.

Dr. Huber was the 1997 Program Chairman for the American Equilibration Society and served on the Test Construction Committee on Dental Anatomy and Occlusion for the American Dental Association.

Dr. Huber and his wife, Coletta (Denniston), BA'60, have six grown children, all of whom are Creighton graduates. They are: Marion, BS'93; Margaret, BSBA'91; Mary Huber Mitchell, BSN'86; Mark, BSBA'83, JD'86; Daniel BSBA'88; and John, BA'85, JD'88.

Delta Dental Supports Service Mission

Dennis R. Higginbotham, DDS'67, Assistant Dean for Clinical Affairs, has received a $7,020 grant from Delta Dental Plan of Nebraska to help the School expand dental services for indigent patients. The School traditionally has worked closely with various agencies in the community to provide dental care to individuals who may not otherwise receive care or the level of care needed. The grant from Delta Dental will assist the School in this important part of our mission.

School Hosts Recognition Dinner

The School of Dentistry and the Development Office hosted the second annual School of Dentistry Recognition Dinner for Creighton Society and Dean's Club members in conjunction with the Spring Dental Assembly in April. Creighton President the Rev. Michael G. Morrison, S.J., and Michael Leighton, Vice President for University Relations, attended the event and addressed the group.

Student Presents Paper at UT

Senior Michelle Taylor presented a paper titled "Microleakage of Sealants Placed with Self-Etching Conditioners" at the University of Tennessee Student Research Symposium. This symposium, cosponsored with the Hinman Dental Association, brought pre-doctoral students from more than 40 dental schools together to present findings from student-conducted research.

A Lost Treasure

On March 2, the Board of Trustees at Northwestern University decided to close its 107-year-old School of Dentistry at the end of the 2000-2001 academic year.

Marvelous history

One of the nation's premier dental schools, the Northwestern University School of Dentistry has enjoyed a marvelous history.

It was co-founded by G.V. Black, who served as Dean and who is known as the father of modern dentistry and pioneer of a science-based profession.

The original chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (1914), an honorary dental society that recognizes scholarship and professionalism, was formed at Northwestern.

The school played a prominent role in dental materials research, which led to the development of materials used in modern dental treatment.

Located only a few blocks from the headquarters of the American Dental Association in Chicago, the school also played a major role in shaping policies and standards for dental health care throughout the world.

Why the closure?

All the trends and forecasts are positive for dental education and the profession. A 1995 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science recommended that dental school enrollments remain stable. Applications for enrollment in dental schools have steadily increased over the last several years. The dentist-to-patient ratio in 1985 was 60 dentists for every 100,000 Americans; today, it is 55 dentists for every 100,000.

We will probably never know all the reasons for the decision to close Northwestern's School of Dentistry. It is clear that the school was not valued by the parent university. The resulting loss of one of the nation's most prestigious private schools is a truly sad event for dentistry.

Wonderful support at Creighton

As a private dental school, we at the Creighton University School of Dentistry are fortunate to have wonderful support from our alumni and friends.

We also have enjoyed unstinting support from the Jesuits at Creighton to maintain academic and clinical excellence and to foster research that improves the science base for dentistry.

During this time, when dentistry has lost a treasure, we need to pause and reflect on the treasure we have here at Creighton University _ an excellent dental school with a proud past, well-respected alumni, quality students and a very bright future of educating our students to serve the health care needs of society while embracing Jesuit ideals and values.

Wayne W. Barkmeier, DDS, MS

Dean, School of Dentistry

Faculty News & Notes

Dr. Barkmeier, along with Dr. Mark Latta, Assistant Dean for Research and Continuing Education and Director of the Center for Oral Health Research, participated in an Investigators Conference on a new single step conditioner/primer for adhesive dentistry in Frankfurt, Germany, this past December. The conference was hosted by the DeTrey Division of Dentsply International (Konstanz, Germany) and featured results of both laboratory and clinical research using the new material. Presentations were made by Drs. Barkmeier and Latta and investigators from five European dental schools. Creighton is the only U.S. dental school conducting clinical trials with this new adhesive system.

Drs. John Mattson, Associate Professor and Chair of Periodontics; Richard Blankenau, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; and Joseph Keene, Professor and Chair of Oral Biology; recently had an article titled "Use of an Argon Laser to Treat Drug-Induced Gingival Overgrowth" published in the January 1998 issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association.

Dr. Latta recently lectured in Israel on modern esthetic restorative dental materials. He lectured in Tel Aviv at a seminar to 150 dentists sponsored by Healthco Israel and also to the Department of Conservative Dentistry at the Tel Aviv University School of Dental Medicine.

Student Poster Places 4th at Research Forum

Junior dental student Woon Yi won fourth place for his poster presentation at the Mid-West Student Biomedical Research Forum held in Omaha Feb. 21. His was among 80 posters.

Dr. Ocanto Presents Paper at HDA Meeting

Dr. Romer Ocanto, Assistant Professor of Community and Preventive Dentistry, presented his paper "Socio-Cultural Competence: A Public Health Issue" at the Annual Meeting of the Hispanic Dental Association held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 16-17.

During the same meeting, Dr. Ocanto chaired the scientific poster presentation and was the moderator of a symposium titled "Current Topics on Oral Health Related to Hispanic Populations."

Dr. Ocanto also presented his paper "SCC-NET: An Electronic Network for Information Concerning Socio-Cultural Competence in Health Care" at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 15-18.

School Signs Compact

Creighton University has signed a compact with the state of Nevada guaranteeing up to five positions in the School's first-year class. Applicants must be certified as residents by the state of Nevada and evaluated as qualified by the School's Admissions Committee. Those students selected to enter through this compact have approximately two-thirds of their tuition costs paid by the state for their four years of dental education. Competition for the positions is intense and selected students have outstanding qualifications.

School Hosts Alumni Retreat in the D.R.

The School hosted an alumni retreat in the Dominican Republic in January at Creighton's Institute for Latin American Concern. Dr. James Howard, Associate Professor of Comprehensive Dentistry, and his wife, Joan, served as hosts. Alumni participants were Doug Holmes, DDS'80, his wife, Marcie; Robert R. Brady, DDS'59, his wife, Dolores; Al Posey, DDS'65, his wife, Ruth; and Liz Sambol, DDS'85, her husband, David, MD'84.

Students Donate Blood

Nearly 40 dental students donated more than 33 units of blood during an American Red Cross blood drive at the School. Twenty-seven students gave blood for the first time.

School Redesigns Ethics Curriculum

By Dr. Jos Welie

Center for Health Policy and Ethics & Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry

The discipline of dental ethics is rapidly evolving both nationally and internationally.

In view of these challenging changes, the School has embarked on a thorough redesign of its dental ethics curriculum.

The backbone of the new curriculum is formed by the three-part "Ethics in the Practice of Dentistry" course.

The first component of this course is offered to the freshmen students and focuses on foundational issues. The second component revolves around clinical-ethical issues and may be relocated to the summer semester between the junior and senior year. The third component deals with practice standards and quality assurance and is offered to the senior students.

An exciting new element in the dental ethics courses is the introduction of small group case discussions.

Freshmen students analyze four cases pertaining to informed consent and patient confidentiality. In the clinical issues course, another four cases are discussed concerning the duty to treat and third-party relationships. The latter cases are introduced by specific letters of request for ethical advice by hypothetical dentists. The small groups are designed to operate as ethics committees providing such advice.

This problem-based format for dental ethics education has greatly improved the clinical relevance of ethics education. It also has fostered students' awareness that dental ethics is not simply a matter of personal opinion, but of carefully researched and properly argued reasoning.

Abstracts

The following abstracts recently were presented by faculty and students at the meetings of the American Association of Dental Schools and the American Association for Dental Research:  R Ocanto*. Computer-Based Instruction of Dental Public Health. J. Dent. Edu. 62:100 (Abstract 69), 1998  GC Brundo, W O'Brien*. Characteristics Identified by Deans as Essential for Success. J. Dent. Edu. 62:112 (Abstract 116), 1998  MJ Purcell*, RJ Blankenau. Factors That Affect Dental Sealant Microleakage. J. Dent. Res. 77:130 (Abstract 196), 1998  AW Summers*, MA Latta, RW Ellis, WW Barkmeier. Microleakage of Sealants Placed with Different Enamel Conditioners. J. Dent. Res. 77:130 (Abstract 197), 1998  RM Pitruzzello*, MA Latta, WW Barkmeier. Microleakage Evaluation of KB-1300: A Prototype Multipurpose Adhesive System. J. Dent. Res. 77:130 (Abstract 198), March 1998  MA Latta, TM Wilwerding*, WW Barkmeier. Laboratory Evaluation of One-Components Dental Adhesives. J. Dent. Res. 77:132 (Abstract 216), March 1998  WW Barkmeier*, MA Latta. Laboratory Evaluation of MP-100: A Prototype Metal Bonding Agent. J. Dent. Res. 77:153 (Abstract 382), March 1998.  JW Smith, DE Nilsson*, MA Latta. Clinical Evaluation of a Non-Methylmethacrylate Denture Base Material. J. Dent. Res. 77:163 (Abstract 461), 1998  MA Latta, DM Barnes, WT Cavel, RJ Blankenau, RM Blitzer*, KM Wuertz. Clinical Evaluation of a Hydrophilic Impression Material. J. Dent. Res. 77:166 (Abstract 482), 1998  P Wangemann, F Dowd*, W Zeng. Measurement of ATP Release in Rat Parotid Slices. J. Dent. Res. 77:231 (Abstract 1007), 1998  J Brown*, RJ Blankenau, GL Powell. Comparison of VLC vs. Laser Polymerization Effects on Orthodontic Brackets. J. Dent. Res. 77:234 (Abstract 1025), 1998  MA Latta, WW Barkmeier, PT Triolo, WT Cavel*, RJ Blankenau. Three-Year Clinical Evaluation of Z-100 in Posterior Restorations. J. Dent. Res. 77:236 (Abstract 1046), March 1998  G Westerman*, J Hicks, C Flaitz, R Blankenau, L Powell. Surface Morphology of Root Surfaces After Argon Laser and APF Treatment. J. Dent. Res. 77:247 (Abstract 1135), March 1998  MA Latta, WW Barkmeier, Laboratory Evaluation of the Solid Bond Adhesive System. J. Dent. Res. 77:259 (Abstract 1225), March 1998  MA Latta, WW Barkmeier, WP Kelsey*. Laboratory Evaluation of KB-1300: A Prototype Multipurpose Adhesive System. J. Dent. Res. 77:259 (Abstract 1230), March 1998  MA Jergenson*, JM Barton. The Occurrence of TMJ Disc Perforations in an Aging Population. J. Dent. Res. 77:264 (Abstract 1272), 1998  RW Ellis*, MA Latta, KD Moses. Shear Bond Strengths of Cements to Stainless Steel Crown Material. J. Dent. Res. 77:274 (Abstract 1348), 1998  CW Wilcox*, MP Akhter. Validation of a 3-D Finite Element Model for Human Teeth. J. Dent. Res. 77:277 (Abstract 1371), March 1998  RJ Blankenau*, GL Powell, J Newcomb. Light Transmission Via Veneers Using Laser or VLC Units. J. Dent. Res. 77:279 (Abstract 1392), March 1998  J Newcomb*, RJ Blankenau, GL Powell. Softstart Polymerization Using VLC or Argon Laser. J. Dent. Res. 77:280 (Abstract 1396), 1998  AH Orozco, JJ Perez, AM Franco, RA Ocanto*. Periodontal Treatment Needs of an Isolated Colombian Community. J. Dent. Res. 77:288 (Abstract 1460), March 1998.