Sly named International Dentist Education Program director

UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry has named Marilia Mattos Sly, DDS, MSD, as its inaugural director of the International Dentist Education Program, effective April 16.

The faculty position will oversee the clinical activities of the School of Dentistry’s new innovative program offering a 27-month pathway to a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree for internationally trained dentists. The program will begin in mid-May with a preadmission program consisting of five students.

Sly reports directly to the associate dean for student and academic affairs and works closely with the associate dean for patient care, assistant dean for clinical education, director for education and assessment, and clinical leadership.

Additionally, Sly will initially work closely with Maria Loza, DMD, MS, chair of the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics, who has been instrumental in developing this new program and getting us to this point as part of her recently completed American Dental Education Association Council of Deans Fellowship.

In most states, internationally trained dentists are not eligible for dental licensure unless they obtain either a Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry degree from a Commission on Dental Accreditation-approved school or complete an accredited residency program of at least two years in length. However, the International Dentist Education Program establishes a two-year track to allow an accelerated timeframe for internationally trained dentists with substantial clinical competence and experience to obtain their DDS degree.

Sly, an associate professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and Prosthodontics, joined the dental school faculty in 2014. She earned her dental degree and endodontics certificate in 1996 in Brazil and her Master of Science in Dentistry in 2006 from Indiana University School of Dentistry, where she served on the faculty as an assistant professor for eight years. Her master’s work investigated the adhesion of endodontic sealers to radicular dentin.

At the School of Dentistry, Sly participates in preclinical and clinical teaching and research. She is actively involved in the integration and use of CAD/CAM technology in the dental curriculum.