Falls named director of Dental Hygiene Program

Professor Emily Falls, RDH, BSDH, MAEd

Professor Emily Falls, RDH, BSDH, MAEd, has been appointed director of the Dental Hygiene Program at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Falls brings more than a decade of experience in dental hygiene education, clinical practice, and academic leadership. She joins the School of Dentistry from College of the Mainland, where she served as program director and assistant professor in the Department of Dental Hygiene.

During her tenure at College of the Mainland, Falls led the development and launch of a new dental hygiene associate degree program. Her responsibilities included curriculum design, faculty recruitment, facilities planning, and oversight of the construction of a 20-chair dental clinic and instructional lab. She developed curriculum and assessment measures for all 18 courses and successfully submitted accreditation materials to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and the Commission on Dental Accreditation, earning initial accreditation with no recommendations.

In addition to her academic leadership, Falls supervised faculty and staff, managed a departmental budget of up to $1 million, and led student admissions, marketing, and community outreach efforts. She also served on multiple collegewide committees, including the Faculty Senate and the Faculty Rank and Promotion Committee.

Prior to joining College of the Mainland, Falls held faculty appointments at San Joaquin Valley College and Cypress College, where she taught didactic, clinical, and laboratory courses across the dental hygiene curriculum. Her clinical background includes nearly a decade of private practice experience, including work with periodontists and prosthodontists in California.

Falls earned her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from Wichita State University and her Master of Arts in Education, with an emphasis on curriculum design and instruction, from the University of Massachusetts Global. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Healthcare Education Leadership at Nebraska Methodist College of Health Sciences.

Nikola Angelov, DDS, MS, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Periodontics and Dental Hygiene, announced the appointment to School of Dentistry faculty in December.