Findings showcased at annual Student Table Clinic

Students and residents of UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry shared findings and practiced their presentations on an array of topics at the 2022 Student Table Clinic on March 5 in the Denton A. Cooley, MD, and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, University Life Center.

Certificates and monetary prizes were awarded for outstanding work in three categories (dental student; dental hygiene student; and resident). Funding for the awards were provided through the School of Dentistry’s Office of the Dean. The Houston Section of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research gave an additional $50 cash prize to the winner of each category, while the UTSD Alumni Association also recognized dental student honorees. The top finishers were:

• Dental Student Category:
  • First Place ($1,000): Meghna Dara, third year, “Reliability of Oral Health Risk Assessment Value Index,” sponsor: Shawn Adibi, DDS
  • Second Place ($500): Ho Bin Chun and Benjamin Scarpino, third years, “Eyes as a Window to the Soul: Diagnosing Systemic Conditions by Ocular Manifestation,” sponsors: Emily Gardner, DDS; Cleverick (C.D.) Johnson, DDS; and Ben Warner, DDS, MD
  • Third Place ($250): Clinton Matkins and J. Caleb Russell, fourth years, “Beyond the Oral Cavity: Depression in Dentistry,” sponsors: Deborah Franklin, DDS; and Kathy Gibson, DDS
• Dental Hygiene Student Category (Second-Year Student Groups):
  • First Place ($1,000): Ngoc Le, Tiffany Ly, and Vy Nguyen; “Keep Your Smile at Peak Performance: Oral Health Issues in Athletes,” sponsor: Ruth Conn, RDH
  • Second Place ($500): Jose Alamillo, Christian Leonardo, Nicholas Mucci, and Martin Reiman; “Vitamin Deficiencies and Oral Manifestations,” sponsor: Harold Henson, RDH, PhD
  • Third Place ($250): Terisa Khuu, Kathy Lam, and Jasmine Meng; “Oral Health and Alcohol,” sponsor: Ruth Conn, RDH
• Resident Category:
  • First Place ($1,000): Asia Inagaki, DDS, “Injectable Composite as a Minimally Invasive Restorative Technique Prior to Full Mouth Reconstruction – A Clinical Case Report,” sponsor: Donald Belles, DDS
  • Second Place ($500): Jeung Cho, DMD, “Improving Local Anesthesia in Inflamed Tissues,” sponsor: Michael Chan, DDS
  • Third Place ($250): Austyn Grissom, DMD; and Ingmar Andrea Hernandez, DMD; “Treating Nerve Injury After Endodontic Microsurgery Using Photobiomodulation: A Case Report,” sponsor: Juliana Barros, DDS; Timothy Kirkpatrick, DDS; and Eva Stanley, DDS

For winning the dental student category, Dara was named the recipient of the Student Competition for Advancing Dental Research and Its Application Award. The SCADA Award is presented by Dentsply Sirona and AADOCR to winners of U.S. dental school research competitions.

Additionally, PACE Center Practice Consulting offered the W. Kenneth Horwitz, DDS, Table Clinic Award for Discussion of Ethics and Professionalism. The awardees were as follows:

• First Place ($1,000): Austyn Grissom, DMD; and Ingmar Andrea Hernandez, DMD; “Treating Nerve Injury After Endodontic Microsurgery Using Photobiomodulation: A Case Report,” sponsors: Juliana Barros, DDS; Timothy Kirkpatrick, DDS; and Eva Stanley, DDS
• Runner-Up ($850): Jackson Valencia, third-year dental student, “Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis of Invisalign Attachment Wear,” sponsor: F. Kurtis Kasper, PhD
• Finalist ($500): Diego Rivas and Reda Syed, third-year dental students, “Munchausen by Proxy,” sponsors: Deborah Franklin, DDS; Cleverick (C.D.) Johnson, DDS, Maria Latortue, DDS; and Ben Warner, DDS, MD

The 2022 Student Table Clinic featured 38 presentations (21 DDS, three DH, and 14 resident). The event’s brochure can be found online, and a photo gallery is available on Flickr.

The Student Table Clinic is a time-honored tradition of the Greater Houston Dental Society and UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. Sponsors included the School of Dentistry’s Office of the Dean and the PACE Center; the Denton A. Cooley, MD, and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, Endowment Fund for Dental Education; and the UTSD Alumni Association.