Red Practice named 2024-25 Digital Dentistry Practice of the Year
Red Practice completed 95 digital fixed restorations, accounting for 26% of all restorations. Photo by Shyam Tailor.
The Red Practice at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry has been named the 2024-25 Digital Dentistry Practice of the Year.
The Digital Dentistry Practice of the Year is awarded to the group practice that completes the highest number of computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) cases with the lowest remake rate during the academic year. The winning group practice is calculated based on the average number of cases done by third- and fourth-year students in each practice in relationship to the remake rate. CAD/CAM software is used to digitally scan, design, and generate dental restorations such as crowns and bridges.
Dental students in the Red Practice averaged three restorations per student with the lowest remake rate during the 2024-25 academic year to claim the digital dentistry title. This is the third time Red Practice has taken the honors since the award’s inception during the 2019-20 academic year, with previous wins in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
Director of Digital Dentistry Michelle Thompson, DDS, Assistant Director of Digital Dentistry Victoria Vo, DDS, and Patricia Enriquez, a representative of Ivoclar Vivadent, presented the trophy to Red Practice in an afternoon celebration on Dec. 2 in the Fullerton Classroom. Ivoclar Vivadent also provided a taco bar and cake for the group practice and attendees who support the digital dentistry efforts of the School of Dentistry.
“It’s such an honor for me to be here to honor all of you through your hard work over the past year,” said Thompson. “Next year is going to be a big year with transitioning all of our software and getting new scanners, so I can see this practice doing double, or even triple, what you’re doing now.”
School of Dentistry clinics, which encompasses all five group practices, advanced education programs, and UT Dentists, combined to complete over 400 digitally generated restorations in 2024-25. Red Practice completed 95 digital fixed restorations, accounting for 26% of all restorations.
Thompson created the award in the fall of 2019 as a friendly competition between the faculty and students of the five group practices to encourage them to utilize CAD/CAM technology to more efficiently care for patients.
Digital Dentistry Practice of the Year:
2024-25: Red Practice
2023-24: Red Practice
2022-23: Orange Practice
2021-22: Red Practice
2020-21: Orange Practice
2019-20: Orange Practice
