Students, residents exhibit findings at 2024 Scientific Table Clinic

Students and residents of UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry shared findings and practiced their presentations on an assortment of topics at the 2024 Scientific Table Clinic on March 19 in the Denton A. Cooley, MD and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS University Life Center.

The 2024 Student Table Clinic featured 55 presentations (23 DDS, 12 DH, and 20 resident).

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 certificates to the winner of each category, while the UTSD Alumni Association also monetarily recognized dental student honorees. The top finishers were:

• Dental Student Category:
  • First Place ($1,000): Shawn Nguyen, first year, “Analyzing the Tumor Immune Microenvironments of the ROC1 Oral Cavity and Flank Tumor Models with tSNE,” sponsor: Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD
  • Second Place ($500): Nour Hilal, third year, “ETFU-2 and SYF-3 are required for the post-transcriptional regulation of ZIP-10,” sponsor: Ransome van der Hoeven, PhD
  • Third Place ($250): Sally Wang, third year, “Assessment of Perceived Utility for Integrating Packing Retraction Activity within Preclinical Labor,” sponsors: Marilia Sly, DDS, MSD; Michelle Thompson, DDS
• Dental Hygiene Student Category (Second-Year Student Groups):
  • First Place ($1,000): Eric Arroyo, Lucas Ly, and Aladdin ZamZam; “Renew Your Smile with Stem Cells,” sponsor: Sumayyah King, RDH, MS
  • Second Place ($500): Giovanna Prado and Evelyn Salinas; “Lighting the Path to Relief: Laser Acupuncture for Parkinson’s Disease,” sponsor: Julianna Barros, DDS, MS
  • Third Place ($250): Jaibao Xu, “Staining and Aging dependent Gloss of Could-Shade and One-shade Resin Composites,” sponsor: Rade D. Paravina, DDS, MS, PhD
• Resident Category:
  • First Place ($1,000): Maliheh Nikzad, DDS, “Comparative Effects of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser, the shock wave-enhanced emission,” sponsor: David Jaramillo, DDS
  • Second Place ($500): Ian Castell, DDS, “Effectiveness of Er, Cr: YSGG laser of Biofilm removal in single-canaled teeth,” sponsors: Juliana Barros, DDS, MS; David Jaramillo, DDS; Timothy Kirkpatrick, DDS; and Ransome van der Hoeven, PhD
  • Third Place ($250): Dorothy Crowley, DMD, “Revascularization of a Necrotic, Immature Permanent Tooth: A Case Report and Review of Preoperative Factors Influencing Success,” sponsor: Timothy Kirkpatrick, DDS

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): Austin Iturralde, third year; John McQuitty, third year, “Dental Dilemmas: Navigating the Ethics of AI Implementation,” sponsor: Kathy Gibson, DDS, Ben Warner, DDS, MD, MS
• Runner-Up ($700): Madison Miller, third year, “Ethical Dilemmas in Dentistry,” sponsor: Michele Bright, DDS
• Finalist ($300): Kelly Dang, Yordanos Negussie, and Saima Valliani, all second-year dental hygiene students, “AI in Dentistry: Detecting Alveolar Bone Loss,” sponsor: Jennifer Chang, DDS, MSD, Tulsi Patel, RDH, MHA

The Student Table Clinic is a time-honored tradition of the School of Dentistry with sponsorship from the Office of the Dean and the PACE Center. Additional sponsorship was provided by Dentsply Sirona; the Denton A. Cooley, MD and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS Endowment Fund for Dental Education; the Houston Section of the AADOCR; and the UTSD Alumni Association.