NO. 793 February 4, 2008

Transcription

1 DSB WEEKLY NO. 793 February 4, 2008 Local Research Day Tuesday, March 11, 2008 See Pages 3-4 for Information Muscatine Pediatric Dental Clinic Recognized By Muscatine s Colorado Elementary Preschool UI President Sally Mason met with new dental faculty at the New Faculty Reception, which was held December 12, 2007, in the Old Capital Rotunda. (Above, left to right): Dr. Gary Nelson, Pediatric Dentistry; Dr. Marie-Eve Asselin, Pediatric Dentistry; UI President Sally Mason; Dr. Marco Rouman, Preventive & Community Dentistry; and Dr. Emad Estafanous, Prosthodontics. Dr. Milton S. Wirtz, Class of 1938: Dentist and Ocularist What do dentistry and ocular prostheses have in common? Dr. Milton S. Wirtz, Iowa dental class of 1938, and methyl methacrylate, the acrylic resin used for making dentures and today s artificial eyes. Milton Wirtz grew up in Des Moines and later attended The University of Iowa College of Dentistry. In a 1992 interview with the Hampton Times, he explained his choice of professions: My older brother was a dentist and he liked it. I got interested in it, too. Dr. Wirtz graduated with his D.D.S. in 1938 and decided to specialize in prosthetics (dentures). He and his wife, Alice, settled in Latimer, Iowa. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, though, his career plans were revised: he was inducted into the Army to serve as a denture specialist. Stationed initially at Camp Crowder, Missouri, he ran a laboratory for making dentures, with 140 dentists working in two shifts to produce 50 sets of false teeth daily. (continued on page 5) Annual Meeting of Mu Chapter of OKU: February 5th To all members of the Mu Chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU). The annual meeting will be held at noon on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 in the Oral B classroom (N212). Lunch will be provided. 1 The College of Dentistry s Muscatine Pediatric Dental Clinic was recognized by Colorado Elementary School, Muscatine, during its monthly character education assembly on responsibility. The preschool classes presented the dental clinic with two flower pots filled with fruit and toothbrushes. (Above, left to right): Preschool teacher Lynn Hines and aide Elizabeth Van Acker present Teresa Cardoza, Muscatine Pediatric Dental Clinic, with two flower pots filled with fruit and toothbrushes. Dr. Jane Chalmers Co-Investigator on NIDCR Grant: Oral Health Disparities Among Elders Dr. Jane Chalmers, Preventive & Community Dentistry, is a co-investigator on a two-year R21 grant, Oral Health Disparities Among Elders With and Without Cognitive Impairment, that has been awarded by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. Other investigators include Drs. Bei Wu and Richard Crout, West Virginia University, and Dr. Robert Wallace, director of the UI Center on Aging. The project will assess the relationship between cognitive impairment with declining oral health among older adults by recruiting 250 dentate community dwelling older adults, aged 70+, from local memory and health clinics in West Virginia. Dr. Chalmers will be the oral epidemiological coordinator for the study. Patients Needs for Upcoming Implant CE Course We are looking for patients who are missing all their upper and/or lower teeth for an upcoming CE course in June Please contact Dr. Ali Fakhry at ali-fakhry@uiowa.edu for more details. Thank you.

2 Recent Publications Davis RE, Marshall TA, Qian F, Warren JJ, Wefel, JS. In vitro protection against dental erosion afforded by commercially available, calcium-fortified 100 percent juices. J Am Dent Assoc Dec;138(12):1593-8; quiz Statz TA, Guthmiller JM, Humbert LA, Johnson GK. Intravenous bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw. J Periodontol Nov;78(11): Ettinger RL and Stanford CM. Dental Implant. In: Capezuti EA et al. Encyclopedia of Elder Care. New York: Springer Publishing; p Ettinger RL. Dentures. In: Capezuti EA et al. Encyclopedia of Elder Care. New York: Springer Publishing; p Recognize Your Co-Worker The Ambassador Club Program recognizes staff who have shown a special commitment to promoting excellence in the teaching, research, patient care, or administrative functions of the College of Dentistry. One individual is recognized semiannually from a list of nominations, which are screened and selected by a committee made up of previous Ambassador Club awardees. Eligible for consideration is any merit staff or professional and scientific employee who has demonstrated special qualities in performing their daily tasks. Nominations may be made by students, staff, faculty, alumni or patients. Nomination forms, program guidelines, and a listing of Ambassadors are available on the IntraDent under Policies/Procedures > Rewards & Recognition. Guidelines and nomination forms are also available from Jan Swartzendruber, assistant to the dean, N308 DSB. FILLING STATION MENU February 4-8, 2008 Monday Sloppy Joe Sandwich $3.75 Tuesday BBQ Chicken Sandwich & Chips $3.95 Wednesday TACO BAR!!! Cheddar Bacon Chicken Sandwich & Chips $4.95 Thursday BBQ Pork Sandwich & Chips $3.95 Friday Macaroni & Cheese $3.50 Italian Chicken Breast Sandwich & Chips $4.25 Save a Life! Join UI Project Marrow UI Project Marrow, a student-run program, is challenging UI health care campus members to register as marrow donors during their Thursday, February 7, drive from 10 am-7 pm in the IMU, 3rd floor, room 351. For more information, contact Alison Kahan (Alisonkahan@uiowa.edu; ) or the Iowa Marrow Donor Program ( ). Marty Field s Son, Jeffrey, Performs at Carnegie Hall Marty Fields, Hospital Dentistry, experienced the thrill of a lifetime in December when she heard her son, Jeffrey Fields, perform at Carnegie Hall. We had box seats center stage, first balcony, she recalls. Jeffrey was the baritone soloist for Handel s Messiah, which was performed by the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra and directed by Andrew Megill. It was a night of nights so exciting, Marti says. He was so happy and every note was perfect. Marty recalls that Jeffrey has always been interested in music. He played the clarinet, sang in swing choir, but solidified his interest in classical performance his junior year of high school when he was the Southeast Iowa Youth Soloist. Jeffrey, 39, graduated from Muscatine High school and studied music at The University of Iowa. He currently lives in San Jose, California, and sings with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as well as the American Bach Soloists. A copy of the Filling Station menu can be found at DSB WEEKLY College of Dentistry N445 DSB No. 793 February 4, 2008 EDITOR: Christine White PRODUCTION MANAGER: Judith Norris FOOD EDITOR: Melanie Forbes TRANSITIONS EDITOR: Tammi Hamer CONTRIBUTORS: Marty Fields, Penni Ryan 2

3 Call for Abstracts for the Local AADR Research Day, March 11, 2008 Deadline: February 8, 2008 Poster material submission to Ed Media due February 22, 2008 All students, faculty and staff are invited to submit abstracts for presentation at the Iowa Section of the AADR Research Day. The Iowa Section of the AADR officers are pleased to announce that this year we will continue to have several pre- and postdoctoral students awards. In addition, we are thrilled to have Dr. Jeffrey Murray as the keynote speaker for our research day. Dr. Murray is a nationally and internationally renowned pediatrician and researcher from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. This year, D1-D3 classes and clinics will again be closed on Research Day (8:00 AM to 1:00 PM). To those D4 students who are participating in Local AADR Research Day 2007: please sign up with Dr. Yvonne Chalkley s office no later than February 8, Dr. Chalkley s office will then notify course/clinic instructors. For complete information about abstract submission, the awards, and the Reception and Awards banquet, please go to: studentresearch/localaadrresearchday.htm. We look forward to your participation in this event. (Local Research Day information continued on page 4)

4 To All AADR/ADEA Poster Presenters (Faculty, Staff, Students and Mentors): Poster presentation time will soon be upon us all, both at the Local Meeting on Tuesday, March 11, and at the Dallas Meeting, April 2-5. The posters this year will (visually) be essentially the same as in 2007; specifically, the overall size is, again, 6 feet wide x 4 feet tall. (For those of you who have never done a poster before and are unsure about formatting and materials preparation, please feel free to see me anytime, if you have any questions.) What IS different about this year is the meeting schedules both the Local and the Dallas meetings are a bit later than usual. I am requesting that for all of you presenting at the Local Meeting, please have the information/data for your poster be in as FINAL a state as possible. Because Spring Break comes the week after the Local, and there is only one week between Spring Break and the Dallas Meeting, there will simply NOT be enough time available to make modifications/changes on any posters already completed. (Please keep in mind that there will be some Dallas Meeting presenters who are not Local presenters, who may elect to wait until after the Local rush is over.) The EdMedia deadline for poster material submission will be Friday, February 22. (If your poster materials are ready before that date, that, of course, is even better!) Posters that are relatively graphics- or image-laden will take more time to prepare please take this into account as you plan your own timetable. Again, if you have any questions regarding your poster, please contact me. Thanks, Jim UPCOMING EVENTS Iowa Section of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR) FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8 Abstract Deadline for Local AADR Meeting FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22 Deadline for Submitting Poster Materials for Local AADR to Educational Media in N321 TUESDAY, MARCH 11 Local AADR Meeting Oral Presentations, Posters & Table Clinics MARCH 29 - APRIL 5 ADEA/AADR Annual Meetings Dallas, Texas

5 (continued from page 1 Dr. Milton S. Wirtz) During World War II, glass material for artificial eyes was no longer imported from Germany. This factor, along with the lowered physical requirements for U.S. war inductees (men with only one eye could enlist), coupled with the number of eye injuries sustained during the war, resulted in a need for a substitute material for artificial eyes. Major Wirtz and his team began producing acrylic artificial eyes for the Army. Wirtz felt it was a logical assignment for a dentist: the same dental materials and polishing techniques that were used to make dentures could be used for artificial eyes. At the same time, two other men, Major Victor Dietz, and Captain Stanley F. Erpf, were independently working on acrylic prostheses. In 1944, the three men began collaborating on a standard technique for producing artificial eyes. The U.S. Army began using the acrylic artificial eye because it was stronger than glass (not susceptible to breakage during sudden changes in temperature), more durable, well tolerated by human tissues, and could be easily shaped. As a result of their work on ocular prostheses, Wirtz, Dietz and Erpf each received the Legion of Merit for their contributions. The men submitted their artificial eye process for patenting in 1944, and the patent was granted in After the war, Dr. Wirtz, Alice, and their daughter, Margaret, returned to Latimer where he continued to practice dentistry and produce artificial eyes on the side. Dr. Wirtz traveled nationally and internationally to offer ocular prosthesis training and give lectures. After 47 years in the dental profession, Dr. Wirtz retired in He died in 1993 at the age of 87. Dr. Milton S. Wirtz s role in the development of the acrylic ocular prosthesis has spanned the globe, and innumerable patients around the world have benefited. The Smithsonian Institute s vast inventory includes a collection of Dr. Wirtz s artificial eyes -- a testament to the importance of his work as an ocularist. Dr. Milton S. Wirtz (second from left) with his lab staff and a patient. Dr. Wirtz (center of photo) with his staff.