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News Release

July 19, 2007

Contact: Carolyn Pennington, 860-679-4864
e-mail: cpennington@uchc.edu

Course Helps Dentists Bring Technology into Practice

Biodontics Attracts Students from Across the Country

FARMINGTON, CONN. – By combining research, innovative technology and business know-how, a University of Connecticut Health Center dental professor is pioneering an emerging dental specialty known as Biodontics. Dr. Edward Rossomando, a professor of craniofacial sciences at the School of Dental Medicine, has developed a program that moves biotechnology more efficiently from scientists and inventors to dental practitioners.

Biodontics has become a unique educational program that introduces the entrepreneurial process to dental students, faculty and practitioners. The UConn program has attracted dental students from prestigious schools across the country including New York University, Howard University, Marquette University and the University of Southern California. The students get first-hand experience in cutting edge dental products, equipment and therapies, thanks to dental equipment manufacturers and scientists who present their new tools to the class. For instance, students recently learned about vaccines for tooth decay and received hands-on training with a new laser, which almost painlessly cuts out cavities.

“Most dentists realize it is in the best interest of their patients to introduce new products and technologies into their practice. But existing office routines and habits can present obstacles to any change,” says Rossomando. Rossomando’s research has found that dentists often believe they can’t afford to stop treating patients to adopt new technologies or learn new procedures, not realizing that new products and technologies can allow them to treat larger numbers of patients more efficiently.

Rossomando hopes teaching dental students the principles of entrepreneurship and how to be early adopters of new technology will create dental practitioners capable of effectively incorporating new procedures and therapies into their practices for the benefit of patients. Officials at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, awarded Rossomando grant money to bring the concept to educational reality.

UConn Health includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital. Home to Bioscience Connecticut, UConn Health pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. More information about UConn Health is available at www.uchc.edu.

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