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MAGAZINE OF THE TuFTs uNIvErsITy dENTAl AluMNI AssOcIATION
Dental meDicine
PLUS: tooth tattoo raiSing a Stink Life in baLance
fa faLL LL 2012 VVoL.
16 no. 2
CAUGHT
bacteria on the run with no place to hide

Tough Going
The obstacle course known as the Tough Mudder, in Stow, Vt.,
is billed as “probably the toughest event on the planet,” and while
the organizers may be engaging in a bit of hyperbole, it’s certainly
no walk in the park. The 12- to 15-mile trail run, featuring more
than 20 military-style obstacles, was designed by the British
Special Forces and has been compared to Marine Corps basic
training. Participants submit to the grueling race to raise money
for the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides assistance to
severely injured veterans returning from active duty.
This past May, James Koehler, right, and Rachel Misuraca,
center, both D13 students in the military’s Health Professions
Scholarship Program (HPSP), took on the Tough Mudder, finishing in
four hours, accompanied by Koehler’s childhood friend (and soon-tobe
best man) Adam Gaudreau, left. Both Koehler and Misuraca will
be commissioned as U.S. Army officers upon graduation next spring.
“Everybody wants to show up at basic training and be able to run
whatever they tell you,” says Koehler. “[In this photo], we’re helping
Rachel, but there were plenty of times when we were helping other
people, and other people were helping us. It’s not really a race—
it was all about the cause, and the teamwork.”
photo: rob mattson

contents
8
features
14 Uncommon Scents
In his New Hampshire greenhouse, Louis Ricciardiello, D78,
DG82, tends to 300 corpse flowers, a blossom that can reach
10 feet tall and smells like rotting flesh. By Julie Flaherty
CoVER SToRy
18 Caught
While researching the effectiveness of environment-friendly
disinfectants, dental researchers discovered a new way
to detect bacteria. Their findings could have a significant
impact in the operatory, and beyond. By Gail Bambrick
22 Ringside Seat
After retiring from his oral surgery practice, Clark
Sammartino, D64, DG66, pursued a pastime that packs
a punch. He became a professional boxing judge.
By Julie Flaherty
25 Will the Safety Net Hold?
Hospital-based dental residents have long provided care for
those who have no place else to go. As Congress debates cuts
in Graduate Medical Education funding, we explore what
will happen to these programs and their patients.
By Gail Bambrick
14
FA FAll ll 2012 Vol olUME UME 16 no. 2
departments
2 leTTeRS
3 FRom THe DeaN
4 WoRD oF moUTH
A SCAn oF PEoPlE, PlACES & EVEnTS
8 lab NoTeS
A REPoRT on lEADInG-EDGE SCIEnCE
28 oN CampUS
DEnTAl SCHool nEWS
42 aDvaNCemeNT
GIVInG. GRoWTH. GRATITUDE.
45 UNiveRSiTy NeWS
THE WIDER WoRlD oF TUFTS
46 alUmNi NeWS
STAyInG ConnECTED
Cover illustration: Iker Ayestaran

letters
lasting impressions
Just wanted to let you know how much
I loved the article on Dr. Esther Wilkins
(“By the Book,” Spring 2012). I can appreciate
how she molds students’ lives! She
encouraged me as a student to spend part
of my career treating the geriatric population
and the pediatric population since I
had a gentle touch. I have a private practice
but still find time to go into nursing
homes, practice on the Molar Express
(Ronald McDonald charities) and teach
dental hygiene. I credit all of this to Dr.
Wilkins. I am glad to see she is getting her
much-deserved award.
david mastrostefano, d96
cranston, r.i.
Congratulations to Dr. Esther Wilkins on
receiving the Gies Award for Achievement
by a Dental Educator this year during the
annual meeting of the American Dental
Education Association. It is a well-deserved
validation of her contributions to dental
education and to Tufts over many years.
As a colleague of Esther’s at Tufts, whenever
I made a presentation to hygienists,
I would always mention that my claim to
fame was that my office was directly across
the hall from Esther’s office. This would give
me instant celebrity status, and usually, in
the postpresentation question time, most
of the interest expressed revolved around
Esther rather than on the material I had
presented. This encapsulation of a long and
outstanding career was very well done by
Julie Flaherty and is a real credit to the Tufts
Dental Medicine magazine.
ed cataldo, g63, a83p
professor of oral pathology emeritus
tufts school of dental medicine
teamwork
The article titled “Unbroken” (Spring 2012)
was a nice review of the care provided
at Tufts Medical Center for cleft palate
patients. It points out the wonderful things
that can be done for these difficult cases.
Let’s not forget, however, the roles played by
the orthodontist and the oral and maxillofacial
surgeon. They are important members
2 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
of the team who contribute their considerable
knowledge and expertise to the successful
treatment of these patients. With regard
to the role of the orthodontist, in particular,
it is important to remember that this aspect
of the treatment can last up to two decades.
The orthodontist receives little or no remuneration
for services rendered, other than
having the satisfaction and reward of knowing
that the quality of life for these patients
has been made immeasurably better.
barry briss, d66, dg70
professor and chair of orthodontics
tufts school of dental medicine
award winner
Your school magazine, Tuf ts Dental
Medicine, received a national Gold Medal
for Periodical Staff Writing for External
Audiences in the 2012 National Council for
Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards
Program. It is the second time in five years
that the magazine has received CASE’s top
writing award. An excerpt from the judges’
report: “With an audience as narrow as that
of Tufts Dental Medicine, it’s quite an accomplishment
to engage casual readers, but
Tufts’ stories did just that. We were beyond
impressed with the unique story angles,
especially “Life After Death” [Spring 2012],
which may have been the strongest selection
we read all day. Most of the stories kept us
wanting more. The authors did a tremendous
job of lending human narratives to
otherwise-dry topics. It was storytelling
where we least expected it.”
The magazine also was awarded the
International College of Dentists’ Platinum
Pencil for Outstanding Graphic Design for
the issues published in Spring 2011 and Fall
2011.
Correction: The gift in honor of John R.
Saunders, D52, from the Narragansett (R.I.)
School System, was listed incorrectly in the
2011-12 Record of Giving, a separate publication
of the Office of Dental Development
and Alumni Relations that was distributed
earlier this fall.
dental medicine
volume 16, no. 2 FA FAll ll 2012
executive xecutive eeditor
ditor huw f. thomas
dean, School of Dental Medicine
editor helene ragovin
editorial ditorial Director Karen Bailey
Alumni editor Vangel r. Zissi, d62, dg67
Design Director margot grisar
Senior Designer Betsy hayes
Contributing Writers
gail Bambrick, Julie flaherty, david levin,
taylor mcneil, Jacqueline mitchell
Contributing editor Bob sprague
editorial ditorial Advisors
mark gonthier, executive associate dean
maria gove tringale, senior director,
Dental Development and Alumni Relations
mary-ellen marks, academic affairs
administrator
susan ahearn, senior associate director,
Alumni Relations
Dental Alumni Association
President John J. millette, d91, a15p
vice ice President
Joseph p. giordano, d79, dg84
Assistant Secretary/Treasurer
cherie c. Bishop, d94
Treasurer nicholas t. papapetros ii, d91
Secretary Janis moriarty, d94
Directors
michelle anderson, d07, dg09; rustam
K. deVitre, dg76, di77, d12p; Joanne
falzone-cherubini, d80; peiman mahdavi,
d91, dg94; raina a. trilokekar, dg88, di91;
derek a. Wolkowicz, d97, dg00
Past Presidents
peter a. delli colli, a69, d73; mostafa h.
el-sherif, di95; tofigh raayai, dg77, di82
Dental m Club
mary Jane hanlon, d97, chair
mary c. demello, d86, vice chair
Historian charles B. millstein, d62, a10p
Chapter and Club Presidents
steven dugoni, d79, a08p, a12p, California
robert Berg, d03, New York
William n. pantazes, d90, dg08, Florida
John a. Vrotsos, dg82, Greece
lino calvani, dg91, Italy
Tufts Dental Medicine is published twice
annually by tufts university school of dental
medicine, the tufts university dental alumni
association and the tufts university office
of publications. the magazine is a publication
member of the american association
of dental editors.
send correspondence to:
editor, Tufts Dental Medicine
tufts university office of publications
80 george st., medford, ma 02155
© 2012 trustees of tufts uniVersity
Tufts Prints Green
printed on 25% post-consumer waste
recycled paper. please recycle.

the path Forward
greetings! the events of
the past several weeks have
had a significant impact
on the lives of the citizens
of our great nation, from
the presidential election to
the devastation caused by
Hurricane Sandy. I trust
that those of you who were
affected by the storm are
enjoying some degree of return to normalcy. As
you will read in the following pages, Tufts School of
Dental Medicine is thriving, and while we have our
own challenges, it is so encouraging that our wonderful
students, staff, faculty and alumni all share
in the family spirit that defines this institution.
As usual, the stories and news highlights contained
within these pages represent our family in the
broadest possible terms, from bacteria to boxing to
bizarre plants. The most poignant story, of the family
of Martin Deranian, who taught at our school for
40 years, brings to mind articles in the previous two
issues of this magazine relating to the inhumanity
of mankind, while at the same time attesting to the
resiliency of the human spirit.
You will read also of the strategic-planning initiative
President Anthony Monaco has launched for
Tufts University—an effort that parallels our own
from the dean
planning process that began last spring. Our strategic-planning
committee has been hard at work
developing a series of strategic briefs that have been
distributed to all faculty, staff and students for comment
and input. This effort will shape our path for
the future and will allow us to identify and address
the significant challenges that are facing our profession
and the inevitable changes in the educational
paradigm. The next issue of this magazine will
report on our progress. Some of these challenges are
discussed in this magazine, including issues related
to access to care and funding. Two new faculty
members, Rob Kasberg and Nadeem Karimbux,
are highlighted, as are our graduation ceremonies,
Wide Open golf tournament and some innovative
research advancements.
Perhaps you will also notice the number of
women students in the photos. I am delighted
to report that this year’s entering class contains a
majority of women (53 percent). Compare this with
our D96 class (33 percent) and our D76 class (13
percent)—an increase that is reflected across all
U.S. dental schools—and you will appreciate the
gender shift that has occurred over the past 40 years.
How do you think this will affect our profession in
the future?
I can be reached at huw.thomas@tufts.edu. I want
to hear what you have to say.
huw f. thomas, b.d.s., m.s., ph.d.
dean and professor of pediatric dentistry
photo: alonso nichols fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 3

word of mouth
a scan of people, places & events
Resilient Women
Stage drama recounts the horror and the hope that defined two families by Gail Bambrick
pril 24, 1915, was a day like any other in turkish armenia.
Then night fell, and hundreds of Armenian intellectuals in the
Ottoman capital of Constantinople were rousted from their
sleep, tortured and killed.
The slaughter continued for months across the Ottoman Empire. Without
warning, the government ordered Armenian men to abandon their shops, desert
their plows in the fields and leave their beds without dressing and executed them.
Then it was the women’s turn. Their husbands gone, girlhood friends Varter
Nazarian and Elmas Sarajian and their nine children were among the hundreds
of thousands taken from their homes and forced to march through the desert
to relocation centers in Syria and Mesopotamia. By some estimates, more than
half a million men, women and children perished in death marches across that
summer. Elmas and Varter lost all of their children.
The event that has been called “the murder of a nation”—an estimated 1.5
million Armenians died—was like an earthquake that reverberated across time,
says Sarajian’s granddaughter, the playwright Joyce Van Dyke. The story of the
two women’s friendship, deportation and survival is the inspiration for Van
Dyke’s latest work, Deported, A Dream Play, which played to sold-out houses at the
Modern Theater in Boston earlier this year and is scheduled to be performed as
Martin Deranian’s mother was the sole survivor. The lost family members are shaded out.
4 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
part of Salon Mashup: Armenian Perspectives
of Displacement and Regeneration in East
London’s Shoreditch Town Hall from
January 31 to February 3, 2013.
Van Dyke knew little of her grandmother’s
deportation story until she met
Martin Deranian, Varter’s son from her
second marriage in America. “They would
never speak of it, you see,” says Deranian,
who taught dental history at Tufts School of
Dental Medicine for 40 years and has a practice
in Worcester, Mass.
Deranian introduced himself to Van
Dyke when he saw another of her plays, a
love story titled A Girl’s War, in Boston in
2003. Some 50 years before, he had uncovered
the story of his mother and her grandmother.
“I knew of [Van Dyke], but we had
never met, so I introduced myself to her in
the theater lobby and said I had some interesting
material on her grandmother, and she
should write a play about it,” Deranian says.
Personal histories often remain hidden,
and then surface in sudden and surprising
ways. Such was the case with the story
of Deranian’s mother and Elmas, her longtime
friend. “I remember playing with [Van
Dyke’s] mother when I was about 5 years old,
can you imagine that? And now we’re working
on this play together,” Deranian says.
Sharing coffee one sunny morning at
Tufts Dental School, the horrors endured in
Armenia nearly a century ago seemed but
a breath away as Van Dyke and Deranian
talked about their lifelong struggle to come
to terms with their past.
“I am still on a daily basis trying to understand
it,” Van Dyke says. “I’m shocked anew
at what it shows me about myself, about my
mother, my relationship with my mother,

“In my desperate, hopeless and
sad days let this photograph be
a living memorial of my days
of death. I had died, but my life
was saved through Christ.”
how she struggled to escape the shadow of
her [own] mother’s experience of the genocide.
The natural impulse is to flee it, to not
be marked by it.”
Varter and Elmas left for America on
the same ship after spending five years in
Aleppo, Syria, where they helped other
Armenian survivors: Elmas worked in
an orphanage and Varter for Near East
Relief. They continued to share their lives
in America; Elmas settled in Providence
R.I., and Varter in Worcester, where she
eventually married Mardiros Deranian.
They had one child, Martin.
In 1929, when Martin Deranian was 7
Photos: courtesy of martin deranian
—Varter Nazarian, in aleppo in 1919
years old, Varter died after a long illness. As
he grew older, Deranian was determined to
learn about his mother’s life before she came
to America. In the early 1960s, he discovered
that Elmas, then living in Fresno, Calif., was
the only one still alive who had been with his
mother on the march. He also learned that
the Rev. Ephraim K. Jernazian, who met his
mother in Syria, lived in Los Angeles.
“I contacted him and asked if he could
interview Elmas and record her first-hand
account,” Deranian recalls. “She told him
what she had told no one else, because he was
there and he had helped her friend survive.”
Jernazian is the author of Judgment unto
Truth: Witnessing the Armenian Genocide
(1990), published after his death in 1971.
Elmas died in her sleep in 1977.
Deranian says the full knowledge of his
mother’s past has changed him. “To witness
it and face it is what gives us freedom,” he
says. “It tore my guts out, but it made me
a better human being, more compassionate.
Without knowing this, I would not be a
complete human being.”
Van Dyke’s play spans a century, chronicling
the events that shaped the lives of
Elmas and Varter and their descendants.
Horror and hope are evoked through
dreams and characters that appear and disappear
from the stage.
“I didn’t want the play to be just about
buried, long-ago events,” Van Dyke says,
“because the repercussions of the genocide
are just enormous and are passed down
through generations. I wanted to show the
multiple kinds of impact, how people’s lives
get shaped by this thing that happened.”
Horrific events—when Varter’s children
were left in a dry well to die of heat
and dehydration—are retold on stage, as
are the children’s cries for their mother that
“haunted her all the days and nights of her
life,” Deranian says.
But the play rises up and beyond despair
to reveal a story of rebirth that began the
day Varter and Elmas boarded the ship to
America. Van Dyke opens the play with
Varter and Elmas hiding in an attic as a
hurricane rages outside. From this dark,
enclosed place, the stage walls literally
expand with each act, eventually revealing
an open garden brimming with life, much
like the one Elmas tended in Fresno, and
finally to a dream world of the future.
“They are tremendously resilient,” Van
Dyke says of her main characters. “They
are, to me, heroic figures. They are people
in whom life surges so powerfully that it
simply cannot be extinguished.”
Gail Bambrick, a senior writer in Tufts’
Office of Publications, can be reached at
gail.bambrick@tufts.edu.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 5

word of mouth
decade ago, the institute of
Medicine released a comprehensive
report about racial
and ethnic disparities in U.S.
health care, suggesting that “clinical uncertainty”
on the part of health-care providers
treating patients from an unfamiliar background
could lead to lower quality care.
Training providers how to communicate
with and care for these patients—a skill
now known as cultural competency—was
one proposed solution.
But dentistry trails far behind medicine
in cultural competency training, says Yusuf
Bhatti, D14, who assessed state licensing
board policies for dentists and physicians.
The research, which Bhatti presented at
the 2012 annual meeting of the American
Association for Dental Research, found that
Yusuf Bhatti, D14
Culture of Understanding
Health-care providers should have specialized training on caring for
patients from diverse backgrounds by Jacqueline Mitchell
no state dental board required continuing
education courses in cultural competency,
and only two states, New Jersey and
California, granted CE credit for such training.
By comparison, three states require cultural
competency training for physicians,
and all 50 states award physicians CE credit
for cultural competency courses.
“At the practice level, even if you wanted
to pursue [cultural competency training],
there’s not any incentive, and there are hurdles
to getting CE credit approved by state
boards,” says Bhatti.
When he looked at the racial makeup of
physicians and dentists practicing in each
state, Bhatti found that minorities were
underrepresented in both professions,
though more dramatically so among dentists.
To Bhatti, that’s all the more reason
to emphasize cultural competency training
for practicing dentists.
“It would be great to increase the [number
of dentists from] underrepresented
minorities,” he says, “but if you really want
to rectify the situation, we need to focus
on the general population of dentists and
increase their cultural competency.”
Tufts School of Dental Medicine has
taken on that challenge, offering a series
of six seminars on cultural competency to
faculty on topics ranging from cross-cultural
health communication to poverty’s
relationship to oral health disparities. “The
series is really formalizing what people
have developed over the last decade,” says
Robert Kasberg, associate dean of admissions
and student affairs, who developed
the program with Yun Saksena, DI00, associate
clinical professor of prosthodontics
and operative dentistry.
Kasberg plans to launch a similar series
for students next year, while a school advisory
group will take steps to infuse cultural
competency into the dental curriculum. In
the United States, six dental schools offer
a specific course in cultural competency;
however, just one school makes the course
a requirement, according to a 2006 survey
of 34 dental schools published by the
American Dental Education Association.
But squeezing another requirement into
the already jam-packed dental curriculum
is not necessarily the goal at Tufts. “I’d
much rather see it integrated throughout
the curriculum and make it part of Tufts’
culture,” says Kasberg.
While Bhatti’s research focused on
race and ethnicity, he includes religion,
socioeconomic status and health status—
including patients with HIV/AIDS or special
needs—among groups cultural competency
training should address. He defines
such training as “the set of skills by which
a health-care provider, or anyone really,
relates to people from diverse backgrounds.
It’s something that you utilize to provide
effective care.”
Kasberg echoes the simplicity of that
statement. “We can’t teach about every cultural
group in the world,” he says, “but we
can treat everyone with dignity and respect
and [create] a healthy climate in which all
people feel welcome.”
6 tufts dental medicine fall 2012 Photo: kelvin ma

the
$2.10
the national average,
per tooth, left by the tooth
fairy in 2011, according
to delta dental.
(still in doubt about
how much to leave?
there’s an app for that,
available from itunes.)
200
number of tufts dental
towels that inga keithly,
president of the class of
d12, stuffed into her car
and hauled to the medford/
somerville campus for
commencement in may.
the towels were gifts to
the graduates from
the class officers.
+
A smattering
of dentistry tidbits
to inform, amuse
and amaze
dlist
6,500 Years
Age of a human jaw bone, with a tooth
showing traces of beeswax filling,
discovered in Slovenia. “This finding is
perhaps the most ancient evidence of
prehistoric dentistry in Europe,” reports
one of the researchers who discovered it.
1,240
Number of videos
of spontaneous
and posed smiles
in the University
of Amsterdam
Smile Database
(www.uva-nemo.
org/index.html),
the most
comprehensive
such collection
assembled.
81%
Percentage of respondents
to a quiz on the ADA website
Mouthhealthy.org who
mistakenly believe that
sugar causes cavities.
Photo: doi:10.1371/journal.Pone.0044904 (jaw bone); illustration: betsy hayes
The jaw bone
from a cave in
southern Slovenia.
31%
Percentage of parents who
reported arguing with their kids
at least once a week about
brushing their teeth, according
to an ad council survey.
$39
million
amount the american dental
association and its state
chapters have spent since
1999 on political lobbying,
according to the national
institute on money in state
Politics.
3:21Running
time for “D12 Dynamite,”
a music video, set to the tune
of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite,”
made by 2012 graduates.
The lyrics refer to graduation
requirements.
st
Place that the
Tufts team of the
American Student
Dental Association (ASDA)
took at the first 2011–12
ASDA district debate.
The trophy now resides in
the seventh-floor lounge.
Number of astronauts it took to replace
a power unit on the International Space
Station during a spacewalk in
September. They improvised
tools from spare parts
and a toothbrush.

tooth tattoo
tiny sensor may one day help dentists assess their patients’
oral and overall health by david levin
gold, silk and graphite
may not be the first materials
that come to mind when you
think of cutting-edge technology.
Put them together,
though, and you’ve got the
basic components of a new
ultrathin, flexible oral sensor
that can measure bacteria
levels in the mouth. The
device, attached temporarily
to a tooth, could one day help
dentists fine-tune treatments
for patients with chronic
periodontitis, for example, or
even provide a window on a
patient’s overall health.
The sensor, dubbed a
“tooth tattoo,” was developed
by Princeton nanoscientist
Michael McAlpine and
Tufts bioengineers Fiorenzo
Omenetto, David Kaplan and
Hu Tao. The team published
its research last spring in
Nature Communications.
The sensor is relatively
simple in its construction,
says McAlpine. It’s made up
of three layers: a sheet of thin
gold foil electrodes, an atomthick
layer of graphite known
as graphene and a layer of
specially engineered peptides,
chemical structures that
“sense” bacteria by binding to
parts of their cell membranes.
“We created a new type
of peptide that can serve as
an intermediary between
bacteria and the sensor,” says
McAlpine. “At one end is a
8 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
molecule that can bond with
the graphene, and at the other
is a molecule that bonds with
bacteria,” he says.
Because the layers of the
device are so thin and fragile,
they need to be mounted atop
a tough but flexible backing
in order to affix them to a
tooth. The ideal foundation,
McAlpine says, turns out to be
silk—a substance with which
Kaplan and Omenetto have
been working for years.
By manipulating the
proteins that make up a single
strand of silk, it’s possible
to create silk structures in
just about any shape, says
Omenetto, a professor of biomedical
engineering at Tufts.
Silk is “kind of like plastic,
in that we can make [it] do
almost anything,” he says.
Omenetto, Kaplan and Tao
created a thin, water-soluble
silk backing for McAlpine’s
bacterial sensor—a film that’s
strong enough to hold the
leading-edge science
sensor components in place,
but soft and pliable enough to
wrap easily around the irregular
contours of a tooth.
To apply the sensor,
McAlpine says, you need only
to wet the surface of the assembly—silk,
sensor and all—and
then press it onto the tooth.
Once there, the silk backing
will dissolve within 15 or 20
minutes, leaving behind the
sensor, a rectangle of interwoven
gold and black electrodes
about half the size of a postage
stamp and about as thick as a
sheet of paper. The advantage
of being attached directly to a
tooth means that the sensor is
in direct contact with bacteria—an
ideal way to monitor
oral health.
Because the sensor doesn’t
carry any onboard batteries,
it must be both read and
powered simultaneously by
a built-in antenna. Using a
handheld device about the size
of a TV remote, McAlpine’s
a B c d
team can “ping” that antenna
with radio waves, causing it
to resonate electronically and
send back information that the
device then uses to determine
whether bacteria are present.
Right now the sensor can
detect only gram-negative bacteria,
the general class of bacteria
responsible for periodontal
disease. Once its detection ability
is honed, it eventually might
help dentists track exactly when
and where certain bacteria are
present and develop customized
treatment plans.
“A sensor like this could
give you a panoramic view
of what’s happening over
a number of hours or even
days,” says Gerard Kugel,
D85, M.S.93, a professor of
prosthodontics and operative
dentistry and associate dean
for research at Tufts School
of Dental Medicine. “If you
could tell when bacteria levels
are spiking, you could shape
your course of treatment
accordingly. For example, if I
saw a patient had a high caries
rate and their bacteria level
was high for an entire week,
I might put them on fluoride
rinses and cavity varnishes, or
even prescribe an antibiotic.”
a graphene is printed onto bioresorbable silk and contacts are formed containing a wireless coil. B Biotransfer of
the sensor onto the surface of a tooth. c Magnified schematic of the sensing element, illustrating wireless readout.
d Binding of pathogenic bacteria by peptides on the graphene.
illustration: manu mannoor/Nature commuNicatioNs

In addition to monitoring
oral health, Kugel believes the
tooth tattoo might be useful for
monitoring a patient’s overall
health. Biological markers for
many diseases—from stomach
ulcers to AIDS—appear in
saliva, he says. So if a sensor
could be modified to react to
those markers, it potentially
could help dentists identify
problems early on. “The mouth
is a window to the rest of the
body,” Kugel says. “You can
spot a lot of potential health
problems through saliva, and
it’s a much less invasive way to
do diagnostic tests than drawing
blood.”
Before the tooth tattoos
can undergo clinical testing,
however, researchers will have
to overcome some limitations.
In order for the sensor to detect
specific strains of bacteria,
McAlpine says, his team will
need to create new peptides or
similar molecules that bond
with only one particular strain.
The sensor’s physical size is
also a consideration: The prototype
is a bit too large for use
in humans (the team tested it
on a cow tooth). And, Kugel
notes, thickness is a factor, too.
It’ll be important to determine
if patients will accept having a
foreign object, no matter how
thin, attached to their teeth.
“People are very sensitive,”
Kugel says. “If it’s at all
irritating to a patient, he or she
will complain about it. You’d
need to make sure it’s actually
comfortable enough to leave in
place for long periods of time.”
David Levin is a freelance
science writer based in Boston.
photo: photo researchers inc.
the ‘other’
fluoride
For millions with dry mouth, this cousin keeps
decay at bay by jacqueline Mitchell
just 40 years ago, more
than half of American kids
had at least one untreated
cavity. That statistic now
stands at less than 25 percent,
according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Most kids today can
expect to keep their teeth well
into their retirement years.
“The major reason for the
drop in caries throughout
the world has been the use of
fluoride in toothpaste,” says
Athena Papas, J66, the Erling
Johansen Professor of Dental
Research at Tufts. Fluoride
prevents decay by attaching
onto the tooth surface and
fortifying the enamel against
acid erosion produced by
bacteria in the mouth. It also
repairs and remineralizes weak
spots caused by acid damage.
But for cancer patients and
others with complex medical
issues, the sodium fluoride
found in most toothpastes
isn’t enough to prevent decay,
says Papas, who specializes in
treating medically compromised
patients, including those
undergoing radiation treatment
for cancer and those with
a tooth beset by
erosion. Fluoride can
help repair damage.
dry mouth, or xerostomia.
For these patients, Papas
recommends toothpaste or
mouthwash containing stannous
fluoride, first introduced
in the 1950s and later replaced
by the better-tasting and lessexpensive
sodium fluoride.
Both kinds of fluoride prevent
decay by strengthening and
repairing enamel weakened by
acids. But stannous fluoride has
a major advantage over its more
common cousin, Papas says,
because it’s also antimicrobial:
It kills bacteria in the mouth by
interfering with the microbes’
metabolic processes, of which
cavity-causing acid is the main
byproduct. Fewer bacteria
mean less acid.
Any time you eat or drink
something containing sugar,
Papas says, “you produce acid
for at least five minutes.” With
stannous fluoride, however,
“the pH in the mouth doesn’t
drop as low and comes back up
sooner,” she says. “You can see
it even in my high-risk xerostomic
patients.”
Patients with xerostomia
don’t produce a lot of saliva,
which helps neutralize acid
and mitigate any damage it
causes. That’s why people who
suffer from dry mouth are
at increased risk for cavities.
That includes the 3.1 million
Americans who, according to
a 2008 CDC study, suffer from
Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune
disease that causes the
salivary glands to malfunction.
FLuorIDe, continued on page 10
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 9

lab notes
Fluoride, continued from page 9
It also includes head- and neckcancer
patients whose salivary
glands stop working as a result
of radiation treatment—as
many as 34,000 people per year,
according to Papas.
Many prescription drugs
also cause dry mouth, including
medications for high blood
pressure, high cholesterol,
depression and attention deficit
disorder. Nearly half of all
Americans take prescription
medicine, and more than three
quarters of them take at least
one that lists dry mouth as a
potential side effect, according
to a 2010 CDC report.
Patients with dry mouth are
also more prone to developing
periodontitis, the chronic
bacterial infection of the
gum tissue. Again, stannous
fluoride appears to help. In a
two-year randomized clinical
trial, Papas and her colleagues,
including Mabi Singh, DI07,
an associate professor in the
department of public health
research and oral medicine,
found that stannous fluoride
performed as well as toothpaste
containing the antibiotic
triclosan in preventing gum
disease in people with medication-induced
dry mouth.
The study evaluated 334
patients with progressive
periodontitis. Over the course
of the first year, participants’
gum recession increased by
nearly a millimeter. During
the second year, both substances
reversed gum recession
by about three-quarters
of a millimeter. The research,
funded by Procter & Gamble,
which makes toothpaste
containing stannous fluoride,
appeared in the Journal of
Periodontology in 2007.
“You can see my patients
aren’t the healthiest of people.
10 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
They have very dry mouths,
a lot of gum recession, but
they certainly did improve,”
Papas said.
If stannous fluoride can
stave off cavities, reverse
gingivitis and prevent plaque
buildup, why haven’t most
consumers heard of it? The
first formulations of stannous
fluoride toothpaste contained
tin and were chemically unstable,
degrading when exposed
to water. The toothpaste had a
metallic taste and a gritty feel.
Worse, the tin would often
stain teeth, so dentists used
stannous fluoride as a lastresort
treatment for patients
at high risk for tooth loss.
“For some 20 years, dentistry
walked away from stannous
fluoride, even though it had
been very efficacious,” says
Papas. “I remember having
to mix stannous fluoride and
then use it right away on my
radiation patients.”
Then Procter & Gamble
developed a new way to
formulate the stannous
fluoride molecule, which it
patented in 2004. While the
specifics are proprietary, the
novel technique produces
stannous fluoride that is
more palatable and less likely
to cause staining. Several
over-the-counter products
containing the new stannous
fluoride received FDA approval
for their ability to prevent
cavities and reduce plaque
and gingivitis and have been
widely available since 2006.
But that doesn’t mean
you should toss your sodium
fluoride toothpaste. For most,
sodium fluoride will help
prevent cavities. Brushing
regularly at all ages is what’s
important, says Papas, because
“you never outgrow your need
for fluoride.”
more care,
more disease
Maintaining the oral health of patients with special
needs proves problematic by jacqueline Mitchell
despite receiving oral
health care twice as often as
most Americans with dental
insurance, people with intellectual
and developmental
disabilities tend to lose their
teeth at an earlier age and
have more severe gum disease,
according to a Tufts study that
takes an unprecedented look at
this understudied population.
The research, published in the
Journal of the American Dental
Association in August, analyzed
electronic patient records of
nearly 5,000 intellectually
and developmentally disabled
adults who visited the clinics of
Tufts Dental Facilities Serving
Persons with Special Needs
between 2009 and 2010.
“The fact that they still have
a patient undergoes
treatment at a tdF clinic.
a high prevalence of disease
would indicate to us that there
is something about this population
that puts them at a higher
risk for dental problems,” says
the study’s lead author, John
Morgan, an associate professor
of public health and community
service at Tufts School
of Dental Medicine. Paula
Minihan, an assistant professor
of public health and community
medicine at Tufts Medical
School, is the co-principal
investigator on the study.
Tufts Dental Facilities
(TDF), a 36-year-old partnership
between the dental school
and the Massachusetts departments
of Developmental
Services and Public Health,
is a network of seven clinics

“a PersoN miGht haVe the freedom to liVe
someWhat iNdePeNdeNtlY, But miGht Not uNderstaNd
the relatioNshiP BetWeeN lifestYle aNd its effect
oN the teeth.” —john morgan
throughout the state that
provides oral health care to
7,000 patients with intellectual,
developmental and
physical disabilities each year.
A gift from Delta Dental of
Massachusetts in 2006 funded
the conversion to electronic
record keeping in the TDF
system, allowing Morgan and
his research colleagues to mine
the extensive data contained in
patient records. “We thought
it made sense to try to assess
the oral health status of such
a large number of adults with
intellectual disabilities because
that information is very difficult
to obtain anywhere else,”
Morgan said.
Five million Americans live
with intellectual disabilities,
according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Prior to the Tufts
study, which was funded by the
National Institute of Dental
and Craniofacial Research
(NIDCR), what little was
known about the oral health
of people with disabilities
came from surveys of Special
Olympians or of those living
full time in care facilities.
Because Special Olympians
tend to be higher-functioning
and are often from wealthier
families, and those living in
nursing homes are usually
more profoundly disabled,
Morgan says neither group
truly represents the intellectually
and developmentally
disabled population.
TDF, however, treats people
of all ages with a wide range
photo: kelvin ma
of disabilities who live in
diverse settings. The study
examined the dental records
of 4,732 patients, ages 20 to
98, with mild, moderate and
profound levels of disability.
The patients live on their
own, with their families, in
long-term nursing homes or in
state-run or state-contracted
residential communities.
Morgan surmises the study
represents a broad cross section
of people with intellectual
disabilities, but there is one
important way TDF patients
may differ from their peers
in other states: “They all have
access to dental care,” he says.
Through the public
MassHealth Medicaid
program, Massachusetts
is among 28 states that
cover dental care for adults.
Twenty-two states provide no
Medicaid coverage for regular,
preventative dental services
for adults. Even in states that
provide coverage, many private
dentists don’t accept Medicaid
because of low reimbursement
rates and cumbersome
paperwork. About a third of
the 5,522 licensed dentists
practicing in Massachusetts
accept Medicaid, according
to 2009 data from the state
Department of Public Health.
That’s where TDF comes in.
“We’re a safety net, so we
do provide care for a broad
profile of this population,”
says Morgan.
On average, TDF patients
visit the dentist four times
a year. That’s about twice
as often as most insured
Americans, and far more often
than those with no coverage.
In 2008, for example, a
little more than two-thirds of
Americans reported seeing a
dentist even once that year,
according to the CDC.
Yet even though TDF
patients receive regular care,
the study found that they still
had disproportionately high
rates of decay, periodontal
disease and tooth loss. The
researchers’ examination of
TDF dental records between
April 1, 2009, and March 31,
2010, found that like most
Americans, the vast majority
of TDF patients—88 percent—
had experienced dental decay.
However, nearly a third of TDF
patients had untreated caries.
(Twenty-five percent of the general
population has untreated
decay, according to the 2004
National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey).
The Tufts patients in the
study also had a high prevalence
of toothlessness. Among
those over age 60, nearly 30
percent had no teeth at all. In
comparison, in the same age
group in the general population,
the rate of complete tooth
loss is 22 percent.
The Tufts patients also
had dramatically more severe
gum disease. More than 80
percent of TDF patients were
diagnosed with periodontitis,
compared to about 47 percent
in the general population,
according to the CDC. The
disease also struck the study
group earlier. While about a
quarter of all adults in their
30s have gum disease, the
Tufts researchers found periodontitis
in more than half of
TDF patients ages 20 to 39.
Prescription medications
that cause dry mouth could be
one reason behind this population’s
poor oral health, Morgan
says. For example, 33 percent of
TDF patients took medication
for epilepsy or seizures. This
population also tends to take
drugs for high blood pressure,
diabetes and asthma.
Additionally, the study
showed that TDF patients who
live independently have the
most tooth decay. Morgan
suspects these patients could
be opting for sugary snacks or
forgetting to brush. “A person
might have the freedom to
live somewhat independently,
but might not understand the
relationship between lifestyle
and its effect on the teeth,”
he says.
To determine why patients
who receive so much dental
care continue to experience
poor oral health, Morgan and
his colleagues are expanding
the scope of their research.
They recently surveyed 800
caregivers of TDF patients
about their knowledge and
attitudes about oral health.
Once those results are analyzed,
Morgan says, they’ll
look at both studies “to come
up with what we think would
be a fairly strategic intervention
to improve the oral health
of this population.”
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 11

lab notes
a mouthful of iNfo
electronic patient records are a data gold mine for a new generation
of oral health research by julie Flaherty
where soMe dentists
might see a patient’s oral health
record as an important diagnostic
tool, dental researchers
see something else: golden
nuggets of data just waiting
to be mined.
As dental schools have
switched from paper to electronic
medical records, the
potential for using patients’
case notes, prescription histories,
X-rays and test results
as research data has opened
new doors for scientists. That
means every time patients
visit the dentist, they could be
contributing to the next big
breakthrough in the relationship
between gum disease and
heart disease or helping prevent
implant failures.
Already, Tufts has partnered
with three other dental
schools—Harvard, the
University of California at San
Francisco and the University
of Houston at Texas—to create
a warehouse of patient information
that is being used for
research. In just two years,
the schools have gathered and
stored data from 1.2 million
patients.
Paul Stark, director of
advanced and graduate education
at Tufts School of Dental
Medicine and a creator of the
warehouse, envisions this data
gold mine eventually shedding
light on problems that
commonly vex clinicians,
such as why 5 to 10 percent of
restorations fail every year.
“What are the factors that
contributed to the failure?
Was it operator error? Was it
patient compliance? Was it
behavioral?” he asks.
The data can be used retrospectively.
In August, Stark and
colleagues published a study
in the Journal of the American
Dental Association based on
electronic health records that
found adults with intellectual
and developmental disabilities
aren’t getting enough specialized
dental care to meet their
needs. (see “More Care, More
Disease,” page 10).
Scientists can also use
the database to efficiently
recruit participants for
intervention studies because
it can easily identify patients
who fit a certain profile. It
can be especially useful for
investigating rare diseases,
such as Sjögren’s syndrome, an
autoimmune illness that causes
dry mouth. “Even if only 2
percent of the patients have it,
you have 500 or 1,000 patients
in your database,” said Stark.
To build the data warehouse,
“patient confidentiality
is paramount,” Stark said.
When any treatment is done
in the dental school clinics,
patients have to give their
consent, and a part of the
consent form states that their
information might be used for
research.
Patient data is stripped of
identifying information, and
each school holds a decryption
key that is separate from
the database. Researchers
who wish to identify patients,
to recruit them for a clinical
trial, for example, must seek
approval from an institutional
review board, as is the case
with any other study involving
human subjects.
As soon as electronic
health records systems became
available to dental schools
in the early 1990s, Professor
Emeritus Robert Chapman,
A63, D67, DG74, then chair of
prosthodontics and operative
dentistry, became intrigued
by their promise for research.
Currently most dental researchers
rely on data from insurance
companies. But less than half
of American adults have dental
insurance. “He definitely saw
the value in patient care, but he
also saw the wealth of data that
was there and the utility of the
data,” Stark said.
Soon after Tufts moved to
an electronic records system
in 2004, the dental school
hired Stark, a biostatistician
who had been trained
at Cornell and the Harvard
School of Public Health, and
most recently worked at Tufts
Medical Center, researching
cancer rates.
Chapman and Stark came
up with the idea of bringing
dental schools together to share
data. In June 2007 they invited
representatives from interested
schools to come to Boston for
two days of meetings. By the
end, representatives from 14
dental schools in the United
States, Canada and Europe had
12 tufts dental medicine fall 2012 photo: photo researchers inc.

usiNG electroNic health records for research
maY Become aN ecoNomic imPeratiVe.
outlined the beginnings of the
Consortium of Oral Health
Research and Informatics, or
COHRI. The consortium now
has 52 members from 20 dental
schools, all of which intend to
contribute to the data warehouse
in the coming years.
COHRI members—who
include clinicians, researchers,
epidemiologists, statisticians
and informaticians (who deal
with the collection, cataloging
and dissemination of digitized
data)—meet twice annually
and on conference calls
throughout the year. They work
on developing standardized
medical and dental history
forms, constructing uniform
dental diagnostic terms and
establishing research objectives.
“Everyone checks their
egos at the door when they
come to these meetings,” said
Stark, who will chair the consortium
in the coming year.
“That helps us accomplish as
much as we have.”
At the COHRI national
meeting in July, hosted by
Tufts, members were thinking
a lot about what they could
learn from hospitals—or more
specifically, what missteps
they could avoid. Medicine’s
countless specialties and
tests—from bloodwork to
MRIs to CAT scans—have
made extracting data from
electronic health records fairly
complicated.
Ross Koppel, an adjunct
professor at the University
of Pennsylvania who studies
health-care information
technology, estimates that on
average, a hospital has between
100 and 400 information
technology systems of various
sorts, and none of them talks
to each other. “They are really
a Tower of Babel,” he said. This
lack of interoperability makes
data collection for research
extremely difficult.
“As dental IT becomes more
popular, you are going to face
the same monstrosities of this
data wild west,” he told the
group, while applauding them
for having the forethought to
form a consortium early on.
“You have an opportunity to
help define the debate, and
that’s what I’m begging you to
do. Don’t let it go the way of
our cousins in health care.”
Dental schools are in a much
better position, Koppel said.
Most U.S. dental schools are
already using digital records,
and 85 percent of them use the
same electronic health records
software system, which makes
sharing data much easier.
Using electronic health
records for research may
become an economic imperative.
Shawn Murphy, an associate
professor of neurology
at Harvard Medical School
and medical director of
research computing for
Partners Healthcare, has been
working with medical information
technology since 1995.
“Especially with genomic
studies, we need larger and
larger cohorts of patients to
show significance,” he told the
COHRI group. “The problem
is that doing them the
old way—which is recruiting
patients for clinical trials, signing
them up and getting their
blood and so forth—is just too
expensive.” He noted that the
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services estimates a
study involving 500,000 to
1 million participants would
cost $3 billion.
But not every physician and
dentist is rushing to embrace
this new method of research.
“Inevitably, I’ll give this talk,
and there will be people in the
room who just hate this whole
concept,” Murphy said. For
starters, doctors worry that
asking extra questions and
filling in boxes on a computer
screen may keep them from
even looking up at the patient.
“The time it would take to
collect five minutes of research,
when you only have a 10-minute
urgent-care slot in the first
place, isn’t going to work,”
Murphy said. He has found that
doctors need to be assured that
every click of the mouse has a
clinical purpose, or “they just
won’t to do it.”
Some researchers also balk
at the idea of substituting
electronic health-record data
for actual clinical trials, where
patients are enrolled, questions
are standardized and forms are
completed in full.
“The [electronic medical
record] is not like that at all,”
admits Murphy. “Patients
are coming in and out of the
system. Some data is being
collected, but some data is not.”
To balance that, researchers
who use health-record data
must do a much more rigorous
statistical analysis of their capture
rate and potential biases
of the data. (For example, did
several patients at one clinic
receive the same medication
because that clinic was visited
by a persuasive drug rep?)
To demonstrate that dental
records are a viable source of
data, Stark and his team are
comparing COHRI data to
that of the National Health
and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES), a large
population survey that is the
cornerstone for many biomedical
research studies. “It’s
proof of concept to show that
the same relationships that
are being found in these other
data sources can be found in
the data we have,” he said.
Robert Gellin, professor
and chair of the stomatology
department at the Medical
University of South Carolina
College of Dental Medicine,
said that as a periodontist,
he hopes the COHRI database
will one day elucidate
the numerous links between
gum disease and systemic
illnesses—including heart
disease and diabetes.
“There are a lot of
correlations, but cause and
effect has not really been
established,” he said. “The
studies we have right now
are maybe 100 to 500 people,
which isn’t millions of people.
So by pooling the data from
all these schools, we get really
big numbers—and then it
becomes meaningful.”
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 13

Louis Ricciardiello is
dwarfed by the spadex,
the chimney-like center of
one of his corpse flowers.

Horticulturist Louis Ricciardiello,
D78, DG82, tends a noisome niche:
the night-stalking corpse flower
Uncommon
By Julie Flaherty PhotoGRAPhY bY John SoAReS
it’s hard to predict when an amorphophallus titanum will make its move.
It could take a couple years; then again, it could be decades. But it is almost always—
appropriately—at night. Then the single, giant bloom, which can tower over a fullgrown
man, summons the energy it has stored from the sun over many months,
unfurls its blood-red single petal and sends wafting the unmistakable stench of death.
Some have likened the smell to dog vomit, mashed-up old fish or rotten sauerkraut.
Louis Ricciardiello, D78, DG82, an oral surgeon in Gilford, N.H., who has raised hundreds
of the so-called “corpse flowers,” shakes his head. “It smells like decaying flesh,
like a dead animal,” he says with finality. The odor does have a purpose: to attract
beetles, bees and other carrion-loving insects to pollinate the plant. The corpse flower’s
motive is less gruesome than that of a Venus fly trap, despite its macabre name.
Ricciardiello started raising these rare and spectacular flowers 10 years ago. He
had been growing orchids since 1984 and was looking for something a little more
adventuresome. In scanning horticulture books and websites, he read about the
corpse flower, which grows wild only in Sumatra and was notorious for being hard
to cultivate, even at botanical gardens.
He was drawn to the flower’s weirdness. But more important, “I liked the challenge
of seeing if I could make it grow,” says the shy but quick-to-smile 59-year-old.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 15

After some patient searching, he managed to purchase a dozen
almond-sized seeds from a bloom in Wisconsin. Adding to the mystery
of the flower was that there was not that much solid information
out there about how to care for it. Even with 8,000 feet of greenhouse
space he had built to raise orchids—featuring computer-controlled
temperature and humidity and shades that respond to signals from
a weather station on the roof—Ricciardiello faced a good deal of
trial and error. Some experts said conditions had to perfectly mimic
Sumatra, where the temperature rarely strays from 80 degrees. That
would be prohibitively expensive for Ricciardiello’s oil-heated greenhouses
on cold New Hampshire nights.
“So I picked 65 degrees, and it has worked out OK,” he says, with
typical understatement.
Indeed, from that handful of
seeds he now has 300 plants in
various stages of growth. When
they are not preparing to bloom,
the plants look like trees, with
smooth green trunks and thick
leaves. Some reach to the ceiling of
the greenhouse. As Ricciardiello
walks through the lush grove, a
heavy mist jets from the ceiling,
drenching him like a head of lettuce
in a grocery store produce
section. He doesn’t seem to notice
it or the water he wades through on
the floor. He just cleaned, he says,
but with 90 to 95 percent humidity,
the place will be covered with
algae again in a few days.
Every four or five months, the
treelike foliage dies off, and the
plant looks like little more than a
pot of dirt. But beneath the soil,
the plant’s tuber is working. “During each of these cycles, those
bulbs are getting larger and larger,” he says. “That bulb is storing
energy. And one day, if it has enough energy, it will flower.”
He maintains most of the plants himself, working 20 hours a
week and hand-watering all 300 of his macabre charges. He has a
few men he calls in when he has to move the largest tubers, which
can weigh hundreds of pounds, and their enormous pots, which
can measure four feet in diameter. Ricciardiello shrugs off a treesized
plant that has fallen over, its huge pot spilling soil onto the
floor. It will go dormant again soon, he says, making it easier to
handle.
When a plant decides it is time to flower, it sends up a chimneylike
tube surrounded by what looks like a single petal, called a spathe,
green on the outside and deep crimson inside. “In England, when the
Kew Gardens were first opened up, women were not allowed to view
the flower,” Ricciardiello says. After all, its scientific name translates
roughly to “giant, misshapen penis.”
The first of Ricciardiello’s plants bloomed in 2006. He put it on
display at the town fire station to raise money for local charities,
16 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
A botanical
garden
in beijing
owns two
150-pound
tubers
Ricciardiello
r a i s e d .
“they are
like rock
stars in
China,”
he notes.
including a program that provides reduced-price dental care for those
in need. Some 3,000 people came—half to see it, half just to smell it.
To release the smell, the flower first needs to raise its temperature—one
was documented to reach 96 degrees. That allows it to
volatize the sulfur compounds that produce the nasty odor. The heat
also causes the scent to rise so it can better travel through the rainforest,
attracting those desirable pollinating insects. The bloom lasts
only two or three days.
The fine print is that although the bloom looks like a hibiscus that
a Hawaiian giantess might tuck behind her ear, the plant’s true flowers,
of which there are hundreds, are actually inside the base of the
tube. Still, the corpse flower takes the prize for tallest bloom in the
world, because “all the units work together to accomplish its purpose
of pollination,” Ricciardiello explains.
He knows something about records. In 2010, the Guinness Book
of World Records recognized one of his blooms as the tallest corpse
flower ever recorded, at 10 feet, 2.25 inches.
He’s also been able to clear up a few misconceptions about the

plant. Ten years ago, he read repeatedly that the plant would die after
flowering, but he has had encores. “Others will say it takes 10 years
to bloom; that’s not true,” he says. “They will bloom every two years,
every three years.” They also tend to bloom in clusters: last spring, he
had about 30 blooming at once. (And yes, you do get used to the smell
after a while.)
He’s disproved the claim that corpse flowers need to be handled
like soufflés. They are not nearly as persnickety as some orchids.
When one plant looked ready, he uprooted the tuber, put it in a
manageable pot and transported it for display to a local high school,
where it bloomed happily in one of the bathrooms.
The plants have been so fruitful, in fact, that Ricciardiello is
trying to divest a bit. He donated one to the Franklin Park Zoo
in Boston, where more than 11,900 visitors came to see it when it
bloomed last spring. He gave two to the Niagara Parks Commission;
they are believed to be the first in Canada. A botanical garden in
Beijing owns two 150-pound tubers Ricciardiello raised. “They are
like rock stars in China,” he notes.
But that is as close as he comes to bragging. As he moves through
the greenhouses, it becomes clear the self-effacing botanist would
rather talk about plants than himself. One former neighbor says she
PHOTO (OPPOSITE PAGE): SuPPlIEd by lOuIS RIccIARdIEllO
Above and left: Louis Ricciardiello cuts open the
base of a corpse flower to reveal the real flowers,
which, if pollinated, will produce red fruit with soft
seeds that are only viable for a short time. Opposite
page: his niece, Michelina Coppolino, admires the
record-setting corpse flower that measured more
than 10 feet, 2 inches from base to tip.
went through some effort just to get him to look up at her whenever
they passed on the street. She succeeded, however, and they’ve been
married five years now.
Not that he doesn’t have a sense of drama, especially when it comes
to nature. His corpse flowers share space with a Madagascar palm,
which if cut, will drip out a couple gallons of water in an emergency,
and an Australian grass tree, blackened by wildfires in its native land,
that can serve as a compass as it only blooms facing north. He used to
raise giant pumpkins.
His latest obsession is remarkable geology, for which he is considering
going back to school. He recently returned from Iceland, where
he walked across lava fields and was lowered 400 feet into the magma
chamber of a volcano.
So it’s a safe bet Ricciardiello’s greenhouses will never be filled
with roses, however sweet they may smell. He points to a Dorstenia
gigas, a Dr. Seuss-like succulent that grows wild only on one small
island in the Indian Ocean. “I like something like this,” he says,
“something unusual.” tDm
Julie Flaherty, a senior health sciences writer in Tufts’ Office of
Publications, can be reached at julie.flaherty@tufts.edu.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 17

Infection-causing bacteria are the bad guys
of the health-care world. These dental detectives
found a new way to track them down
UGHT
it began as a routine investigation. there were five disinfectants in
town—ecofriendly types. Claimed they could wipe out bacteria in dental
clinics. Tufts researchers had to figure out whether the cleaners were on the
up-and-up.
The case appeared straightforward enough. Addy Alt-Holland and
Ronald Perry, scientists at Tufts School of Dental Medicine, rounded up
bacteria from the protective plastic barriers used to cover surfaces in dental
operatories, from chairs to instrument palettes to lamps, to evaluate the
killing power of the green disinfectants. The barriers, which are discarded
after each patient, should have been teeming with bacteria.
But the bacteria had gone missing. Something was fishy.
“It just didn’t make any sense,” says Alt-Holland, an assistant professor of
endodontics and a co-principal investigator on the study. “You should find all
kinds of bacteria on these barriers after a dental treatment.”
In solving the mystery of the elusive bacteria, Alt-Holland and Perry,
DG99, bagged an even bigger prize—a way to ferret out some of the most
serious bacteria that infect patients in hospitals and other health-care settings.
The discovery could have wide-ranging implications for the health
and safety of all of us.
Scientists traditionally use a technique known as swabbing to collect and
identify bacteria. They swipe a cotton swab across a surface and culture what’s
gathered on an agar plate in an incubator for 48 hours. In trying to hunt
down the missing bacteria, Alt-Holland methodically eliminated all possible
suspects along the testing chain: flaws in the agar plates used to grow the bacteria,
the swabs, the swab solution, the incubation process. All came up clean.
by GAil bAmbriCk illustration by iker ayestaran
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 19

The conclusion was troubling. Swabbing—the
universally accepted method—
must be the culprit. Had she overlooked
something? And then it hit her: eliminate
the middleman, the swab itself. She cut a
piece off a discarded plastic barrier and
pressed it directly on an agar plate. In 48
hours, multiple bacteria grew.
“It was such an easy idea, so simple, you
wonder why no one thought of it earlier,”
says Alt-Holland, who named her bacteriadetection
technique “stamping.”
To confirm the reliability of stamping,
Alt-Holland and Ramesh Thondapu and
Kasun Rajapaksha, both D14, tested sets of
barriers from five different operatories—
half of each barrier was swabbed, the other
half stamped. The results were nothing
short of stunning: Swabbing turned up 294
bacteria colonies, while stamping identified
1,517 colonies—about five times as many.
In seven subsequent tests, the researchers
used stamping to isolate and identify
three harmless bugs—Staphylococcus
haemolyticus, a common oral and skin
bacteria; Pantoea calida, found in infant
formula and Bacillus infantis, a common
ingredient in probiotics to aid digestion
and boost immunity. “With swabbing, we
likely would have detected none of them,”
Alt-Holland says.
“This is a very significant result,” she
adds. “If we think we have cleaned 300 bacteria,
but there are 1,000 still waiting for
us—and we don’t even know about them—
that may put patients at risk.”
The implications are clearly unsettling.
“What this means is that we cannot be 100
percent sure if the disinfectants we depend
on to keep clinics, hospitals or public bathrooms
clean and safe are working on all the
bacteria,” Perry says.
20 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
GaMe-CHanGer
The potential applications for stamping
are enormous. It could be an important
new weapon against antibiotic-resistant
infections that are increasingly common in
hospital patients. And the discovery could
change infection-control protocols across
the entire health-care industry.
“The stamping method is a breakthrough,”
says Toshihisa Kawai, chair of the
immunology and infectious diseases department
at the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge,
Mass., who collaborated with Alt-Holland
on the research. “The study clearly demon-
“if We tHink We Have Cleaned
300 baCteria, but tHere are
1,000 still WaitinG for us—
And We don’T even knoW AboUT THem—
tHat May Put Patients at risk.”
—Addy Alt-Holland
strated that this method is remarkably more
sensitive in detecting bacterial contamination
than swabbing, although understanding
why will take further study.
“Because we are always under threat
of a potential pandemic infection, such as
the E. coli strain that caused the deadliest
outbreak on record, in 2011,” Kawai says,
“the stamping method allows us to detect
sufficient bacteria to prevent the transmission
of possible pandemic-causing germs
in clinical settings.” (The food-borne E.
coli outbreak killed 53 people and sickened
3,950 others, primarily in Germany,
but also in other countries, including the
United States.)
Roughly one in 20 hospitalized patients
acquires an infection, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). And approximately 1.7 million of
these infections from bacteria and other
microorganisms cause or contribute to
99,000 deaths in the United States each year.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the socalled
superbugs, are the most difficult
to treat, and so can spread wildly. Among
them is methicillin-resistant staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA), which causes a
life-threatening infection that accounts for
8 percent of all bugs patients pick up in the
hospital, according to the CDC.
While more rigorous infection-control
procedures have resulted in a decline
in MRSA infections, another superbug,
Clostridium difficile, which causes severe
diarrhea, remains at historically high levels—linked
to 14,000 deaths each year in
the United States alone. Another problem
bacterium is vancomycin resistant enterococcus
(VRE), which can result in urinary tract
infections, bacteremia, bacterial endocarditis,
diverticulitis and meningitis. In one study,
the VRE strain E. faecalis was
found in seven out of 21 root
canal-treated teeth involving
an abscess at the root.
Bacteria flourish in all
kinds of places. MRSA, for
example, has been found on
cabinets, counter tops, bed
rails, bedside tables and other
surfaces in most hospital
patient rooms, according to
the Committee to Reduce
Infection Deaths (RID), a national advocacy
and education group. Moreover, a nurse who
has no direct patient contact, but touches
objects in a hospital room, will have surgical
gloves contaminated by bacteria 42 percent of
the time, RID reports.
Clothing can also transmit bacteria.
When doctors and nurses lean over a patient
infected with MRSA, their white coats and
uniforms pick up the bacteria 65 percent of
the time—providing a free ride to another
patient’s room, according to RID. Perry and
Alt-Holland suspect that the infant formula
bacteria they found in their study probably
hitched a ride to the dental clinic on a
patient’s jacket or shirt.
So far, Alt-Holland and Perry have used
stamping only to evaluate the ability of environmentally
friendly disinfectants to kill
harmless bacteria, not the superbugs.
“With stamping, we may be able to identify
solutions that can protect us in our
cars, in our offices, where we eat,” Perry
says, “not to mention helping to lower risks
for those in hospitals and clinics at greater
peril due to surgical incisions, intravenous
needles or just lowered immunity due to
illness.”

environmental practice
Stamping has allowed the Tufts researchers
to return to their initial investigation of
the dental operatory cleaners. They include
the most common clinic disinfectant, isopropanol-based
Cavicide, as well as some
greener options containing ethanol, hydrogen
peroxide and citric acid. After each
patient visit in the Tufts clinics, all surfaces
are sprayed with Cavicide, wiped down and
then sprayed again, notes Shannon Balletto,
the school’s infection control administrator.
Perry, a clinical professor and director of
the Gavel Center for Restorative Research
at Tufts, was the other co-principal investigator
on the eco-friendly cleaner research,
which was funded by PureLife Dental, a
dental supply distributor that is looking to
add green cleaners to its product line. He’s
an advocate for green dentistry, a range of
environmentally friendly practices now
gaining national support among dental
practitioners and professional organizations.
(see “It’s Easy Being Green,” below).
“I am looking for something to use in my
private practice that kills the bacteria, but
that I can use frequently and repeatedly over
many years that will not corrode my equipment,
be toxic to the environment or have
fumes that endanger my health and that of
my patients,” he says.
Two of the green cleaners Perry and
Alt-Holland evaluated proved as effective
as isopropanol on all three of the harmless
bacteria they tested using stamping. They
presented their research during the annual
meeting of the American Association for
Dental Research earlier this year.
There has been very little research on
disinfectants, says Perry, so most healthcare
providers choose one with isopropanol.
While exposure to small amounts of
it’s easy being green
“Going green saves green,” proclaims the Eco-Dentistry
Association (EDA) website. Tufts dentist Ronald Perry is
proving just that in his private practice in Weymouth, Mass.
A longtime member of EDA, Perry wants to spread the
word that what is good for health and the environment is also
good for a dentist’s bottom line.
“Most people don’t realize that being environmentally
responsible really comes down to dollars and cents,” says
Perry, DG99, clinical professor and director
of the Gavel Center for Restorative Research at Tufts.
“With just a few small changes, I provided a healthier
treatment facility for me and my patients that was also more
financially efficient.”
Some of the changes Perry made were as simple as
switching to energy-efficient light bulbs and reducing paper
use in favor of more digital communication with patients.
But they also include moving to digital X-rays that eliminate
exposure to radiation, while decreasing staff time and costs
for chemicals and processing traditional radiographs.
The initial investment in digital X-rays pays for itself in 10
months, according to the EDA. And the digital images can be
emailed to consulting physicians or a specialty clinic.
Perry’s practice has transitioned to digital X-rays, billing
and charting, resulting in an annual savings of more than
$8,700, he says. Recycling is another way to steward the
isopropanol fumes is relatively harmless to
humans, acute overexposure may affect the
central nervous system, liver, kidneys, brain
and cardiovascular system, according to the
World Health Organization. Studies on longterm,
low-level exposure are needed to determine
if there are risks, Perry says. Stamping,
he notes, will provide a more accurate evaluation
of the effectiveness of isopropanol as well
as eco-friendly disinfectants.
“In terms of infection control and choosing
the right kind of environmental solutions
to work with, this research is super
important,” Alt-Holland says. “It will contribute
greatly to protecting both our health
and the environment.” tDm
Gail Bambrick, a senior writer in Tufts’
Office of Publications, can be reached at
gail.bambrick@tufts.edu.
environment and can save more than $2,000 a year,
according to the EDA. Keeping 3.7 tons of mercury
waste out of the environment by using resin or
other silver amalgam restorations can drop costs by
$37,000 per year, according to the EDA.
It is no wonder that green dentistry is on the
rise. Founded in 2008, the EDA has more than 600
members in 42 states and 11 countries.
But it is the health of his patients and the planet that
are his real motivators, says Perry, the co-principal
investigator on a study to assess whether eco-disinfectants
are as effective as an isopropanol-based
cleaner for killing bacteria
in the operatory. There has been very
little research on disinfectants, he says,
so most health-care providers choose
one with isopropanol, a proven bacteria
killer, but a potential health hazard.
“I don’t want to be inhaling it day in and
day out, and I don’t want my patients
exposed to it.”
—gail bambrick
Learn more about green dentistry at
www.ecodentistry.org.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 21

Ringside
22 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
At the WBA super welterweight title
fight in Las Vegas in 2009, Clark
Sammartino watches a bout between
Daniel Santos and Yuri Foreman.

Seat Se
By Julie Flaherty
CCLArk
LArk SSAmm
mmArtino’ Artino’S hhAr
ArD-hitting -hitting
AV AVoCA CAtion hAS tAken ken him AAroun
rounD D the WWor
orLD LD WWith
ith
let’s get the obvious question out of the way:
No, Clark Sammartino, D64, DG66, doesn’t see any
irony in being a retired oral surgeon with a pas-
sion for a sport where people hit each other in the
kisser. Teeth rarely get knocked out, he says, because
mouthguards have been a part of boxing for nearly
a century. He has, however, had a couple of referees
lean over the ropes to consult him when they thought
a boxer might have a broken jaw.
“Both times they had a good diagnosis,” he notes.
Sammartino has been judging professional box-
ing matches since 1984. He officiates at more than
100 fights and 10 world championships each year.
Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield,
Julio Caesar Chavez—he has scored just about every
big name in the game.
Long before he was a judge, though, he was a fan.
He grew up in Providence, R.I., then the world head-
quarters for the National Boxing Association. He
Photo: aaP
P PPhoto/eric
hoto/eric jamison
Some ome ooF
F the BBigge
iggeSt t nnAme
meS S in the ggAme
me
learned to box at the local Police Athletic League,
which held matches for kids on Saturday mornings.
He also had a cousin who was a professional boxer
and would let him work in his corner. “I carried the
little bucket of water up,” Sammartino says. “So I
saw boxing up close. I really liked it. He used to help
me a lot—show me how not to get hit and all the
important things. So I had a great start.”
When Sammartino went off to Brown University
for college and later Tufts for dental school, he didn’t
have much time to spar. But he tried to see as many
fights as he could. Rocky Marciano, the “Brockton
Blockbuster” who held the heavyweight title for four
years in the 1950s, fought 23 of his early bouts in
Providence; Sammartino was there for all of them.
A highlight of his medical training at Boston City
Hospital was getting to talk with Muhammad Ali,
who had come in for an emergency appendectomy.
The next several years were devoted to his oral
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 23

surgery practice, but he briefly got back in the game in the 1970s
and had one fight as a professional. He won. That same night, he
watched a boxer named Bruno Schultz. “He punched somebody in
the stomach. You could hear the thud in Detroit,” Sammartino says.
“My manager says, ‘Clark, I can match you with that guy!’ I said,
‘No way are you gonna ever see me in a ring with Bruno Schultz. I’m
done. I’m out of here.’ ”
After many years of following boxing from a safe distance,
Sammartino was approached by a neighbor who worked for the
Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation. “He asked me
if I would like to become a judge and help straighten out the way
the scoring is done here, because they had had some really bad
decisions.” At the time, boxing judges weren’t given any particu-
Sammartino iS known for being
impartial: “they aRe both equal
when the bell ringS.”
lar training. That was a problem, because if a fight isn’t decided by
knockout—and only a small percentage are—the judges’ scores
determine who wins. “You would hate to have one judge say this guy
won 10 rounds and another judge say the other guy won 10 rounds,”
Sammartino says. “And that happens.”
He helped train the other judges by bringing in films of fights and
drilling the four criteria for scoring a round.
“The biggest item is clean, hard hitting,” he says. “There is
24 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Sammartino has been a professional
boxing judge for 28 years.
no substitute for that.” Boxers also get credit for putting up a
good defense and for a quality called ring generalship. Sugar Ray
Robinson—Sammartino’s personal favorite—epitomized it: “He
makes you do what he wants you to do,” he says. “He sets you up
for his revenge.”
Finally, there is effective aggressiveness. Why “effective”? Being a
bulldozer, it seems, isn’t enough to win over the judges. Sammartino
gives the example of heavyweight Tex Cobb. “He would just come
at you and let you hit him right in his face because he never went
down,” Sammartino says. “He was the aggressor, but you are not
going to give him points for what he is doing.”
Although both Providence and boxing have colorfully shady
pasts, Sammartino says no one has ever tried to bribe or coerce
him. He is known for being impartial,
even when a favored champion is facing
a contender with a spotty record. “They
are both equal when the bell rings,” he
says. “You have to think that way.”
Being unbiased has its dangers,
though. His most nervewracking job was
in Northern Ireland, where the hometown
favorite, Ray Close, fought a championship bout with an English
boxer. It was a very close match. But when Sammartino called it for the
Englishman, the crowd got angry. Very angry. He pulled off his badge
and shot out of the hall, catching the first cab back to his hotel. That
night he slept with the bureau pushed in front of the door.
“The next morning I went down to breakfast and the waitress
said, ‘Wasn’t it awful the way they robbed poor Ray Close?’ ” he
recalls. “I said, ‘Oh, it was awful.’ ”
He’s not easily ruffled. As an oral surgeon, he once asked the
head operating room nurse why he always seemed to be paired with
nurses who had never assisted in surgery before. “She said, ‘Because
you don’t throw things.’ ” He retired from his practice in 1993, and
now puts his cool head to running his own investment-advising
firm in Providence, called Blue Fin Capital.
His composure also helps him tune out the crowd and its insults,
many of which are directed at the judges, who routinely have their
age and eyesight brought into question. The 75-year-old points out
that judges undergo a yearly physical and vision test. That said, he
can picture himself retiring in the next year, not because he feels
he is slipping, but because traveling all over the world—Las Vegas,
Monaco, Argentina, Germany—takes its toll. Once he flew to Kiev,
Ukraine, where a driver was supposed to pick him up for a fight
in Odessa. No one showed. “I figured Odessa must be a suburb of
Kiev,” he says, recalling his shock when he learned it was on the
other side of the country.
Not wanting to shirk his duty, he spent the night on a harrowing
eight-hour ride in a bald-tire taxi with a teenaged driver who
refused to go less than 90 miles an hour. He made it to the fight.
“My wife doesn’t know that story,” he says. “She would kill me.”
Lucky for him, he knows every defensive move in the book. tDm
Julie Flaherty, a senior health sciences writer in Tufts’ Office of
Publications, can be reached at julie.flaherty@tufts.edu.
Photo: ray Bailey

Will the
Safety Net
When there’s no other care,
hospital-based dental residents pick up the slack, but
federal cuts could diminish their numbers
your child has never seen a dentist
because you can’t afford to pay outright, and
none of the practitioners in your area accepts
the only insurance you have, Medicaid. Now
she has a toothache and is in so much pain
she can’t chew solid food and has missed
school. You have just one choice: go to the
hospital emergency room and pray there’s a
Hold ?
dental resident on staff to treat her.
Across the country, this scenario is far
too common. In 2009, for example, more
than 830,500 Americans sought hospital
treatment for preventable dental conditions,
according to a Pew Center study (see “The
Cost of ER Dentistry,” page 26). Now even
this stop-gap emergency care could be at risk.
By gail BamBrick illustration by richard mia
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 25

The portion of Medicare that finances
residencies for both medical and dental students—the
Graduate Medical Education
(GME) fund—is in the line of fire as
Congress determines how to cut $1.2 trillion
from the federal budget over 10 years.
The cuts were mandated when the congressional
Joint Select Committee on Deficit
Reduction, known as the “super committee,”
failed in 2011 to agree on its own costcutting
plan. Washington’s verdict on what
will be axed will come in January 2013.
Should GME lose funding, the dental
profession could be hard hit, because its slice
of the approximately 98,000 total healthcare
residency positions funded each year
is about 2,000 spots, says Huw F. Thomas,
dean of Tufts University School of Dental
Medicine.
“Dental residencies are serving those who
are uninsured or on Medicare and Medicaid
who have had limited or no preventative
care,” says Thomas. “And residents also provide
care for people with complicated medical
conditions that must be treated either in
26 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
a hospital on an outpatient basis.”
One hint as to what may be in store is
a recommendation from the Simpson-
Bowles Commission, a bipartisan panel
created in February 2010 to recommend
ways to reduce the federal deficit. That
panel suggested a $60 billion cut in GME
funding over 10 years. That could translate
into the loss of 1,749 residency programs,
representing 22,441 individual slots,
according to a 2011 survey of hospitals that
sponsor about two-thirds of all accredited
U.S. residency programs. At least 12 states,
including Massachusetts, would lose more
than 500 residency positions, according to
the survey, conducted by the Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Reductions in the number of dental residencies
could affect up to 48 percent of the
U.S. population—some 152 million people
whose access to dental care is already limited,
according to a 2011 Census Bureau survey.
That includes 50.7 million uninsured,
46 million on Medicare and 56 million on
Medicaid, the Census report said.
The Cost of ER Dentistry
on any given day a typical hospital emergency room will see its fair
share of broken bones, chest pain or cuts and bruises. increasingly,
the er will also treat an adult or child with a toothache.
in just one three-year period, from 2006 to 2009, the number of
emergency room visits in the u.S. for preventable dental conditions
rose 16 percent, according to a study released earlier this year by
the Pew Center on the States, a nonpartisan research and advocacy
organization. in 2009, 830,590 people visited the er for preventable
dental problems, at a cost running into the hundreds of millions
of dollars, much of which ends up being charged to medicaid and
other public insurance programs.
most patients who seek relief from oral pain at the er do so
because they have no other access to dental care: they lack dental
insurance or the means to pay out-of-pocket, cannot find a dentist
who will accept medicaid or live too far from a health center that
offers dental services, the Pew study says.
A ThreAT To CAre for All
It is also anticipated that 7.9 million children
who are currently uninsured will become
eligible for pediatric dental benefits under
the Affordable Care Act, the landmark federal
health-care reform law. “A reduction in
federal funding for these residencies could
become a major impediment to extending
care to all Americans as the Affordable
Care Act envisions,” Richard Valachovic,
executive director of the American Dental
Education Association (ADEA), wrote in
the December 2011 edition of the organization’s
newsletter. Dental educators must
remain alert to changes that may be coming
down the pike, he wrote.
In addition to providing care to patients
with nowhere else to go but the ER, dental
residents are equally critical to other kinds of
dental emergencies that require specialized
care in a hospital, says Mark Gonthier, executive
associate dean at Tufts Dental School.
“Imagine you were hit in the face by a bat
during a baseball game. You need to align
the medical and dental responses to provide
Lack of access to care is not a new phenomenon, says
mark nehring, the Delta Dental of massachusetts Professor
in Public health and Community Service at tufts Dental School
and a 30-year veteran of the federal public health system.
he remembers cases such as the man who, unable to stand the
pain of an infected tooth and unable to afford treatment, tried
to extract the tooth himself with a pair of automotive pliers,
breaking it off at the gum line.
“there has been an access issue for some time,” he says.
“But it’s the severity of the disease—the pain and the quality-oflife
issues—that are bringing more people to the er.” Among
very young children, for example, there has been an increase in
untreated tooth decay, he says. in children and adults, a combination
of factors, including poor oral hygiene and excessive
consumption of highly refined starchy foods, carbonated or acidic
beverages and highly sweetened, gummy snacks are the likely

Reductions in the number of dental
residencies could affect up to
48 percent of the U.S. population—
some 152 million people whose
access to care is already limited.
adequate treatment,” he says. And there are
complex illnesses that require hospitalization,
craniofacial surgery and other treatments, he
notes. These might include patients with cancer,
fibrous dysplasia (abnormal swelling of
the bones) or any condition that might cause
calcium deficiencies or hormonal imbalances
that can lead to gum disease and weakened
teeth and bones.
Each year about 30 percent of the 5,000
U.S. dental school graduates pursue a
residency. (With the exception of New
York state, residencies for dentists are not
required.) About half of them choose the
culprits for the rise in severe disease, he says.
With more severe oral disease comes a greater chance of
infection. “it’s this type of pain that results in a swollen face,
pain to the point where you have to find some solution, and then
the only place to go is the hospital.”
regrettably, “the emergency room is not a very good place
to go for tooth pain,” nehring says. often the underlying dental
problems cannot be addressed, especially if the hospital does
not have a dental residency program. “All the er doctors can do
is offer some medication to ease pain and antibiotics to combat
infection, but that’s just relief,” nehring says. “in the absence of
treatment, once the medication regimes are completed, the pain
and infection will come back, and it’s an ongoing cycle. And while
uncommon, it can be life-threatening.”
the cycle is also costly. in new York state, for example, the
cost of treating young children for decay-related ailments in ers or
General Practice Residency (GPR), working
in hospitals with ER patients or those
with conditions requiring hospital services.
At Tufts, 41 percent of the class of
2012 chose to pursue residency training,
with 17 percent opting for the one-year
GPR program.
The cuts mandated by the 2011 Budget
Control Act that resulted from the failure
of the super committee will go into effect
on January 2. Even after that, there will be
a flurry of legislative activity to remove or
alter all or parts of the bill for as long as a
year, predicts Yvonne Knight, senior vice
president for the Advocacy and Governmental
Relations Policy Center at ADEA.
How ADEA will proceed to lobby against
GME funding cuts will depend on the outcome
of the November elections, the party
makeup of the House and Senate and what
kinds of legislation are proposed, Knight says.
“Pronouncements as to what will happen at
this point would be pure speculation,” she
said in an interview before to the elections.
It’s still too early to assess the impact of
any GME reductions on dental residencies
because hospitals receive GME funding and
decide how many residencies to offer and in
which health-care specialties, Knight said.
She did note, however, that ADEA is working
with the American Dental Association
and other health organizations, including
the large and powerful hospital lobbies,
to assess all the possible scenarios. “Right
now, it is just wait-and-see,” she says. tDm
Gail Bambrick, a senior writer in Tufts’
Office of Publications, can be reached at gail.
bambrick@tufts.edu.
ambulatory surgery centers increased from $18.5 million in
2004 to $31 million in 2008, according to the Pew report.
Florida recorded 115,000 er visits for children and adults
with dental problems in 2010, at a cost of $88 million.
er treatment for an abscessed tooth costs medicaid an
average of $236, while the same problem treated in a dental
office would cost medicaid $107, according to the American
Dental Association’s South Carolina affiliate. And if patients
can receive preventive care so that an abscess never develops
in the first place, it would cost approximately one-tenth of
what er care does, according to a 2000 study in the journal
Pediatric Dentistry.
“Delaying care only results in higher expenses later on,”
nehring says, not to mention the human costs. “For children,
in particular, we’re talking about school days missed and
compromising their readiness to learn.” —helene ragovin
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 27

on campus
dental school news
Call to Action
Dentistry must rise to the challenge of providing care for all by Helene Ragovin
The profession and organized dentistry have been tepid, nonresponsive
and/or hostile to the challenges of access to care and
health disparities, with a few exceptions. The status of the profession
and the ongoing relevance of the profession are in jeopardy.”
With those strong words—albeit delivered in a gentle manner—Caswell
Evans, a distinguished voice in public health dentistry, issued a clarion call to
Tufts Dental School faculty and administrators, alumni, donors and others in
May in a lecture titled “Access to Care, Health Disparities and Social Justice: Is
the Profession Up to the Challenge?” The lecture marked the appointment of
Mark Nehring as the Delta Dental of Massachusetts Professor in Public Health
and Community Service and chair of the department of public health and community
service.
Evans, the associate dean of prevention and public health sciences at the
University of Illinois, Chicago College of Dentistry, was the executive editor
and project director of the 2002 U.S. Surgeon General’s report on oral health in
America and a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Improving
Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations.
From left: Dean Huw Thomas; Caswell Evans; Faye Donohue, president and CEO of Delta
Dental of Massachusetts; Massachusetts State Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, chair
of the Legislative Oral Health Caucus; and Mark Nehring, the Delta Dental of Massachusetts
Professor in Public Health and Community Service.
28 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Organized dentistry, Evans said, has
failed mightily in responding to the growing
crisis of health disparities and access to
care. Far too few dentists treat Medicaid
patients, and the profession has a record of
fighting against policies that could increase
access to care for the poor, the elderly,
those living in rural communities or other
underserved groups.
“The oral health-care system in America
is currently designed around the needs of
the dentist, not the needs of those who are
underserved,” he said. While the profession
still has an opportunity to step forward, he
said, “the window is closing.”
The problem, Evans continued, has
evolved from the traditional training and
outlook of dental schools: Dentists historically
were not educated to see themselves as
an integral part of the broader health profession.
And then there is the “tug and pull” of
dentistry as a business, alongside its professional
mission. “That is a scenario we have
not fully come to terms with,” he said.
The access issue has been percolating
for decades. The stage was set when the
dental establishment fought to have dental
care excluded from the Medicaid and
Medicare programs when they were created
in the 1960s—successfully, in the case
of Medicare. But it came to wider attention
with the release in 2000 of the surgeon
general’s first-ever report on oral health,
which stated: “There are profound and
consequential oral heath disparities in the
American population.”
“That began to really get that ball rolling,”
Evans said. In 2003, the surgeon general’s
office issued its National Call to Action
to Promote Oral Health. Then in 2007, a
PHOTO: MaTTHew B. MOdOOnO

12-year-old Maryland boy, Deamonte
Driver, died of an infection triggered by an
untreated dental abscess. A lack of dentists
willing to accept Medicaid patients, along
with glitches in Medicaid paperwork, meant
he did not receive care until the infection
had spread to his brain. His death, reported
in The Washington Post, put a human face on
the problem for Congress.
Concurrently, the issue of mid-level providers—dental
therapists who can do procedures
such as cleanings, restorations or
uncomplicated extractions under the supervision
of a D.M.D. or D.D.S.—surfaced.
Such a model has existed since 2005 on
tribal lands in Alaska, despite an unsuccessful
legal challenge by the American Dental
Association and the Alaska Dental Society.
“Part of the argument in that suit,” Evans
said, “was that no care is better than some
care. And so here I ask: is that our message?”
One positive recent step, he said, was
the formation in 2009 of the U.S. National
Oral Health Alliance, a collaboration of
dentists, educators, insurers, the dental
products industry, physicians and policymakers.
The group focuses on prevention
and public-health infrastructure,
oral health literacy, collaboration between
dentists and physicians in providing care,
financing models and strengthening the
oral health delivery system.
In response to an audience question,
Evans acknowledged that for recent graduates
entering dental practice, the need to
repay student loans plays a key role in career
decisions. “The increasing indebtedness of
students is a huge problem, and it certainly
limits options,” he said. “What I share with
students is that we’re not necessarily expecting
any student to singled-handedly take
on this problem, or even go into a public
health position. Even if they are in private
practice, that is public service, in the sense
that they should be available to all of the
public. Everyone has an opportunity to
find something they can do to ameliorate
the problem, and they should look for those
opportunities.”
the issue that won't go away
among the statistics brandished by dental educator Caswell evans during his talk
at Tufts School of dental Medicine was this: approximately 80 percent of all dental
disease in the U.S. occurs in 20 percent of the population. as a young dentist working
in remote communities and on Indian reservations in the 1980s, Mark nehring
witnessed the human stories behind those numbers.
“I saw more disease than you could ever imagine,” he says of his time working
with the U.S. Public Health Service’s national Health Service Corps and Indian
Health Service in Illinois, Montana and north dakota. In remote regions of these
states, generally beset by poverty, he saw patients whose oral health had often been
neglected for years, “I did procedures and treatments for chronic conditions that
I would never have seen in a suburban practice,” he says. “and I began to question
the existing attempts to contain oral disease. I developed more and more interest
in approaches to preventing the disease that I was seeing in such large amounts.”
So he made the jump from rural clinician to public health administrator, serving
with the federal government during the 1990s and 2000s, when the dental profession
slowly became aware of what is now called oral health-care disparities. In his new
role at Tufts, as the delta dental of Massachusetts Professor in Public Health and
Community Service and chair of public health and community service, nehring wants
to marshal the ideas of students and faculty to address access to care, now the most
daunting challenge in dentistry.
“all of us in the profession—academia, the private sector, the public sector, policymakers—we’re
all part of the solution,” he says.
From 1988 until his arrival at Tufts in February, nehring worked for the Public
Health Service and the Health Resources and Services administration (HRSa) in
Rockville, Md., most recently as the acting chief dental officer for HRSa and chief
dental officer for HRSa’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau. during that time, he says,
public health dentistry was forced to shift its emphasis and approach.
“In the past 30 to 40 years, public health dentists were trying to focus on prevention,”
he says. However, the existing structure within dentistry compensated private
practitioners primarily for treatment. “My take was that public health dentists were
kind of challenging the rest of the profession to do it their way by applying guilt, appealing
to social responsibility. But those kinds of pleas from the public health side
didn’t necessarily fit the private-practice models,” he said.
now public health specialists have begun to focus on ways that access to care
can be expanded and integrated into the private-practice model, nehring says. “The
private practice is the 900-pound gorilla, and you cannot make a difference without
that participation,” he says.
Change will come, nehring says, only if the profession can take full advantage of
the existing workforce. That includes looking at “adequate or fair reimbursement”
by public insurance programs such as Medicaid for private practitioners, he notes.
Other approaches include educating physicians—especially those who treat pregnant
women and children—about the relationship between oral health and overall health;
expanding oral health services to schools and community health clinics and continuing
to assess the role of nontraditional providers, such as dental therapists and hygienists,
in treating underserved patients. “There’s no silver bullet to solve the access
issues,” he says. —helene ragovin
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 29

on campus
A Life in Balance
Dean Robert Kasberg says dental students must tend to their professional and personal lives
by Helene Ragovin
Robert kasberg grew up in the
Midwest, graduating high school
when the country was fractured
by the war in Vietnam. College
admittance in hand, he could have avoided
the draft, at least for a while. Instead he
chose to enlist, but not, he says, because he
necessarily supported the war. “I wanted
to go to Vietnam because I wanted to see
for myself whether what we were doing was
right or wrong,” he says.
30 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
He volunteered for the Navy Hospital
Corps—“I thought I would not be killing; I
would be healing”—and was assigned to a
Marine unit. While he never saw Vietnam,
that youthful decision was the start of an
unconventional career path, with stops in
rural Filipino villages, Yale University, his
hometown of Indianapolis and now, Tufts
School of Dental Medicine, as associate
dean of admissions and student affairs.
What is woven through his professional
Robert Kasberg,
the dental school’s
new associate dean
of admissions and
student affairs
journey is a deep belief in making life better
and fairer for others and in bridging borders
of geography and culture. “When you
try to understand a person on their own
terms and in their own cultural context,
you come away with a deeper appreciation
of who they are,” he says.
Kasberg credits his mother, and the
nuns and brothers of his parochial school
education, for establishing his early outlook.
A key influence was the Rev. Dennis
PHOTO: alOnSO nICHOlS

Flynn, a missionary priest whom he met
when his Marine battalion was conducting
war games on the island of Mindoro in the
Philippines. It was Flynn who led Kasberg
to the next bend in the road—a six-year
stint as a Peace Corps volunteer working
with tribal people on Mindoro, where
he helped run health clinics and establish
schools. He became fluent in two Filipino
languages. “I probably learned more than
I taught,” he says. “It was such a far stretch
from the lily-white environment I came
from. It challenged all sorts of assumptions,
and I found it liberating that you
can interact with people as equals in many
different ways. All of our
artificial divisions of ‘more
advanced/less advanced;
more sophisticated/less
sophisticated’ are really
quite ethnocentric.”
Back in the U.S., he
started college at age 30 at
Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis
(IUPUI), and eventually earned a Ph.D.
in anthropology from Yale, returning to
the Philippines to write his dissertation
on religion, illness and healing in Filipino
society. While religion and health are often
regarded as radically separate domains in
the West, “it’s fascinating how those areas
interact within Filipino society,” he says.
Kasberg’s original intent in choosing
anthropology was a career in international
development, but family circumstances
brought him back to Indianapolis, where
he joined the Indiana University Center
on Philanthropy. Among other projects,
he conducted a study on the African-
American tradition of giving and serving.
His findings—that the practice of
helping others was so tightly woven into
the African-American community that
it literally “went without saying”—were
pioneering.
“There was almost no literature on the
subject,” he says. “Anything you wanted
about this group regarding drop-out rates,
incarceration rates, all the derogatory
aspects, there was tons of it—but something
positive, almost nothing. What we
found was the tradition of giving and serving
are indeed deep and meaningful and
so commonplace that African Americans
do not even see it as philanthropy.”
He moved into academic administration
in 1996, first as assistant dean of the graduate
office at IUPUI, and in 2002, as director
of admissions for Indiana University School
of Dentistry; he became assistant dean for
student affairs there in 2005. “I loved it,” he
says. “My forte was just being able to sit and
listen and understand the students. I was a
very strong student advocate.”
Kasberg says he tries to impress upon
dental students the importance of balancing
“your obligations to your work, to your
family and to yourself.” As a man who raised
nine children, now ranging in age from 14
to 28, he takes that balancing act quite seriously.
He has always made time to coach his
kids’ teams, work with them on their studies
and volunteer for the PTO. And, he notes,
he does not carry a cell phone: “I give my
employer and I give my family so much of
my time that when I have a free moment, I
want to be able to read and think.”
We sat down with Kasberg recently to
talk about his new job at Tufts.
At Indiana, you worked in both admissions
and student affairs. What lessons did you
take from those positions?
My job is being a student advocate and
maintaining the school’s [academic and
ethical] standards. That’s not an easy line to
walk. I tell the students that being a student
advocate doesn’t always mean doing what
the students want me to do. At Indiana, my
mantra was always to do what was in the
student’s best interest. Sometimes that’s
a difficult decision. My other mantra was
never to make our standard the exception.
If a school of dentistry has standards, our
job is to make sure students meet that standard.
Only every once in a while do you
need to make an exception.
Those two principles served me well. I
can’t say all the students liked me; I can say
most respected me.
At this year’s dental commencement
ceremony, you offered a few pieces of
advice: take ownership of your mistakes
and develop a healthy respect for doubt.
Anything to add?
You have to admit when you’re wrong and
be able to say, ‘I don’t know.’ Transparency
is so important. I hope people appreciate
that I’m honest.
I also hope students leave here understanding
the limits of what they’ve been
“I live diversity every day. My family is multiracial
and multicultural. I hope to add to the wonderful
diversity that Tufts already has.” —Robert Kasberg
taught. [My] Ph.D. is an accomplishment,
but it’s kind of finite. That D.M.D. degree
is indeed an accomplishment, but we
have a thing called continuing education,
and there is a reason for that. I hope our
students leave here realizing that D.M.D.
degree represents that they have reached
competency and now are working toward
proficiency. There are going to be times
when they are going to have patients they
don’t have an answer for, whom they don’t
have a treatment plan for. And hopefully,
they will have a mentor or somebody they
can rely upon.
What are your goals here at Tufts?
Dean Huw Thomas has given me two
charges: student wellness and diversity.
At Indiana, my track record on diversity
was impeccable. As assistant dean at
the graduate school at IUPUI, I focused
on African-American and Latino graduate
student recruitment, and helped increase
the number of African-American
and Latino doctoral students in biomedical
science programs from one African
American and no Latinos in 1997, to more
than 25 by 2003. As director of admissions
BALANCE, continued on next page
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 31

on campus
BALANCE, continued from preceding page
at Indiana’s School of Dentistry, I helped
implement strategies that, by 2005, resulted
in the most diverse D.D.S. student
body in the history of the school, a mark
we eclipsed in 2012.
I live diversity every day. My family
is multiracial and multicultural. I hope
to add to the wonderful diversity that
Tufts already has. My focus will be more
on African Americans and Puerto Rican
Americans and Mexican Americans, but
also on working-class white kids. I’d like
to see if we could do more with kids coming
from rural areas and urban areas.
Dental school graduates who hail from
rural or urban neighborhoods are more
likely to practice in an underserved area
than graduates who were raised in more
affluent communities.
Wellness and mental health are issues
that are kind of hard to wrap your hands
around. I have an open door. I understand
that everyone at times runs into some
kind of adversity. No one is a superhero.
Especially for guys, they’ll say, ‘I can work
things out on my own.’ At Indiana, one of
my strategies was to tell them: If someone
at psychological services said they were
going to pull a tooth by themselves, you’d
say, ‘No, we’re the professionals.’ Just like
you’re a professional at oral health, there
are people who are professionals at handling
emotional trauma.
I have two pieces of advice for first-year
students: Earning a dental degree is not
worth sacrificing your family. If you get
the degree, but go through a divorce, the
price was too great. Give your spouse some
sacred time, where nothing interferes. If
you spend a day with your spouse, you will
not flunk out of dental school.
The other is that you have a sacred duty
to take care of yourself. Being in dental
school does not mean you need to study
20 out of 24 hours. You are foolish if you
don’t take time to decompress. For some
people that means working out, listening
to music, whatever helps you reenergize or
relax. Make sure you carve that into your
schedule. After two-and-a-half hours, the
brain’s ability to take in information drastically
declines anyway. Take a break; then go
back to studying.
32 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Renaissance Man
D.M.D./M.S. student takes on the roles of researcher, inventor,
teacher, advocate by Jacqueline Mitchell
When nicholas bello
was a high school sophomore,
he founded a
science club whose 40
members built rockets. Their ships never
left the ground, though—it was post-9/11
New York, and the students couldn’t get
FAA clearance to launch their craft over
their school on Long Island. Still, none
of the amateur rocket scientists took the
disappointment too hard, says Bello, D13,
M.S.14, the first student in Tufts’ combined
D.M.D./M.S. in dental research
degree program. “We had a blast building
them anyway.”
Nicholas Bello, D13, M.S.14
Bello brings that same enthusiasm
to his master’s project, for which he
will modify a tool already used to make
dentures and bridges to achieve even
greater precision—and perhaps offer a
way to expand access to care for patients
living in remote or underserved areas.
The computer numerical-controlled
(CNC) router is a shaping machine that
is guided by data fed into its computer.
Manufacturers use the milling machines
to cut and trim wood, metal or plastic
into precise, three-dimensional shapes.
Bello’s father, a sculptor and woodworker,
used one to carve letters into
PHOTO: kelvIn Ma

signs he made. “I always thought you could
use it on people’s teeth,” he says.
Bello is trying to develop a CNC router
that can be fitted onto a dental handpiece
and used like any instrument in a patient’s
mouth. With images from the mouth
scanned into the computer, a dentist could
prepare teeth for fillings or crowns with
even greater exactitude. “You’d have tremendous
control over the execution, so
you’d deliver better care,” Bello predicts.
But maybe more important, the modified
device could someday allow dentists
to deliver more care to more patients in
more places. Bello imagines a world where
another trained provider—
perhaps a medical professional
or dental assistant—
could prep and assist with
the patient onsite while a
dentist maneuvers the CNC
router from afar.
“Currently, if you want to
go to a world-class prosthodontist,
you have to go to the prosthodontist,”
Bello explains. “Say you’re on an oil rig,
and there’s an accident. [With the router]
you wouldn’t have to fly the dentist to you or
you to the dentist. Or you could set one up in
public health clinics. The router would allow
one dentist to do several preparations at the
same time.”
Is Bello’s idea far-fetched? “Today there’s
a rover on Mars, so I don’t think so,” says
Peter Arsenault, D94, associate professor
and head of operative dentistry, who is
Bello’s faculty advisor for the project. “This
could be the future of dentistry. We could
solve some access-to-care issues.”
And it is caring for patients—not the
tools involved—that matters most to
Bello. Having spent the summer treating
patients in the Tufts clinics, Bello recalls
one woman whose dentures fit so poorly
that she couldn’t pronounce S sounds.
After he made the needed adjustments by
hand, “she went home very, very happy,” he
says. “I get a lot of satisfaction from being
able to make serious changes in people’s
day-to-day lives like that.”
Bello knows what it’s like to go without
oral health care. The son of two artists, his
family didn’t always have dental insurance.
Bello was in high school when his family
again had dental coverage after a decade
without it. At his first dental visit in 10 years,
he was surprised to learn he had no cavities—the
tight family budget also meant no
soda, sweets or junk food.
Despite his clean bill of health, Bello
felt the injustice deeply: “Do we have the
right not to treat someone’s need if that
someone cannot pay? If you ask me, my
answer is no.”
Bello spent most of his childhood on
Long Island, attending an academically rigorous,
all-boys’ parochial school where he
took advanced math and played the tuba.
The Society of Mary, which runs the school,
is now supporting Bello’s scientific endeavors
by lending him use of a CNC router
for his research. An Eagle Scout, he credits
the time he spent in the woods hiking and
camping with sparking his interest in science
and biology.
Beyond his own insatiable curiosity,
Bello says he loves to teach, a talent he
honed leading Boy Scout excursions. Few
people meet Bello without coming away
with at least one new survival skill—how
to build a shelter in the woods during a torrential
downpour, for example. (“Look for
branches about the size of your wrist that
have a split. Put three of these together, and
you get a tripod that holds itself together.
Make two and run a pole between them;
now you’ve got something resembling a
lean-to.”)
Most mornings Bello tutors undergraduate
students applying to dental school on
subjects on the DAT, the dental school
admissions exam. He teaches others in
the same methodical way he thinks about
complicated subjects—breaking them into
palatable bites and grounding them in the
real world. “I noticed a lot of people have
trouble with math,” Bello says. “A lot of
times textbooks give a proof and say ‘This
is why it works,’ but they don’t provide
anything that a student can relate to.”
That’s why he wants to produce a series
of math texts filled with problems and their
solutions worked out step-by-step. He’s
also interested in writing a better test-prep
book for the DAT. Eventually, he says he’d
like to practice dentistry at a low-cost or
free clinic and teach and conduct research
at a dental school.
Until then, though, Bello is concentrating
on finishing his final year of dental
school as well as the seven core courses—
including biostatistics, technical writing
and evaluating scientific literature—that
the master’s program requires.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to make
serious changes in people’s day-to-day lives.”
—Nicholas Bello
Tufts launched the program in 2011,
says Paul Stark, director of the division of
advanced and graduate education at Tufts
Dental School, to give undergraduate dental
students the chance to earn a master’s
degree without having to pay for another
year in school.
“The quality of the research being done
by dental students here has been really
high,” says Stark. “It seemed unfair that
they had been working on these very rigorous
projects and not getting anything but
a single publication out of it.” Stark hopes
more students will consider the D.M.D./
M.S. program.
“As dentistry becomes more evidencebased,
the ability to perform and evaluate
research becomes more valuable,” he says.
Those are certainly skills Bello will hone
as he perfects his dental router. His master’s
degree project could result in a patent, says
Arsenault, his advisor, who worked as an
engineer before becoming a dentist. “This
could parlay into many things,” Arsenault
adds. “You know what? Keep your eye on
Nick Bello.”
Jacqueline Mitchell, a senior health sciences
writer in Tufts’ Office of Publications, can be
reached at jacqueline.mitchell@tufts.edu.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 33

on campus
onekneeland
In case you hadn’t heard...
distinctive team
dental students and faculty know full well that the
crew that staffs the dispensary is vital to keeping the clinics running
smoothly. Staff members issue instruments, organize inventory
and maintain the security of the equipment. But more than
that, everyone knows the dispensary workers do their jobs with
courtesy, care and a smile. And so the team was honored with
the “Extra Mile Award” for exceptional customer service at Tufts
University’s 2012 Distinction Awards ceremony. Sponsored by
the President’s Office and Human Resources, the Distinction
Awards celebrate outstanding staff and faculty accomplishments
outside of teaching and research. The award was presented at a
ceremony on the Medford/Somerville campus on June 12 by Eric
Johnson, vice president for university advancement. The winners
included Sandra Armand, Nadine Benjamin, Mariana Boci, Gary
Bolles, Bashkim Braho, Marjana Braho, Paula Callahan, Annette
Clooney, Renald Joseph, Nikolete Kasuli, Branden Kohlman,
Mary Kyle, Kerline Jean Louis, Aeron L. Luy, Berthine Paul,
Lediana Rami, Keri Rogers, Denny Tran, Nga Tran and Stephen
Witkus.
34 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Eric Johnson, vice
president for university
advancement, praises
the assembled
dispensary team for
its outstanding effort
during a ceremony
in Distler Auditorium
on the Medford/
Somerville campus.
Joining the team was
President Anthony
P. Monaco.
we are family
The Tufts Dental “family tree” grew a
little higher as D16 students with ties to
the school arrived on campus. The Office
of Development and Alumni Relations
hosted its sixth annual Dental Legacy
reception on August 26 at the W Hotel in
Boston for incoming and current dental
students with a family relation to a dental
alum. More than 90 students and alumni
attended. This year a number of returning
students helped welcome the first-year
students as did members of the Dental
Alumni Association board.
Madeline Samaha, Sara Samaha, D16, and
Alissa Mariano, D16.
Robert Buchanan, D46, visits with Christopher
Ford, D16, third from left, who hails from
Buchanan’s neck of the woods in Presque Isle,
Maine. With them are Henry Clayton Ford,
D88, D16P, left, and Steven Ford, right.
John Garnache, D16P, Michelle Garnache,
D16, and Monica Garnache, D04, D16P.
PHOTOS: kelvIn Ma

a room of their own
for four years, the building at one
Kneeland street is a home-away-fromhome
for Tufts dental students.
The recently renovated Dr. Edward
Becker Student Living Room, on the seventh
floor, provides students with cozier
and more functional space to inhabit during
breaks from classes and lunch. The
room, which features an expanded kitchen
area, more extensive cafeteria-like seating
and a separate area for relaxing, conversation
and watching TV, reopened at the
start of the fall semester.
It’s expected that the space also will
be used for receptions. A substantial portion
of the funding for the project came
from the Dr. Edward Becker, D34, Center
Endowment.
Dental students
in the renovated
Dr. Edward Becker
Student Living Room.
new dean for
academic affairs
Nadeem Karimbux,
the former assistant
dean for dental
education at Harvard
School of Dental
Medicine, joined
Tufts School of
Dental Medicine
Nadeem Karimbux
on October 1 as
associate dean for academic affairs. He
succeeds Nancy Arbree, who retired after
31 years at Tufts.
A periodontist, Karimbux’s academic
career has focused on dental curriculum
development and the scholarship of
teaching and learning. Before being named
assistant dean at Harvard in 1998, he was
director of predoctoral periodontology.
He directed Harvard’s advanced graduate
education program in periodontology since
2010, and was an associate professor of
oral medicine, infection and immunity.
At Tufts, Karimbux’s academic
appointment is in the department of
periodontology. His research interests
include the relationship between oral
health and systemic disease, periodontal
wound healing, the use of haptics, a
tactile feedback technology, for training
dental students and problem-based
learning in dental education.
A native of Nakuru, Kenya, Karimbux
received his undergraduate degree from
the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst and a D.M.D. from Harvard School
of Dental Medicine in 1991. He earned an
M.M.Sc. in oral biology and certificate in
periodontology, also from Harvard.
An accomplished researcher,
Karimbux has published more than 80
papers, written textbooks and lectured
worldwide. He is the editor of the Journal
of Dental Education (JDE), published
by the American Dental Education
Association (ADEA). He served for four
years on the ADEA Council of Faculties,
was a member of the JDE editorial review
board and served as an associate editor
of the Journal of Periodontology and
MedEdPORTAL.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 35

on campus
Grateful Graduates
hatever you do, do
it with real emotional
energy and vitality and
passion,” Dean Huw F.
Thomas urged the members of the class of
2012, in his first commencement address
since arriving at Tufts Dental School in
summer 2011. Let those you treat know
that dentistry is about “feelings, not just
fillings,” he added.
The May 20 ceremony was indeed one of
deep feeling, as graduates poured out their
heartfelt gratitude to their mentors, teachers,
dental school staff, their friends and
classmates, and with special appreciation,
their families.
“I especially want to thank the families—the
wives, husbands, kids, parents—
who were always there,” said Jhon Giraldo,
president of the international student class.
“Some of them are here with us today, and
some of them are still far away,” but they
all helped us realize our dream of earning a
dental degree.
Thomas commended the 179 students
who earned their D.M.D. degrees, including
13 graduates of the International
Student Program, two in the Faculty Track
International Student Program and 20 students
who earned the M.S., for their commitment
to excellence and their devotion to
the underserved. He reminded them more
than once of the importance of supporting
access to care for all segments of society.
1 2
Class of 2012 urged to be mindful of its responsibilities to the underserved by Helene Ragovin
Echoing that theme, Robert Kasberg,
associate dean for admissions and student
affairs, lauded the class for its record of service
to the school, in the local community
and throughout the world. He urged the students
to commit themselves to two values.
“Be generous,” he urged, not just by giving
money to worthwhile causes, but “more
importantly, be generous with your time, to
your families and to those you love.” And
1 Graduates Andrew De
La Rosa, Mary Kathryn
DeLoach, Lindsay DeNonno,
Adrina DeVitre, Shubhpreet
Dhillon and Jessica Dillon.
2 Greg Anderson, D82, hugs
the newest D.M.D. in the
family, his son Ryan.
3 Lena Elbadawi, a graduate
of the periodontology
certificate program,
with her family at the
postgraduate ceremony in
Boston on June 9.
36 tufts dental medicine fall 2012 photos: kelvin ma
3

Lisa Yanushefski, A10, chats with
Charles Rankin, D79, DG86, D08P,
DG11P, professor of endodontics,
at the postgraduate ceremony.
“be respectful of your intellectual potential,”
he added. “You are among the most capable
of advancing and sharing knowledge.”
But it was D12 class president Inga
Keithly who captured the emotion of the
day with a moving expression of personal
gratitude to two of her friends and professional
mentors, Elizabeth Greenberg
Rooney and Rebecca Paglia, both D00, and
a tribute to classmate Catherine Dahl. For
its class gift, the D12s established a scholarship
in honor of Dahl, who was diagnosed
with breast cancer and went on to become
a leader, mentor and friend to many in the
class. Dahl was greeted with a standing
ovation as she came on stage to receive her
diploma and lavender doctoral hood. (see
related story, page 42.)
Nancy Arbree, associate dean for academic
affairs and professor of prosthodontics
and operative dentistry, received emerita
status upon her retirement.
This year’s teaching awards were
announced in the Commencement program
and formally presented at the Faculty
Recognition Luncheon on July 31. The
honorees were James Hanley, D75A, DG79,
associate dean for clinical affairs and associate
professor of periodontology, Provost’s
Award for Outstanding Teaching and
Service; Hamasat Gheddaf Dam, assistant
professor of prosthodontics and operative
Above: The parents of graduate
Jonathan Ip, and Christine Cao, D13,
cheer during the commencement
exercises. Left: Kanchan Ganda,
professor of public health and community
service, and Charles Rankin, professor
of endodontics, award Alana Bednarz
her doctoral hood.
dentistry, Dean’s Award for Excellence in
Clinical Teaching; and Kanchan Ganda,
professor of public health and community
service, Dean’s Award for Excellence in
Preclinical Teaching. Peter Brodeur, associate
professor of pathology, and Paul Leavis,
associate professor of physiology, received
the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Basic
Science Teaching.
The Tufts Dental Alumni Association
presented the Academic Excellence Award
in honor of Christine Benoit, D77, to Shin
Huh. Benoit, who practices in Charlestown,
R.I., was honored for her 35 years of service
to the alumni association and public
service activities, including Dentistry from
the Heart, which provides free dental care
to those who need it.
Graduates of the school’s postgraduate
certificate and fellowship programs
were honored at a separate ceremony, on
June 9 at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in
Boston. Fifty-four students received their
certificates.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 37

on campus
senior awards
Members of the Class of 2012 received 74
alumni, professional, organization, endowed or
university awards this year
BASIC SCIENCES
Jack Frommer Award for
Excellence in the Morphological
Sciences: William R. Trahan
ENDODONTICS
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Endodontics: Shin Huh
American Association of
Endodontists Student
Achievement Award:
Jessica Ruth Dillon
Lester P. Goldsmith Endowed
Prize Fund in Endodontics:
Fernando Velasquez
ETHICS, PROFESSIONALISM
AND CITIZENSHIP
Presidential Award for Citizenship
and Public Service: Inga Keithly
and Nicholas Barrington Gordon
Dr. Justin Lee Altshuler, D46,
and Bernice Lee Altshuler
Family Prize Fund for
Community Service:
Nicholas Barrington Gordon
Dr. Justin Lee Altshuler, D46,
and Bernice Lee Altshuler Family
Prize Fund for Ethics:
Alyse Grant Dason
Dr. S. Walter Askinas Endowed
Prize Fund for Integrity and
Citizenship: Ashley Rose Leavell
Mark Gonthier Endowed Senior
Prize Fund in Outstanding
Service: Inga Keithly
Association of Tufts Alumnae
Senior Award: Sheina Jean-Marie
Class of D2002 Endowed Prize
Fund for Peer Support and
Leadership: Inga Keithly
38 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
GENERAL DENTISTRY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in General Dentistry:
Hawazin Khedher
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Geriatric Dentistry:
Akiva Y. Bersson
Academy of General Dentistry
Senior Student Dental Award:
Nikki Golbarg Shakourian
American Academy of Oral
and Maxillofacial Radiology
Achievement Award:
Alyse Grant Dason
American Academy of Orofacial
Pain Outstanding Senior Award:
Gaurang M. Patel
American Academy of
Craniofacial Pain Award:
Meghan R. Toland
Gentle Dental Senior Endowed
Prize Fund for Exceptional
Chairside Manner: Ramya Bhat
Rao and Le Xuan Nguyen
Dean’s Award for Distinguished
Performance in Pharmacology:
Corey Fredrick Decoteau
American Equilibration Society
Senior Award: Camille K. Secor
IMPLANTOLOGY
American Association of Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgeons Dental
Implant Student Award:
Kimberly Marie Newton
International Congress of Oral
Implantologists ICOI/Sullivan-
Schein Dental Predoctoral
Achievement Award:
Danielle Marie Leonardi
American Academy of Implant
Dentistry Dental Student Award:
Sushen Sharma
Academy of Osseointegration
Outstanding Dental Student
in Implant Dentistry Award:
Nicholas Joseph DiNinno III
LEADERSHIP
American Association of Women
Dentists Dr. Eleanor J. Bushee
Senior Dental Student Award:
Marina Catherine Stakes
American Student
Dental Association Award
for Excellence:
Namrata Gupte Hardy
Pierre Fauchard Academy
Senior Student Award:
Anna Emily Abrahamian
American College of Dentists
Award: Inga Keithly
ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL
SURGERY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery:
Marek J. Ogledzki
American Association of Oral
and Maxillofacial Surgeons
Dental Student Award:
Corey Fredrick Decoteau
American Dental Society of
Anesthesiology Horace Wells
Senior Student Award:
Gloria Chen-Fang Chao
Robert E. O’Neil, D51, Prize in
Oral Surgery:
William R. Trahan
ORAL PATHOLOGY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Oral Pathology:
Albert Francis Lewicki II
American Academy of Oral
and Maxillofacial Pathology
Senior Student Award:
Anna Emily Abrahamian
American Academy of Oral
Medicine Certificate of Merit and
Award: Adrina DeVitre
ORTHODONTICS
American Association of
Orthodontists Award:
Bryan Francis Foley
Everett Shapiro, DG49, Endowed
Prize Fund in Orthodontics:
Kirk Stuart Round
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Pediatric Dentistry:
Eunice Dongyoon Lee
Jack and Anne Rubin, D75P,
Endowed Senior Prize Fund in
Pediatric Dentistry:
Devina S. Shah
American Academy of Pediatric
Dentistry Certificate of
Merit Pre-doctoral Student
Award:
Marina Catherine Stakes
PERIODONTOLOGY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Periodontology: Shin Huh
American Academy of
Periodontology Dental Student
Achievement Award:
William R. Trahan
Quintessence Award for Clinical
Achievement in Periodontics:
Maureen Bucken Timmeny
Northeastern Society of
Periodontists Award:
Isabella Terrassa Reyes
Dr. Richard Delson, D70,
Endowed Prize Fund for
Excellence in Periodontology
and Prosthodontics:
George Paul Mitrogogos
Robert, D51, and Eleanor Levin
Endowed Senior Prize Fund
in Periodontics:
Krista Alana Stolch
PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
Dr. Frederick A. Romberg, D29,
Endowed Prize Fund Recognizing
Outstanding Personal and
Professional Growth During the
Four Years of Dental Education:
Jesse Earlon Snow

Dr. Frank Susi, DG67, Endowed
Prize Fund: Marek J. Ogledzki
Dean Lonnie H. Norris, DG80,
and Dr. Donna M. Norris
Senior Endowed Prize Fund for
Achievement, Professionalism
and Strength of Character:
Catherine Marie Dahl
International College of Dentists
Student Leadership Award:
Inga Keithly
Delta Sigma Delta Dental
Senior Award for Academic
Achievement:
Corey Fredrick Decoteau
Alpha Omega Graduating
Senior Student Award:
Marina Catherine Stakes
PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY
Academy of Dentistry for Persons
with Disabilities Student Award:
Marion Jennifer Hernon
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Public Health Dentistry:
Arlene Souza Pimentel
American Association of
Public Health Dentistry
Dental Student Recognition
Award for Achievement in
Community Dentistry and
Dental Public Health:
Jonathan Leslie Czerepak
Dr. Esther Kaplan Colchamiro,
D42, and Ralph Colchamiro
Endowed Prize Fund for
Community and Public Health:
Vanessa Coupet
Special Care in Dentistry Award
for Outstanding Performance at
the Glavin Rotation Site:
Jai-ik Cho
Special Care in Dentistry Award
for Outstanding Performance at
the Northwoods Rotation Site:
David Thomas Miller
Special Care in Dentistry Award
for Outstanding Performance
at the Wrentham Rotation Site:
Hoang Lisa Do
RESEARCH
Dr. Harold Berk Endowed Prize
Fund for Excellence in Research:
Eunice Dongyoon Lee
Erling Johansen, D49, Senior
Student Research Endowed Prize
Fund: Carolyn Joanne Ferrick
Quintessence Award for
Research Achievement:
Catherine M. DeFuria
American Association of
Oral Biologists Award:
Alana Jean Bednarz
RESTORATIVE DENTISTRY
Alumni Clinical Excellence Award
in Restorative Dentistry:
Kirk Stuart Round
Academy of Dental Materials
Annual Student Award:
William Patrick Eisdell Moore
Academy of Operative
Dentistry Award:
Ernest Edward James Holden
American Academy of Esthetic
Dentistry Student Award of Merit:
Andrew David De La Rosa
Rudolph Hanau Award for
Excellence in Prosthodontics:
Jhon O. Giraldo
A. Albert Yurkstas, D49,
Endowed Prize Fund in Complete
Denture Prosthodontics:
Jonathan Blaze Negron
Dr. and Mrs. Albert J. Kazis
Endowed Prize Fund in Crown
and Bridge: Ann Radoslav
Budovalcev Nicholas
Joseph R. Evans Endowed
Prize Fund in Clinical
Operative Dentistry:
Michael Joseph Costello
Quintessence Award for Clinical
Achievement in Restorative
Dentistry:
Michael Gregory Ambra
Dr. Joseph E. Primack,
D42, Endowed Prize Fund in
Prosthodontics:
George Paul Mitrogogos
2012 Postgraduates
In addition to those pursuing their D.M.D. degrees,
100 students are enrolled in the dental school’s
postgraduate certificate and fellowship programs,
which prepare them for specialty practice. The 2012
graduates were:
ADVANCED DENTAL
TECHNOLOGY AND
RESEARCH
Abdalah Abdulrhman
Albosefi
Wagdi Alfitouri Hemali
ENDODONTICS
Kara Rebecca Aurbach
Arielle Chassen Jacobs
Elizabeth Curtis Winkler
Jones
Eric Jordan Novison
Julee Christine Plastow
Andrea Leigh Hayano
Chung Shah
Tony Kyungsik Yoon
GENERAL PRACTICE
RESIDENCY
Fatima Maarouf
Krista L. Pauly
Lauren Yasuda Rainey
J. Camila Rasner
Nelson Ruiz Febo
IMPLANT DENTISTRY
FELLOWSHIP
Yahya A.M. Elzarug
Gabriela Lagreca
Kesinee Pattanachareon
Chien-Huei Yang
ORAL AND
MAXILLOFACIAL
SURGERY
David Joey Chang
Daniel M. Plank
ORAL AND
MAXILLOFACIAL
SURGERY INTERNSHIP
Abdul Basit Karim
ORAL AND
PROSTHODONTICS
FELLOWSHIP
Mamoru Tanaka
ORTHODONTICS
AND DENTOFACIAL
ORTHOPEDICS
Hala Alawami
Nicholas Paul Barone
Karen Milkosky Curran
Timothy Charles Hardy
Amanda Gales Belden
Kramer
Douglas Peter Laliberte
Moonyoung Lee
Sreedevi Srinivasan
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
Elizabeth A. Ackerman
Muhanad S. Alhareky
David C. Ching
Angela J. Choi
Eunis Choi
Andrew V.
Danberg-Ficarelli
Ninus Ebrahimi
Danielle C. Hinton
Jenna M. Khoury
PERIODONTOLOGY
Ahmed Ali Alhassani
Li-Fan Chen
Lena Saad Baher Elbadawi
Mei-Hsuan He
Michail Th. Koulianos
Maud Lassonde
Joseph Emanuel Pechter
Hana Tenzer
PERIODONTOLOGY
ADVANCED SURGICAL
FELLOWSHIP
Fatema Al-Rayes
PROSTHODONTICS
Abdulaziz Al-Ben Ali
Abdulaziz M. Alrasheed
Altamimi
Jeffery R. Damon
Sophana Hem
Paul Chung Wang Leung
Hisham Abdullah Mously
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 39

on campus
into the future
What the Class of 2012 is doing now
ARIZONA
Pourya Shahnaz
Private Practice, Phoenix
CALIFORNIA
Peter Chang
Private Practice
Nam Dang
Private Practice
Laura David
Private Practice
Jessica Dillon
aeGd, U.S. navy, Camp Pendleton
Andrew Ellis
aeGd, U.S. air Force, Travis air
Force Base
Meenu Giri
Private Practice
Jonathan Ip
GPR, Rancho los amigos national
Rehabilitation Center
Katarzyna Kalka
GPR, Palo alto veterans Medical
Center
Behrod Khankhanian
aeGd, University of California,
San Francisco
Christopher Tung
Private Practice
Fernando Velasquez
GPR, va northern California,
Mare Island
CANADA
Samantha Amaro
Private Practice, Toronto
COLORADO
Patrick Carroll
aeGd, Grand Junction lutheran
Medical Center
CONNECTICUT
Nina Kim
Private Practice, derby
Eunice Lee
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Yale-new Haven Hospital
Tori Saferin
GPR, Hartford Hospital
Saranya Sakhamuri
Private Practice
Paul Singh
GPR, St. Francis Hospital
40 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Sarah Massoud
Private Practice
Noelle Neill
Private Practice
Jacob Nix
Private Practice
FLORIDA
Alexandra Bravoco
U.S. navy, naval Station Mayport,
Jacksonville
Jeffrey J. Brown
Postgraduate Program in
Periodontology, University of Florida
Andrew De La Rosa
Private Practice
Ashley Leavell
Postgraduate Program in
endodontics, University of Florida
Marek Ogledzki
Six-year M.d. Program in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery,
University of Florida
Binita Patel
Private Practice
Elizabeth Stamps
U.S. air Force,
Tyndall air Force Base
GEORGIA
Nicholas Bland
U.S. army, Fort Stewart
George Mitrogogos
aeGd, U.S. army, Fort Benning
GERMANY
John Welnak
U.S. army
Thomas Welnak
U.S. army
GREECE
Dimitri Tripodakis
Private Practice
HAWAII
Isabella Terrassa Reyes
GPR, northwestern
Memorial Hospital
Serena Yu
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, lutheran Medical Center,
Oahu
ILLINOIS
Jose Gil
GPR, OSF St. Francis Medical
Center, Peoria
Camille Secor
aeGd, U.S. navy, Great lakes naval
Base
Dhaval Shah
Private Practice, Chicago
INDIANA
Mandana Milani
Private Practice
JAPAN
Mathew Burdick
U.S. navy, Iwakuni
LOUISIANA
Jai-ik Cho
U.S. army
MAINE
Michael Ambra
aeGd, Togus va Medical Center
Paul Beaudoin
Private Practice, Sanford
Daniel Figueiredo
Private Practice
Manpreet Kaur
aeGd, Togus va Medical Center
Jill Kollar
GPR, Penobscot Community Health
Center
David Miller
GPR, Penobscot Community Health
Center
Meghan Toland
aeGd, Togus va Medical Center
MARYLAND
Jonathan Blaze Negron
Comprehensive dentistry Program,
U.S. navy, naval dental School,
Bethesda
MASSACHUSETTS
Diran Balekian
GPR, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Alana Bednarz
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, Tufts University
School of dental Medicine
Elizabeth Brachowicz
Private Practice, Boston
Gloria Chao
Private Practice, Boston
Simita Chikersal
Private Practice
Seung Kee Choi
Private Practice
Jennifer Chon
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Meaghan Hyde Collamore
Private Practice
Michael Costello
Private Practice, Swampscott
Adam Darvish
Private Practice
Mark Dawoud
Private Practice
Corey Decoteau
Postgraduate Program in Oral
and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tufts
University School of dental
Medicine
Catherine DeFuria
Postgraduate Program in
Prosthodontics, Tufts University
School of dental Medicine
Adrina DeVitre
aeGd, Boston University
Nicholas DiNinno
Private Practice, leominster
Hoang Do
Private Practice
Carla Dukas
Private Practice
Kevin Duong
Private Practice
Carolyn Ferrick
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, Tufts University
School of dental Medicine
Gregory Fredette
Private Practice
Jhon Giraldo
Private Practice
Nicholas Gordon
Master’s of Public Health Program,
Tufts University School of dental
Medicine
Jeffrey Greenberg
Private Practice, Boston
Marion Hernon
GPR, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Ernest Holden
GPR, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Ly Hopkins
Private Practice
David Hornung
Private Practice, wilmington
Yong Hur
Faculty, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Sheina Jean-Marie
GPR, Berkshire Medical Center
Stephanie Kang
Private Practice
Roy Kim
Private Practice
Danielle Leonardi
Private Practice
Albert Lewicki II
Private Practice, Hyannis
Kirsten Lui
Private Practice, Medford

Treasa Mathew
Private Practice
Alana McCarthy
Private Practice
Brian McPartland
aeGd, lutheran Medical Center
Mary Jane Mello
Private Practice, westport
Christopher Moriarty
Private Practice
Paulina Muller
Public Health Clinic, national Health
Services Corps
Roopa Nama
aeGd, lutheran Medical Center
Esin Narli-Trangaris
Private Practice, Saugus
Vi Ngo
Private Practice
Le Nguyen
Private Practice
Ann Nicholas
Private Practice
Emily Pakula
Private Practice, Boston
Elizabeth Ashley Paré
Private Practice
Jill Park
Private Practice
Arlene Pimentel
Private Practice, Milford
Jonila Pishtari
Private Practice
Lauren Price
Private Practice
Jessica Pushee
Community Health Clinic
Hana Sadi
Faculty, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Muhanad Salem
Private Practice
Devina Shah
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Marina Stakes
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Tufts University School of
dental Medicine
Marko Stevanovic
Private Practice
Krista Stolch
Private Practice
Maureen Timmeny
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, Tufts University
School of dental Medicine
Phu Tran
aeGd, lutheran Medical Center
Thien Tran
Private Practice
Scott Yunes
Private Practice, north easton
MICHIGAN
Shubhpreet Dhillon
Private Practice
Hawazin Khedher
Private Practice
Allyson Mulder
Private Practice
Nikki Shakourian
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, University of
detroit-Mercy
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Victor Stetsyuk
Private Practice
NEW JERSEY
Ryan Forney
Postgraduate Internship in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, University
of Medicine and dentistry of new
Jersey
James Park
GPR, University of Medicine and
dentistry of new Jersey
Steven Slomovitz
Private Practice, ewing
NEW YORK
Sonia Arevalo
GPR, Bronx lebanon Hospital
Akiva Bersson
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Jacobi Medical Center
Nirmol Chandhoke
GPR, Jamaica Hospital
Grace Cholakian
GPR, St. Charles Hospital, Port
Jefferson
Vanessa Coupet
GPR, Bronx lebanon Hospital
Lindsay DeNonno
GPR, long Island College Hospital
Daniel Goldweit
aeGd, Columbia University
Namrata Gupte Hardy
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Brookdale University
Hospital
Omar Hassani
GPR, lincoln Medical Center
Lily Hu
dental anesthesiology Residency
Program, Stony Brook Medical
Center
Shin Huh
GPR, Cornell-new York Presbyterian
Hospital
Nikhat Khan
aeGd, Columbia University
Allison Kumata
GPR, Coler-Goldwater Specialty
Hospital
David Lazzara
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, State University of
new York at Buffalo
Mitchell Loo
Internship in Oral and Maxillofacial
Surgery, Harlem Hospital
Kimberly Newton
GPR, Bronx lebanon Hospital
Amy Nguyen
GPR, State University of new York
Upstate Medical Center
Jin Sub Oh
Postgraduate Program in
Prosthodontics, Columbia University
Megha Patel
GPR, lutheran Medical Center
Mauro Perdomo Jr.
GPR, kings County Hospital Center
Ramya Bhat Rao
Postgraduate Residency in Pediatric
dentistry, Montefiore Medical
Center
Kirk Round
Postgraduate Residency in
Orthodontics, University of
Rochester
Raquel Rozdolski
GPR, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Sagar Shah
GPR, lutheran Medical Center
Nicole Skalina
GPR, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Marlayna Sosna
GPR, long Island College Hospital
Eileen Xie
GPR, Brookdale University Hospital
NORTH CAROLINA
Jonathan Czerepak
U.S. army, Postgraduate Program
in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery,
womach army Medical Center, Fort
Bragg
Inga Keithly
U.S. navy, Camp lejeune
Colin Pedersen
aeGd, University of north Carolina,
Chapel Hill
OHIO
Christopher Ban
Postgraduate Program in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, University of
Cincinnati
Sushen Sharma
Private Practice
Baljinder Singh
Private Practice
OREGON
Patra Alatsis
Postgraduate Program in
Orthodontics, Oregon Health and
Science University
William Moore
Postgraduate Program in Pediatric
dentistry, Oregon Health and
Science University
PENNSYLVANIA
Eva Chen
Private Practice
Bryan Foley
Combined Postgraduate Program
in Orthodontics and Master of
Science, Temple University
Jesse Snow
Postgraduate Program in Oral and
Maxillofacial Surgery, Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital
Lee Wasserman
GPR, albert einstein Medical Center
RHODE ISLAND
Anna Abrahamian
GPR, Rhode Island Hospital
Derek Nobrega
Postgraduate Residency in Pediatric
dentistry, St. Joseph’s Hospital
SOUTH CAROLINA
John Plumley
U.S. navy, Parris Island Marine
Base
TEXAS
Ryan Anderson
Private Practice, dallas
Michael Castle
Private Practice, dallas
Julie Covino
Private Practice, dallas
Patrick Lam
Private Practice
Martin Nunes
Private Practice
VERMONT
Mary Kathryn DeLoach
GPR, Fletcher allen Medical Center
John Munsey
GPR, University of vermont
VIRGINIA
Michael Batcheller
GPR, U.S. navy, Portsmouth
Alyse Dason
aeGd, U.S. navy, naval Station
norfolk
Tyler Fleming
aeGd, U.S. navy, naval Station
norfolk
William Trahan
Combined Postgraduate Residency
in Periodontology and Master of
Science, virginia Commonwealth
University
WASHINGTON
Catherine Dahl
aeGd, U.S. army, Fort lewis
Katherine Dubois
GPR, University of washington
Lindsey Lambalot
GPR, va Puget Sound
Health Care System
Urvi Ruparelia
GPR, University of washington
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 41

advancement
42 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
giving. growth. gratitude.
Head of the Class
Catherine Dahl, D12, was the inspiration behind record participation in giving
Any tufts dental alum will tell you that navigating four
years of rigorous classes and clinical work is a challenge under
the best of circumstances. To graduate at the top of the class
while battling cancer, “that takes enormous spirit,” says Inga
Keithly, president of the 2012 class. “And Catherine did it.”
Catherine Dahl, D12, did indeed inspire her entire class. In turn, 175 of
them—more than 99 percent—contributed to a record-breaking class gift
before they graduated in May.
Keithly says she felt a kinship with Dahl from the first day of dental school.
The majority of first-year students are in their mid-20s. Keithly was 34, and
Dahl, a dental hygienist from a farm in Oregon, was 43. Both felt the age gap
and bonded over the shared adventure of pursuing a new career.
Catherine Dahl received a standing
ovation during commencement
ceremonies in May.
“I remember distinctly coming down
the steps after a tour, and Catherine tapped
me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, are you
in the dental class, too?’ I said, ‘I am,’ and
she said, ‘I’m so relieved!’ ” They spent the
rest of orientation learning each other’s
stories. “We were both very nontraditional
students,” Keithly notes.
Before coming to Tufts, Keithly taught
surfing in Hawaii and skiing in Aspen;
she started a Ph.D. program in education.
She earned her dental degree with the
help of the military’s Health Professions
Scholarship Program (HPSP) and is now
stationed at Camp Lejeune in North
Carolina. Dahl also financed her education
through the HPSP and is an Army
dentist at Fort Lewis in Washington State.
The mother of two, Dahl became a grandmother
last year.
Her maternal instinct and her “natural,
nice and honest” way with people extended
to the D12 class, says Keithly. “She was like
a mother hen.”
Dahl often took students under her
wing—and before long, the nurturing
swung both ways. “I remember we were
walking in for our third or fourth exam for
gross anatomy,” says Keithly, “and there’s
this moment when you’re in the locker
room, putting on your scrubs and looking
at your notes. You know you’re going to be
faced with 26 dead bodies. And I look over,
and there is Anna, holding Catherine in her
arms, and they’re both bawling.”
Dahl had just shared the news with
Anna Abrahamian, D12, that she had been
diagnosed with stage-three breast cancer.
Dahl would spend the next three and half
years in and out of clinics and hospitals, as
a patient and a dental student. Every setback
and every win—such as the day her
chest port was removed—propelled her
classmates forward.
Dahl’s presence among them was a

constant reminder that a canceled clinic
appointment or a denture that needed
resetting yet again wasn’t so bad. “I’d think
to myself, ‘Who cares?’ ” says Keithly. “I’m
healthy. I’m going to be a dentist when I
graduate. How lucky am I?”
Keithly gets emotional as she describes
her friend’s inner strength. Dahl wasn’t
able to come to class while undergoing chemotherapy
treatment, so she studied during
her chemo appointments, biochemistry
books on her lap—and scored higher
than her peers on exams. “I sat through
every class, took all the notes, and she
scored higher,” Keithly laughs. “She’s awesome.
She’s a brave individual, and she’s an
achiever, and there isn’t a reason why we
wouldn’t all want to gather behind her.”
A HigH BAr
The last dental school class to break the
participation rate for their gift graduated
in 2010; 96 percent contributed. When
Keithly and Jhon Giraldo, DI12, president
of the international student class,
Living the dream
The first woman to co-chair the Dental M Club, Mary Jane
Hanlon, D97, always knew she wanted to be a dentist. When
she was 14, she started working parttime at a dentist’s
office and continued to do so throughout high
school. “I was hooked,” she says.
photos: kelvin ma
“Senior year I went to my guidance coun-
selor to see about college options. He asked
me, ‘Don’t you think you should become a
dental hygienist?’ ” It was 1970, a time when
women weren’t often steered toward careers
as doctors or dentists.
But Hanlon was determined, even though
her path to dental school was a circuitous
one. She did indeed become a dental hygien-
ist. She married and started a family.
And then, on the day that her daughter, Courtney, started
met to talk about their class gift, the goal
was clear: Go for the gold—100 percent
participation.
The cause was also a no-brainer. “We
had someone in our class who just stood
out the very day we started,” says Keithly.
“To know and work with somebody who
was putting it all on the line, saying ‘I want
to achieve something remarkable’—and
then has this large medical setback and still
rocks it—it wasn’t too difficult to get the
class behind her.”
When Dahl received the Dean Lonnie
H. Norris, DG80, and Dr. Donna M.
Norris Senior Endowed Prize Fund for
Achievement, Professionalism and Strength
of Character at the Senior Awards Dinner
in May, she immediately donated the prize
funds back to the school, to the Dental
Outreach to Survivors program, which
treats victims of domestic abuse for free.
“Catherine’s a phenomenal person,”
says Keithly. “Even though I know that she
is too humble to ever do this, I really hope
at the end of every day that she can say to
Mary Jane Hanlon
kindergarten, Hanlon stepped through the doors of Tufts
University School of Dental Medicine for her first class.
It wasn’t easy—balancing the roles of mother, wife and
student—but she made it work. And best
of all, she says, was the example she set for
her daughter. “I never had to tell Courtney
to study because she saw me doing it while
she grew up. She even helped me study for
my M.B.A. while she was in college.”
Now Hanlon is ready to rally her fellow
alumni to the cause of the dental school that
helped her achieve a lifelong dream. “Tufts
has given me more than anything I’ve ever
expected,” she says. “Like so many of my
fellow graduates, I feel very fortunate to have finally made it,
and to have a career I love every day.”
herself, ‘I am so proud of the example I set
for other people.’ ”
Dahl says she cannot express how important
her classmates were during her treatment
and recovery. “I am so proud to be a
member of the Tufts Dental Class of 2012.
When they found out about my diagnosis,
they organized a fund-raiser to help pay
medical and house-cleaning bills, and took
turns cooking and delivering meals to my
home. I just couldn’t let them down after
everything they were doing for me.”
Her classmates have made sure that her
imprint on the school will be an indelible
one. Fifty-five percent of them donated
to the class gift at the Dean’s Inner Circle
level, which will create a scholarship in
Dahl’s honor for another nontraditional
student who has faced adversity.
And while the class fell a bit short of the
100 percent participation rate, “99 percent
was perfect,” says Keithly. “If you look at it
from a different standpoint, it sets the bar
for the next class. Go ahead, it says, get a
hundred percent.”
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 43

advancement
From left, Mark Weinberg, D87, DG89,
Karen Weinberg and Dean Huw Thomas.
A ToAsT To TufTs
emcee paul desjardins, d75a, offered the toast:
“welcome back.” punctuating the chorus of “hear,
hear!” was the sound of 350 glasses clinking together.
It was a fitting end to the toast to tufts reception,
which opened the tufts dental school reunion weekend
on May 4. Both tufts president anthony p. Monaco and
dental school dean huw F. thomas reflected on having
completed the first year in their respective positions,
and each expressed their gratitude for the warm
welcome from the tufts community. Inga Keithly,
president of the class of 2012, toasted the more than
99 percent of her classmates who made gifts to the
school—a record-breaking number—as 55 joined the
dean’s Inner Circle with donations of $25 or more.
she also took a moment to honor Catherine dahl, d12,
a good friend who battled breast cancer and still
graduated at the top of her class (see story, page 42).
44 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
D12 classmates,
from left, Amy
Nguyen, Kimberly
Newton, Noelle
Neill, Urvi Ruparelia
and Carolyn Ferrick.
Above, Dean Thomas with D77 classmates Marie Holliday
and Sterling Beasley. Left, back row, from left: Tom Varden,
D92; Walter Kostrzewski, D92; Ruby Ghaffari, D92; and Reza
Ghaffari; front row, from left: Tim McAlindon; Sandra Cove,
D92; Debbie Dobbs, D92, DG94; and Kristen Kostrzewski.
Above, from left, Nikki
Shakourian, D12; Diba
Dastjerdi, DI07, A13P; and
Hamid Golkari, A13P. At right,
Tufts University President
Anthony P. Monaco with
Violeta Arboleda, DG51.
photos: Matthew B. Modoono

the wider world of tufts
Tufts: The Next 10 Years
President Monaco launches strategic planning initiative by Taylor McNeil
ufts has launched a strategic
planning initiative that will
identify priorities and create a
road map for where the university
aspires to be in 10 years.
“This is an opportunity for us, as a community,
to envision a trajectory for Tufts—
where it needs to be, and should be, in a
decade’s time,” said President Anthony P.
Monaco, who has asked Provost David R.
Harris to lead the initiative.
“The process of creating a strategic plan
allows you to learn more about yourself
as an institution,” said Monaco. “We will
engage with the community—faculty, students,
staff, alumni, trustees, advisors and
friends—to come up with a direction we
believe is important and meaningful for
Tufts. More broadly, strategic planning is
an opportunity for us to think about Tufts’
mission, its role in the world and our values
and priorities.”
Monaco and Harris sat down with Tufts
Dental Medicine to talk about the role of
strategic planning in advancing Tufts.
What is the purpose of strategic planning?
Provost Harris: This process will explore
what the Tufts community sees as our core
opportunities, our core challenges and the
barriers to our success. A strategic plan
will enable us to make decisions that are
aligned with shared goals instead of what
any one of us might think is an appropriate
direction for Tufts.
President Monaco: If the planning process
indicates that it’s important for Tufts to
increase its impact on society, for example,
then it will be up to the leadership and faculty
at each of our schools to consider how
they can contribute to that objective.
Why is it important to do this now?
Harris: We have a relatively new administration,
and it is important for the president
and me to hear from the community
about the opportunities and challenges
that face us and for the community to hear
photo: alonso niChols
from us about how we will synthesize their
input and develop aspirational goals for
Tufts University.
Why have you named the initiative
“Tufts: The Next 10 Years”?
Harris: It reflects the idea that we are always
looking 10 years out, and regularly asking
whether we are on the path to achieving
our goals. Strategic planning is not something
we do once and then move on. This
will be an ongoing activity.
What other areas will the
strategic plan address?
Monaco: Many strategic
plans focus on core values,
and so will ours. The
plan will contain sections
on teaching and learning,
research and scholarship
and Tufts’ impact on society.
We will look at our
civic engagement mission
and our role in economic
development through applications
of our research.
Then there are what I call
challenging areas for the future, things
like online learning, entrepreneurship and
innovation, interdisciplinary and other
modes of research and the student experience.
We need to think about the direction
we are going to take as an institution to
make us stronger in these areas.
How was the groundwork laid for this?
Monaco: During my first year, I spent a
lot of time listening and meeting faculty,
alumni, students and staff to understand
their perspectives on Tufts. Out of that
came issues I thought were essential to
laying the groundwork. One was diversity—recruiting
and retaining students,
faculty and staff of diverse backgrounds
and creating an environment of inclusion.
Another was being good stewards of the
environment. And finally was thinking
university news
how Tufts can have a larger impact in the
world, in particular how collaborative research,
teaching and learning across all
our schools can help solve some of society’s
greatest challenges.
How long will this take?
Harris: On the one hand, we want the plan
done as quickly as possible, because the absence
of a plan means that we are making
decisions without the benefit of a shared
Tufts President
Anthony Monaco and
Provost David Harris
vision. On the other hand, we want to proceed
slowly enough so that everyone has an
opportunity to be heard. That said, we’re
aiming to complete the plan by the fall of
2013. But this is a living document. Once a
year we will revisit the plan, systematically
asking what is working, what isn’t, what
new challenges have arisen and how we can
more effectively pursue our goals.
How can the Tufts community get involved
and stay informed?
Monaco: Once the plan gets to a certain
draft level, we will put it online so everyone
can tell us what they think. We will also be
engaging with our trustees and alumni and
listening to their perspectives. We want everyone
to have their say.
Learn more at strategicplan.tufts.edu.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 45

alumni news
The Perks of
Me MeMbershi MbershiP
It is time to renew your mem-
bership in the Tufts University
Dental Alumni Association.
With so many organizations
seeking your membership,
why should you join this one?
This is your organization,
and it represents your school.
We speak with pride when we
say we are graduates of Tufts
University School of Dental
Medicine. We are proud of its
reputation as a world leader
in research, education and
patient care. A Tufts diploma
is a mark of excellence.
staying connected
A strategy for the future
j
i am honored to be writing you as president of
the Tufts University Dental Alumni Association
(TUDAA). I would like to thank Peter Delli Colli
for his hard work as our former president and his 10
years of dedicated service as a member of the TUDAA
Executive Board. I would also like to thank Susan
Ahearn, associate director of alumni relations, and
her dedicated staff who make programming possible.
Under the direction of Dean Huw Thomas,
Tufts Dental School will continue its leadership
role in clinical training, research and promoting scholarship. The executive
board believes it is important that we support the goals of the school and is
developing a long-term strategic plan to do so.
First, we will look to expand continuing education during the annual reunion
weekend. In the future, we hope to sponsor a symposium-style program, where a
variety of topics would be covered, and registration would be open to all alumni.
Second, we plan to expand our annual alumni-student networking event,
which enables current dental students to meet with alumni. Moving forward,
the program will include sessions on topics of importance to first- and secondyear
students.
46 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
j
Did You Know?
Dues support the Tufts Dental Alumni Association,
which has raised more than $325,000 for student loan funds. Dues
subsidize Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Dues help
produce the award-winning Tufts Dental Medicine magazine. Dues
sponsor the Student/Alumni Networking Event every
March, as well as other student/alumni programming. Dues support
regional receptions and activities in New York, Boston, California and
Florida. Dues payers receive a $75 credit toward a Tufts
j
Continuing Education course.
An Annual nual Du Dues es for July 1, 2012, through
June 30, 2013, are $125.
j
To pAy onlIne: http://dental.tufts.edu/dues.
or, pleASe SenD checkS pAyAble To: j
Tufts University Dental Alumni Association, to:
Tufts Dental Alumni Relations j
j
136 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02111
Last, dental education requires a large
investment of capital. We are working to
enhance student financial support through
scholarships and student loans.
It has been a great experience getting to
meet so many of you. Our budget is fully
supported by your dues, so I encourage every
alum to take an active role by becoming a
registered, dues-paying member. We will
continue to pursue excellence alongside this
great institution.
john j. millette, d91, a15p
president, tufts university
dental alumni association
jmilldmd@gmail.com
j
pHoTo: kelvin MA

calendar
agrarian landscaPe. A panel of the oil painting Farm and Field Triptych (24 x 72 inches), by the
Vermont artist craig Mooney, is one of a number of artworks installed in the five-story expansion of
the dental school. This piece hangs in the office of the executive associate dean on the 15th floor.
noVeMber 27
Alumni Reception in
conjunction with the
greater new york
Dental Meeting
Marriott Marquis
Times Square
New York City
7:15 p.m. cocktails;
8 p.m. dinner
FebrUAry 1, 2013
Alumni reception in
conjunction with yankee
Dental Congress
Westin Waterfront
Boston, Massachusetts
Senior reception,
3:30-5:30 p.m.
Alumni receptions,
6-7:30 p.m.
MAy 3–5, 2013
Dental Homecoming and
Reunion Weekend
Tufts University School
of Dental Medicine and
Langham Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts
MAy 3–7, 2013
Alumni reception in
conjunction with the annual
session of the American
Association of orthodontists
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
MAy 19, 2013
Tufts University’s 157th
Commencement
Academic Quad
Medford/Somerville campus
9 a.m.
pHoTo: CRAig Mooney pAinTing CURATeD By JUles plACe gAlleRy, BosTon, MA
MAy 23–26, 2013
Alumni reception in
conjunction with the
66th annual session of
the American Academy of
pediatric Dentistry
Orlando, Florida
For the most current information,
contact the office of
Dental Alumni relations at
617.636.6773; email dentalalumni@tufts.edu
or visit
go.tufts.edu/dentalalums.
Alumni
Together, we begin...
During a time of transition
and expanding horizons for
the university, Tufts Alumni is
pleased to invite you to meet
with Tufts President Anthony P.
Monaco to hear about his plan
for developing a road map for
where Tufts aspires to be in the
next 10 years.
During the first year of his
tenure, Tufts Alumni hosted
15 receptions to introduce the
university’s 13th president to
alumni and friends around
the world. This year, President
Monaco will be visiting a number
of European cities as well as
cities in Arizona, Colorado,
Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
All members of the Tufts
community are invited to attend
any of these special events to
meet President Monaco and hear
his thoughts on Tufts today and
his vision for the future.
As the president’s itinerary
is developed, you can find
event dates and locations at
tuftsalumni.org/president.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 47

alumni news
swing time
2012 Wide Open raises $28,000
for Student Loan Fund
more than 130 alumni and friends of the school of
Dental Medicine gathered at the Wellesley Country Club
on September 24 to participate in the 30th annual Wide
Open Golf and Tennis Tournament. The annual tourney,
which is supported by dental alumni and corporate sponsors,
raised $28,211 for the Student Loan Fund, bringing
the 30-year cumulative total to $348,360. The 2013 tournament
will take place on September 23 at Wellesley Country
Club. All are welcome.
Daniella Phillis, D13,
winner of the tennis
round robin.
48 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Above, Moonyoung Lee, A06, D09, DG12,
and Benjamin Chan, D10, DG13, at the
post-tournament reception. Left, golfers take
some practice shots at the driving range.
Above, the Team Net
Champions, with a score of
58, from left: Steve Tonelli,
D80, A04P, A06P, A10P,
D14P; Michael Gooding,
D82; Robert Amato, D80,
DG83 and Mark Mizner, D80.
Left, with a score of 69,
the Team Gross Champions,
from left, Neil Oliveira,
D03; Derek Wolkowicz,
D97, DG00, cochair of the
tournament; Dave Askew
and Rick DeRochea.
PHOTOS: KELVIN MA (TOURNAMENT); MATTHEW MODOONO (RECEPTION)

tournament sponsors
Gift Sponsor
($6,000)
EDic
Awards Dinner Sponsors
($6,000)
henry schein Dental
3M
Midmark
solmetex
Hole in One Sponsor
Wagner Motors
Reception Sponsor
($4,000)
Gentle Dental
associates
Standard Golf Foursome
($2,500)
Designs for Vision inc.
Rosen & associates llp
Dental associates of
Walpole
crown health care
apparel
3M Unitek
Tee Hole Sponsors
Gold Level ($650)
invoclar Vivadent
Keystone Dental
aspen Dental
Dickerman Dental
prosthetics
Silver Level
($475)
Glidewell laboratories
Barr & Barr inc.
photo: alonso nichols
Par Club
($100 and/or prizes)
William accomando, D67
all-star charity
Fundraising
cherie Bishop, D94
chaba Florists
courtyard Marriott
Blaise Eckert, D.D.s.
Joanne Falzone, D80
John Ficarelli, D73,
D10p, DG12p
Four seasons hotel
l. Michael Gouveia, D78
intercontinental hotel
Boston
J.p. licks
langham hotel
Michelle Bento lavall,
D96, DG98
peiman Mahdavi, D91,
DG94
shibly Malouf, DG64
Massachusetts
Dental society
John Millette, D91, a15p
charles Millstein, D62,
a96p, a10p
new England aquarium
orinoco Restaurant
pediatric Dental
associates of
Winchester
Rock Bottom Restaurant
strecker Eye center
tufts Dental alumni
association
tufts Dental school,
alumni Relations and
Development
tufts Dental school,
Division of continuing
Education
tufts Dental school,
office of the Dean
tufts health sciences
Bookstore
peter Veale, D93
Vineyard Vines
Wellesley country club
Westin hotel
W hotel
Derek Wolkowicz, D97,
DG00
new director
Michelle Anderson
The Tufts University Dental Alumni
Association has elected Michelle
Anderson, D07, DG09, as a new
director on the Executive Board.
A native of Toronto, Anderson
received her undergraduate degrees
from Kingsborough College and
Brooklyn College, both of the City
University of New York.
A specialist in pediatric dentistry,
Anderson has clinical interests that
include oral health education, dental injury management, early child-
hood caries, dentistry for medically compromised and special-needs
children and hospital-based dentistry. She strives to establish a dental
home for every child.
Anderson serves on staff with hospital privileges at Mass General
Dental Group-Danvers/North Shore Center for Outpatient Care. She also
works part time as an associate for Eugene Mickey in Stoneham, Mass.
She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the
American Dental Association and the Massachusetts Dental Society.
register now!
tufts Dental
Career Link
• Search job openings and practices for sale or rent.
(Searches can only be made by members of the Tufts Dental community.
Postings are available to nonalumni and multiple members of an office.)
• Use the Alumni Advisors Network, an opt-in directory
that connects Tufts students and alumni for advising,
networking, referrals or just keeping in touch.
• Create or enhance résumés with templates
from Resume Builder.
dental.tufts.edu/careerlink
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 49

alumni news
saluti dall’italia
50 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
out&about &
The italian Tufts Alumni and the Boston University italian
Association gathered at the beautiful villa Tramonti in
Monastier di Treviso in northern italy in June.
Front row, from left: Federica berlucchi; Ignazio berlucchi, DG98;
luigi Gallo, DG94; roberto pellecchia, DG03; Fabio Mazzocco, DG07;
Arturo Imbelloni; roberto rossi; Gianluca paniz, DG06; Ugo Macca;
Sherry bloomfield capri; Diego capri; claire eusebio ori; Giacomo ori;
Simone Deliperi, DG00; paolo brotto; Thomas bianchi; Astrid hacquin
bianchi, DG11; caterina Venuleo; chabrel Zalloum; piero casavecchia;
Francesca Alessandrini calvani; and lino calvani, DG91, president of
the Italian Tufts Alumni. back row, from left: Andrea chierico; Tommaso
cantoni; luca Gobbato, DG10; Alfonso caiazzo, DG97; Francesco
olivieri, DG96; and Federico brugnami, DG95.
tufts president visits
greek alums
Tufts University president Anthony p. Monaco met with alumni in
greece on May 31 at the konstantinos karamanlis Foundation in
Athens. Monaco, front row, center, who just finished the first year of
his tenure, has been meeting with Tufts alumni and friends around
the world to share his vision for the university’s future.
Front row, from left: George papanikolaou, e01, e02, president of the Tufts
club of Greece; alumni relations staffer Gretchen Dobson; constantina
Dalassou, DG83; president Monaco; Maria-Gabriella Jaco papaioannou,
DG95; christina Zervou, DG99, DI07; Anna papadogeorgaki, DG90; and Anna
lagou, DG98. Second row, from left: George Goumenos, DG90; panayiota
hatzi; DG98; hercules Goussias, DG87; petros Damoulis, DG91, DI05;
Alexander Grous, DG83; Fotios Tzerbos, D90; and Fokion Iatridis, DG02. Third
row, from left: Ioannis Fakitsas, DG89; nikolaos Grambas, DG97; Antonios
lampropoulos, DG02; and konstantinos Michalakis, DG93. back row, from
left: efthymios Skaribas, DG04; konstantinos papaioannou, DG98; nickos
pantazis, DG92; and panagiotis Andritsakis, DG96.
rich leblanc,
department
administrator in
pediatric dentistry
and Joseph
Anwah, DG06.
west coast
state of mind
ninus ebrahimi,
D10, DG12;
elizabeth
Ackerman, DG12;
and David ching,
D05, DG12.
More than 70 alumni and guests gathered in
san Diego on May 26 to attend an alumni reception
held in conjunction with the annual session of the
American Academy of pediatric Dentistry. stanley
Alexander, D75A, professor and chair of pediatric
dentistry, provided the group with an update on
happenings at one kneeland street.

Bella Batsevitsky,
D09, DG11; Daniel
Green, professor
and chair of
endodontics; Emily
Tyler, DG11; and
Kerith Rankin, D08,
DG11
Ian Glick, DG06;
Carla Webb, DG03;
David Butler, DG04;
and Mike Lowery,
DG06.
springtime at
the ballpark
On March 24, Tufts dental alumni, family
and friends took in a game at the new
spring training facility of the Boston Red
Sox, JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Fort
Myers, Fla., where the hometown team lost
to the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-5. Before
the game, the 125 attendees enjoyed a
picnic buffet and visited with Dean Huw F.
Thomas. A number of features in the new
ballpark mirror those of its considerably
older northern sibling, including a Green
Monster and a manual scoreboard.
all over florida
Tony Yoon, DG12; Andrea Shah, DG12; Charles
Rankin, D79, DG86, D08P, DG11P, professor of endodontics;
Elizabeth Jones, D10, DG12; Kara Aurbach,
D10, DG12; and Eric Novison, DG12.
Paul McKenna, A46, D49,
DG81P, D87P, DG90P; Paul
Scola, DG71; Howard Libby,
D41; Dean Huw F. Thomas;
Walter Askinas, A73P, M77P,
M80P; Teri-Ross Icyda, D78,
J01P, A04P, D11P; Mayer
Liebman, DG72; Harris
Holstien, D54, M84P; Francis
Conroy, DI91; and Robert
Sainato, A53, D57.
Shawn Record, D89,
DG93; Jorge Vera,
DG93; and Phil
Cabrera, DG93.
The Office of Dental Development and Alumni Relations partnered with Corporate
Foundations and Relations this spring to host a reception in Tampa, Fla., in conjunction
with the annual session of the American Association of Dental Research/International
Association. Dental Alumni Relations also held a reception in Palm Beach, where more
than 50 alumni gathered at the Colony Hotel met with Dean Huw F. Thomas.
endodontists
return to boston
Daniel Green, professor and chair of
endodontics, welcomed alumni and friends
back to Boston and hosted a reception
at the dental school in conjunction with
the annual session of the American
Association of Endodontists in April.
Those in attendance toured the new top
floors at One Kneeland Street and caught
up with classmates and colleagues.
Left: Carl Perlmutter, D64, DG70; Peter
Delli Colli, A69, D73; and Paul Shamirian,
D81, in front of the statue of Ted Williams,
one of the game’s greatest hitters. The
3,500-pound bronze statue was moved from
the team’s former Grapefruit League home in
City of Palms Park.
Above: Joseph, D44,
and Ros Block
Left: At the pregame
picnic, Ken DiCarlo,
D75; Zeno Chicarilli,
D75, M77; and Steve
Rubin, D75.
Leila Sousa,
Justin Altshuler,
D46, and
Dean Huw F.
Thomas.
In Palm Beach, Paul
Brown, D12P; Suzi
Brown, D12P; Dean
Huw F. Thomas;
Barbara Icyda, J01P,
A04P, D11P; and Teri-
Ross Icyda, D78, J01P,
A04P, D11P.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 51

alumni news
Above: Jeffrey Leonard,
D96, DG98; Angelic
Gangoy, D97, DG99; Derek
Wolkowicz, D97, DG00; and
Candace Wolkowicz, D98.
Right: John Millette, D91,
A15P, the new president
of the Tufts University
Dental Alumni Association;
Dean Huw F. Thomas and
Steve McKenna, D87,
DG90, presented a $6,000
donation from Eastern
Dental Insurance to
support reunion.
52 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Left: Gail Frick, D77;
Rustam DeVitre, DG76,
DI77, D12P; and
Virginia Shahinian,
D77, DG79, D12P.

Together Again
Reunioners pack a lot into their weekend back in town
he 2012 dental homecoming and reunion weekend kicked
into high gear on May 4 with the Toast to Tufts gala at the
Intercontinental Hotel. Board of Advisors Chair Paul DesJardins,
D75A, was master of ceremonies, introducing Tufts President
Anthony P. Monaco, Dean Huw Thomas and Inga Keithly, president of the class
of 2012, to the school’s 350 leadership donors and volunteers.
Saturday morning featured a continuing education program with wildlife
painter Richard Goodkind, D62, who presented one of his paintings to the
dean, and a lecture on “Non-invasive Facial Cosmetic Procedures in the Office
Setting,” by Constantinos Laskarides, DG03, DI09, an assistant professor of
oral and maxillofacial surgery. Family and friends had the opportunity to tour
Fenway Park and its Green Monster and the five-story addition to the dental
school.
The Dental Alumni Association held its annual meeting on Saturday afternoon,
followed by a processional to honor alumni who had returned to Tufts
for their 50th reunion. The association presented achievement awards to M.
Christine Benoit, D77, D09P, and Louis A. Fiore, D62, and Susan Ahearn,
senior associate director of alumni relations, received the staff award. Thomas,
the keynote speaker, shared his thoughts on leading Tufts dental school since
Above: Geoffrey Gonzales, D07, DG10,
and Farbod Parvinjah, D07.
Fiftieth reunioners Arthur Goren,
A55, Richard Goodkind, who presented
a continuing education lecture on art
and dentistry, Louis Fiore, Philip Conti
and Stuart Barr.
his arrival in summer 2011. The meeting
concluded with voting in the slate of officers,
including the election of Michelle
Anderson, D07, DG09, as a director on the
Executive Council (see story, page 49).
Returning alumni gathered at Café
Fleuri in the Langham Hotel on Saturday
night for a reception and individual reunion
class dinners. Thomas visited the private
class dinners and reunioners presented
class gifts totaling more than $325,000.
The reunion classes came together again
for dancing to music that spanned every
reunion year.
Thirty percent of gifts made to the Tufts
Dental Fund each year come from reunion
classes. This year, nearly 500 alumni celebrating
a reunion made a gift to the fund
See TOGETHER, page 55
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 53

alumni news
Richard Vachon, D77, D10P; Bobby Guen, D77, DG78;
and Noshir Mehta, DG73, DI77, A10P, A07P, professor and
associate dean for international relations.
Celebrating their 25th reunion, Vicki Petropoulos,
Jerry Guss, Carmen Rahimi and Jamie Diament-Golub.
Peter Delli Colli, A69, D73, second from right,
outgoing president of the Dental Alumni Association,
with this year’s recipients of alumni achievement
awards, Susan Ahearn, senior associate
director of alumni relations, Louis
Fiore, D62, and Christine Benoit,
54 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Above: Constantino Laskarides,
DG03, DI09, gives a continuing
education lecture on noninvasive
facial cosmetic procedures.

Above: Neil Greenberg, D62, A86P, Dean Huw
F. Thomas and Sheldon Sullaway, D62.
TOGETHER, continued from page 53
between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, for
a total of $325,283. The cumulative total of
annual gifts and capital gifts made since
these classes held their last reunion in 2007
is $2,567,857.
The class of 1962, which celebrated its
50th reunion, won the Porcelain Bridge
Award for the highest philanthropic participation;
40 percent of the class made a
gift to the Tufts Dental Fund. The 50th
reunioners also received the Golden
Crown Award for the greatest overall giving
(annual gifts and capital gifts) since
2007, totaling $1,364,981. The award for
largest Dental Fund reunion gift total went
to the class of 1977, which raised $63,554,
breaking the previous record for the 35th
reunion class gift. The newest giving award,
the Impression Award, which is presented
to the fifth or 10th reunion class with the
highest participation, was given to D07;
16 percent of the class made a gift to the
Dental Fund.
The new president of the Dental Alumni Association, John Millette, D91, A15P, left, confers
with Joe Giordano, D79, DG80, DG84, the new vice president, before the association’s annual
meeting.
Peter Delli Colli, A69, D73, right, outgoing alumni association president,
presents the association’s gift of $8,000 to support the Dental Student Loan
Fund to Dean Huw F. Thomas.
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 55

alumni news
D62
D52
REuNION ALBuM
Robert J. Welch, Ivers Rifkin and Ralph Snyder
FRONT ROW: Bernard Kramer, Philip Millstein, Anthony Tolentino, Louis A. Fiore,
William T. Sherman, Edmund Russell, Philip Conti, Julika Ambrose
MIDDLE ROW: Charles B. Millstein, Gerald Forman, Arthur Goren, E. David Appelbaum,
Joseph T. Siracuse, Frederick White, Howard Bailit, Jack Doykos
BACK ROW: Bob Watson, Harold Litvak, Skip Sozio, Van Zissi, Sheldon Sullaway,
Neil Greenberg, Ray Jarvis, Joel Wyner, Clem Schoenebeck
56 tufts dental medicine fall 2012 photos: fayphoto/boston

D67
FRONT ROW: Abraham Haddad, Bill Accomando, John Dreslin,
Dan Roseman, Chuck Rounds
BACK ROW: John O’Brien, Charles Hoye, Jay Schwab, Shaun Dowd
D77
FRONT ROW: Noshir Mehta, Jan Conrad, Barbara Hauschka, Sterling Beasley,
Marie Holliday, Franson Tom, Franklin E. Bailey
MIDDLE ROW: Richard E. Vachon, Charles E. Albee, Eliot Paisner, John E. Duhaime,
Carl Manikian, Christine Benoit
BACK ROW: Lorenzo Lepore, Richard Marchand, Isaac Hakim, Gail Frick,
Edward Ledden, Mark Lausier, Robert Guen, Melvin Hanzel
D72
FRONT ROW: James P. Scialabba, Arnold K. Kaplan, William A.
Lobel, Edward Walk, Robert Swan, Philip R. Melnick
MIDDLE ROW: Paul S. Bobinski, John B. Corey, John A. Schrader,
Henry Talberth, Dennis Scharer, Michael Wolfman
BACK ROW: David Keller, Marc Chase
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 57

alumni news
D87
FRONT ROW: Christina DiComes, Mary Karish-Dodge, Marisol Ruiz, Jane Darviche, Carmen Rahimi,
Vicki Petropoulos, Alice Deutsch, Jamie Diament-Golub
SECOND ROW: Danny Ravin, Greg Chotkowski, Genevieve Kinney, Catherine Hayes, Anthony Stefanou,
David Samuels, Phira Sithiamnuai, Stephen McKenna, John Lanzetta, Mark Weinberg, Sal Guerriero
THIRD ROW: Steven Andreasen, Peter Simone, Michael Schneider, Jerry Guss, Warren Lee, Jay Reznick,
Dennis Pezzolesi, Louis Stylos, Steven Frimtzis, Tony Broccoli, Stephen Reichheld, Glen Goleburn
BACK ROW: Robert Sorrentino, Michael F. Fitzpatrick
58 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
D82
FRONT ROW: Maria
Papageorge, Naida
Henriquez, Lisa Emirzian,
Gail Bodzioch, Tofigh Raayai,
Lynne Marshall, Marguerite
Fallon, Karen Aborjaily
SECOND ROW: Tom Orent,
Michael Strassberg, Gerard
Kinahan, Peter McAllister,
Michael Tosatti, Vincent
Mariano, David Mayer, Robert
Harrington, Robert Shpuntoff,
Peter Toyias, Constantin
Darzenta
THIRD ROW: Ed Drysgula
Jr., Mike Truscott, Steven
Demetriou, David Frost,
Paul Bocciarelli, Alan
Avtges, Andy Molak, Charles
Samaras, Edwin Helitzer,
Steve Morse
BACK ROW: Gregory
Morando, John Carpenter,
Neal Rogol, Michael Gooding,
Henry Seemann

D92
FRONT ROW: Debra Dobbs, Mary Ellen Lukaswitz, Sandra Cove, Marilyn Rivero,
Ruby Ghaffari, Mira Zinger, Barbara Lewis, Leslie Olton, Rosie Angelakis
MIDDLE ROW: Soheil Samiei, Paul Dobrin, Tom Varden, Tal Morr, Hamid Esbah,
Chris McCartin, Keith Russell
BACK ROW: Vincent Mastronardi, Ramesh Izedian, Paul Lennon Jr., Stephen Cohen,
Bob DeFrancesco, David Beanland, Paul Talkov
D97
FRONT ROW: Joy Kasparian-Federico, Mary Jane Hanlon, Shelagh Kavanagh,
Femina Ali, Gloria Barredo, Anna McGuire, Natalie Jeong, Angelic Gangoy
BACK ROW: George Pelayo, Timothy McSweeney, Ben Hadar, Kallen Hull,
Jack O’Horo, Laura Sullivan, Michael Putt, Derek Wolkowicz
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 59

alumni news
D07
60 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
FRONT ROW: Shailaja Thaker, Caroline Young, Minh-Phuong Bui, Diba Dastjerdi,
Renee Osofsky, Valerie Martins, Whitney Goode, Shruti Gonzales, Michelle Anderson
MIDDLE ROW: Michael Cooper, Richard Bolduc, Jeff Segnere, Viraj Gadkar,
Farbod Parvinjah, Geoffrey Gonzales, Ian Fessler
D02
BACK ROW: Arvinder Sawhney, Peter T. Phan, Brendan Loehr, Durgesh Kudchadkar,
Sam Shamardi, Justin Griffee, Kenneth Blais, Jared Geller
FRONT ROW: Glenn Thompson,
Danielle Nedwetzky, Catherine
Moshirfar, Abhayjit Bedi,
Shahrzad Haghayegh-Askarian,
Fontini Dionisopoulos, Dawn
Thatcher, Brian Maguire
MIDDLE ROW: Grace Branon,
Lisa Cusson, Ann Kennon,
Dana Mandel, Monique Yuan,
Abdullaibrahim Abdulwaheed,
Blair Bradford, Katherine
Mantzikos, Sandeep Cheema,
Kendall Burns
BACK ROW: Angela Karogiannis,
Melissa Rodgers, Kamar Baloul,
Matt Ginsburg, Steve Lim,
Mariela Lung, Zhana Krasyuk,
Kistama Naidu, Natalia
Khrustcheva Hoffmann,
Justin Mull, Don Lucca,
Edgar Heil

class notes
John Meade, A54,
D56 A90P, F98P, was
honored by the St. Boniface Haiti
Foundation on September 13 for
his 41 years of volunteer work in
Haiti. A former faculty member at
Tufts School of Dental Medicine,
Meade first began traveling to
Haiti after he responded to an ad
looking for doctors and dentists
to volunteer their services in the
Caribbean nation. He has a dental
practice in Medford, Mass.,
and travels to Haiti at least once
a year. For more information
about the foundation’s work in
Haiti, go to www.haitihealth.org.
Allan C. Johnson
D65 is happily retiring
to Bethany Beach on the
Delaware shore after 47 years
of solo practice serving the D.C.
suburbs in Maryland. He will be
joined by his wife of 41 years,
Jan Johnson, and will be seeking
a new puppy and time on the
beach and golf course.
Lou Bartimmo
D70 was installed as
president of the New York State
Academy of General Dentistry on
May 20.
DG73 Noshir
Mehta,
DI77, J01P, A07P, professor
and associate dean for international
relations at Tufts, has
achieved diplomate status on
the American Board of Dental
Sleep Medicine.
Katz Family Dental
D74 of West Hartford,
Conn., was well represented at
the Connecticut Foundation for
Dental Outreach’s Mission of
Mercy last spring. Peter Katz
and Stephanie Katz, D09, were
among 1,600 volunteer dentists,
dental assistants, hygienists and
others who provided free care
to more than 2,000 people over
the course of a weekend. The
Katzes assisted with triage and
restorative work, during a day
that stretched from 5 a.m. to 4
p.m. The foundation estimates
that more than $1.3 million in
dental treatment was provided
during the mission, which was
held at Western Connecticut
State University in Danbury.
Carl F. Driscoll
D77 is a professor
and director of the prosthodontics
residency program at the
University of Maryland, where he
has worked for 15 years. Prior
to that, he spent 20 years in
the U.S. Army. He has served as
president of the American Board
of Prosthodontics, president
of the American Academy of
Fixed Prosthodontics and treasurer
of the American College of
Prosthodontics.
Howard Cooper,
D79 see D07.
Richard S. Harold,
D80 A00P, D06P, assistant
clinical professor of general
dentistry at Tufts, has been appointed
associate director of the
school’s oral diagnosis course.
He gave a lecture on “Ethical
Guidelines for Prescription
Writing” at the annual meeting
of the American College of Legal
Medicine, held in New Orleans
earlier this year. His article,
“Prescription Writing for Dentists:
Ethical and Legal Guidelines,”
appeared in the winter 2012
edition of the Journal of the
Massachusetts Dental Society.
John Giordano was
D96 promoted to the
rank of major in the Army National
Guard Dental Corps, where he
serves as a Massachusetts state
dental officer. Giordano continues
to maintain his dental practice
on Park Avenue in Worcester and
his forensic practice, the Forensic
Dentistry Resource Center, also
in Worcester.
DG97 Zuzana
Mendez,
DI08, was recognized as
one of “Ten Under 10,” a
Massachusetts Dental Society
award that honors dentists who
have graduated in the past 10
years and have made a significant
contribution to the profession,
their community and/or
organized dentistry. Mendez
also has a dental degree from
the Universidad Autónoma de
Santo Domingo in the Dominican
Republic. She is the dental director
at the Upham’s Corner Health
Center in Dorchester, Mass.,
where she also resides.
Yun Saksena,
DI00 an associate
clinical professor of prosthodontics
and operative dentistry at
Tufts, has been appointed to the
faculty advisory board of the Tufts
Center for the Enhancement of
Learning and Teaching, which assists
faculty across the university
in promoting teaching innovation
and offers professional development
opportunities. Saksena was
elected secretary of the American
Dental Education Association
Special Interest Group on the
Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning, a forum in which members
learn and build upon the
experiences of their peers.
D02
Abe Abdulwaheed,
E97, and Shahrzad
Haghayegh-Askarian were
recognized as two of “Ten Under
we want to hear from you!
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email: dental-alumni@tufts.edu or fax: 617.636.4052
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 61

alumnI news
10” by the Massachusetts
Dental Society. The award
honors dentists who have
graduated in the past 10 years
and have made a significant
contribution to the profession,
their community and/or organized
dentistry. Abdulwaheed
completed his general dentistry
residency at Harvard School of
Dental Medicine/Brigham and
Women’s Hospital. He maintains
private practices in Quincy
and Cambridge, and lives in
Quincy. Haghayegh-Askarian
completed her general dentistry
residency through Lutheran
Medical Center at both Codman
Square Health Center and
Boston University. She maintains
a private practice in the
Wollaston section of Quincy and
lives in Norwell.
Amy Ala, a
D05 pediatric dentist,
has joined the DentaQuest Oral
62 tufts dental medicine fall 2012
Health Center in Westborough,
Mass. She earned a certificate
in pediatric dentistry from the
University of Connecticut and
teaches pediatric dentistry at
Tufts. She is also on staff at the
Franciscan Hospital for Children
in Boston.
DG06 Aaron
DeMaio was
recognized as one of “Ten Under
10,” a Massachusetts Dental
Society award honoring dentists
who have graduated in the past
10 years and have made a significant
contribution to the profession,
their community and/
or organized dentistry. DeMaio
received his dental degree from
the University of Connecticut
School of Dental Medicine and a
certificate in orthodontics from
Tufts. He maintains orthodontic
practices in Northampton and
Amherst and lives in Conway,
Mass.
Michael Cooper
D07 and his wife,
Wendy, welcomed a daughter,
Kelsey, born on May 12. Kelsey
is the granddaughter of Howard
Cooper, D79.
Christine Jarmoc and Marcin
“Marty” Jarmoc, DG11, opened
their new dental practice,
Northern Star Dental Group, in
Danvers, Mass., this summer.
Peter T. Phan, DG11, was
recognized as one of “Ten Under
10” by the Massachusetts
Dental Society. The award honors
dentists who have graduated in
the past decade and have made
a significant contribution to the
profession, their community
and/or organized dentistry.
He maintains orthodontic
practices in Norwell, Natick
and Sudbury, and resides in
Braintree. He teaches at Tufts
Dental School.
Jauna Souza presented her
research at the Charley Schultz
Resident Scholar Award Program
during the 2012 annual session
Travel To exTraordinary places wiTh excepTional people
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facebook.com/tuftsdentalalumni
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the exciting
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From Peru to Provence, from
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our lineup features classic and
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our world’s natural beauty
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Contact usha sellers, ed.d.,
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or 617-627-5323 for our catalog
or specific brochure, or visit our
website for itineraries.

of the American Association of
Orthodontists in Honolulu in May.
She completed her orthodontic
residency program in June as
chief resident at Montefiore
Medical Center in New York. She
has joined Baarsvik Orthodontics
in Dartmouth, Mass., as an
associate orthodontist. Before
pursuing her residency, Souza,
a native of New Bedford, Mass.,
practiced general dentistry in
her hometown for two years,
exclusively treating children and
adolescents.
Mabi Singh,
DI07 an associate
professor of geriatric dentistry at
Tufts, has been named a fellow
of the American Academy of Oral
Medicine.
D08
Matthew Horan
was recognized
as one of “Ten Under 10” by the
Massachusetts Dental Society.
The award honors dentists
who have graduated during the
past decade and have made a
significant contribution to the
profession, their community,
and/or organized dentistry. He
is the dental director at the
Codman Square Health Center
in Dorchester, Mass.
Paul Brooks Noland, of
Beaverton, Ore., received the
Award for Clinical Excellence in
Restorative Dentistry from the
Tufts University Dental Alumni
Association.
Rebecca Seppala and her
husband, Jayme Seppala,
welcomed Carter Daniel Seppala
on March 28. He weighed 8
pounds, 2 ounces.
Corinne Zamaitis
D09 Coughlin and
her husband, Kevin Coughlin,
welcomed son Rhyan Edward on
September 29, 2011.
Stephanie Katz, see D74.
D12
Inger Johansen,
wife of former dean
Eunice Lee
was one of 10
dental students nationwide
to receive a 2012 American
Association of Women Dentists
Colgate Research Scholarship,
presented to junior or senior
dental students who have
shown academic distinction
and excellence in research.
Inger Marie Nordback Johansen, the widow of Dean
Emeritus Erling Johansen, D49, died in Nordli, Norway,
on July 8 after a brief illness. She was active in the
Tufts Dental community from 1979 to 1995, during
her husband’s tenure as dean. She founded and led the
W Club (Women’s Club), which supported the dental
school in spirit and raised funds for scholarships. She
is remembered as a bright and charming woman with a
well-developed sense of humor. She is survived by three
sons, Erling Trygve, Erik Bjarne and Steven Douglas,
and four grandchildren.
IN MEMORIAM
Samuel R. Siegel, D33
April 21, 2012
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Alex N. Cohen, D37
March 19, 2012
Palms Beach Gardens, Florida
Sumner H. Willens, D43B
April 25, 2012
Lake Worth, Florida
Sumner Gefen, D44
June 25, 2012
Boynton Beach, Florida
Sidney S. Mizner, A43, D45,
DG49, J75P
April 4, 2012
Lexington, Massachusetts
John H. Seidel, A43, D45
April 21, 2012
Scituate, Massachusetts
James Springer, D45, J85P
June 1, 2012
New York, New York
George P. Gunn, D46
February 8, 2012
Boothbay, Maine
Joseph P. Gentile, D47
April 17, 2012
Newton Center, Massachusetts
J. Wain Baker, D49
January 27, 2012
Rockport, Massachusetts
Robert Leikin, D49
May 7, 2012
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Costas Poulios, D52
April 2, 2012
Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Ronald B. Singleton, D54, J85P
February 9, 2012
Framingham, Massachusetts
Robert L. Bunnen, DG54
July 15, 2012
Atlanta, Georgia
Gerald S. Camann, D56
February 20, 2012
Brookline, Massachusetts
John S. Ingari, A55, D57
January 10, 2012
Melbourne, Florida
Dale B. Montgomery, D59
June 8, 2012
Colchester, Vermont
Ira S. Hoffman, D60
June 8, 2012
Stamford, Connecticut
Garry T. Moushegian, D61
March 22, 2012
Norwood, Massachusetts
Francis P. Millette, D62
May 9, 2012
Northampton, Massachusetts
Daniel A Garcia, DG66, J86P
January 14, 2012
Bainbridge Island, Washington
John E. Bullock, DG73
February 23, 2012
Framingham, Massachusetts
Lewis C. Trusheim, D75A
March 18, 2012
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Clifford Wachtel, DG78
January 7, 2012
Kingston, Pennsylvania
Susan Kinder Haake, D79
May 1, 2012
Culver City, California
James A. Edmond, D87
March 3, 2012
Manchester, New Hampshire
Jody Senora Rossetti, D87,
DG89
January 14, 2012
Suffield, Connecticut
Nayeli Velez-McCaskey, DI89,
DG89
August 14, 2012
Boston, Massachusetts
fall 2012 tufts dental medicine 63

CoNtINUINg EdUCAtIoN
MARCH 1–2
Nitrous Oxide Certification Course
Morton B. Rosenberg, D.M.D.; C.S. Maller,
D.M.D.; Patrick McCarty, D.D.S.
MARCH 1
Lecture, Radiology Certification Course
Clinical Sessions, March 2, March 16 and
March 23
MARCH 15–16
Essential Oral Appliances including Mouth
Guards, A Hands-on Class
Noshir R. Mehta, B.D.S., D.M.D., M.D.S., M.S.
MARCH 22–23
Dental Sleep Medicine Annual Symposium
Noshir R. Mehta, B.D.S., D.M.D., M.D.S., M.S.;
Leopoldo P. Correa, B.D.S., M.S.; Noah Siegel,
M.D., E.N.T.
APRIL 5–6
4 on the Floor Implant Overdentures, Nobel
Clinician
Hans-Peter Weber, D.M.D., Dr.Med.Dent.
APRIL 10
Everything You Always Wanted to Know
about Removables, But Were Afraid to Ask
William A. Lobel, D.M.D., F.A.C.D.; David R.
Cagna, D.M.D., M.S.
APRIL 10
Best Practices for a Tough Economy:
Stay on Top in an Economic Downturn
Penny Reed Limoli; Tom Limoli
APRIL 18–20
Module III, Conclusion of Dental Sleep
Medicine Mini-Residency (in collaboration with
the American Academy of Craniofacial Pain)
Please call for dates for upcoming Modules
I, II and III
MAY 3–4
Nitrous Oxide Certification Course
Morton B. Rosenberg, D.M.D.; C.S. Maller,
D.M.D.; Patrick McCarty, D.D.S.
M AY 3
Esthetics and Implants
Hans-Peter Weber, D.M.D., Dr.Med.Dent.
MAY 17–18
Digital Implant Dentistry
Hans-Peter Weber, D.M.D., Dr.Med.Dent.;
German Galucci, D.M.D., Dr.Med.Dent.
MAY 31
Dr. Waldemar Brehm Continuing Education
Lectureship on the Early Treatment of
Malocclusion in Pediatric Dentistry: The
Use of Technology to Enhance Care in
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Deformities
Chung How Kau, D.D.S.
Courses fill quiCkly!
register early!
For registration information and
course details, please contact us:
Online: dental.tufts.edu/ce
Email: Dentalce@tufts.edu
Phone: 617.636.6629
Fax: 617.636.0800
DiVisioN of CoNtiNuiNg eDuCatioN
tufts uNiVersity
sCHool of DeNtal MeDiCiNe
oNe kNeelaND street
BostoN, Ma 02111
JUNE 5
Direct Posterior Composites: The Next Level,
a Comprehensive Hands-on Course
Simone Deliperi, D.D.S.; David N. Bardwell,
D.M.D., M.S.
JUNE 7
Eighth Annual Oral Cancer Symposium:
Now Encompassing Head and Neck Cancers
Michael A. Kahn, D.D.S.; Scott Benjamin,
D.D.S.; J. Michael Hall, D.D.S.; Nora Laver,
M.D.; Adele Moreland, M.D.; Richard O. Wein,
M.D.; Sook-Bin Woo, D.M.D.
JUNE 14–15
Participation Course with Multiple Hard-
and Soft-tissue Lasers
Robert A. Convissar, D.D.S.
Tufts University School of Dental
Medicine is an ADA CERP-recognized
provider. Approval dates: 11/11–12/15.
ADA CERP does not approve or endorse
individual courses or instructors, nor
does it imply acceptance of credit hours
by boards of dentistry. Concerns or
complaints about a CE provider may be
directed to the provider or to ADA CERP
or ada.org/goto/cerp.

“ I have a strong belief
in doing the greatest
good I can possibly do.
I’m leaving a portion
of my estate to Tufts
because I want to give
back for the great
education I received
in dental school.”
During her 23 years in the U.S. Army,
JUDith CAll MMCCollUM,
CollUM, D80, golfed
in Augusta, Georgia, skied in Germany,
and learned to scuba dive in Panama.
Yet, for Judy, who has been committed
to volunteering and service since high
school, the greatest thrill came from
helping others.
After completing periodontal training,
Judy made a career out of caring
for soldiers and their families. her
assignments included managing a clinic
in Panama and teaching at Fort Bragg.
Now retired and living in Brunswick,
Maine, Judy is on the board of the
Cathance River Education Alliance,
a group that promotes ecological
awareness. Judy’s desire to improve
education drives her philanthropy and
has culminated in a bequest in her will
to support the dental school.
“When i was growing up, tufts was
the school to go to if you wanted to
become a dentist,” she says. “i’d like
to help it stay that way.”
For more information
please contact
Tufts’ Gift Planning Office
888.748.8387
giftplanning@ tufts.edu
www.tufts.edu/giftplanning
School of
Dental Medicine
www.facebook.com/CharlesTuftsSociety

School of Dental Medicine
136 Harrison Avenue
Boston, ma 02111
www.tufts.edu/dental
of horror and hope
Dental historian Martin Deranian’s own family story of loss
in armenia was the inspiration for the play Deported,
A Dream Play, which will be staged in London early next year.
for more, turn to page 4.
NONprOFIT OrG.
u.s. pOsTAGE
pAId
BOsTON, MA
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TuFTs uNIvErsITy OFFIcE OF puBlIcATIONs 8384 11/12; pHOTO: © jErry N. uElsMANN