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Research In Oral Health 2023: Live and in person

Posted by Cheryl Bell on March 28, 2023 in News
Photos: Bruce Bottomley

With 47 dentistry student posters, 29 dental hygiene students giving presentations, 12 sponsors, 30 judges, and nearly 300 attendees, the Dentistry Building was a packed house at the 53rd annual Research In Oral Health (RIOH) Student Presentations Showcase on March 24, 2023 – the first in-person event of its kind since 2019.

"Online events are good," said Dr. Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, at the end of the evening, "but getting together in person is so much better. When you see a crowd like this, you realize how important this sort of event is for networking, knowledge sharing, and reuniting with friends, colleagues, and alumni – all the while earning some CE credits!"

The students presented projects on a wide range of topics, from sleep apnea, teledentistry, and the opioid crisis, to robotics, nanotechnology, and the effectiveness of incentives to recruit dentists to rural Newfoundland. The dental hygiene students presented their PowerPoint projects in groups of four or five. The dentistry students stood beside their project posters and explained their findings to groups of judges and other RIOH attendees.

The judges comprised a mixture of alumni and faculty members and students from other years also had the experience of judging their fellow students.

Innovations this year included the ability to pre-register for the event, which reduced congestion at the door, and the introduction of an electronic booklet, which could be accessed with a QR code.

Changes for next year
Drs. Mark Filiaggi, associate dean of research and graduate studies, and Leigha Rock, director of the School of Dental Hygiene, outlined some changes to the annual research event prior to announcing the winners.

"Instead of a RIOH event in which all third-year students present their projects, we will be shifting to a research focus event in the fall that will feature the primary research carried out by DDS/DH students over the summer as well as our graduate residents," he announced.

The event will provide an opportunity to showcase the "rich and diverse research programs" our faculty members are leading, plus the work of some guest speakers.

"We look forward to the future support and participation of our alumni and sponsors in this exciting endeavour," he said.

Dr. Rock expressed her delight at seeing so many students "so passionate about their topics". She said that the format of the dental hygiene presentations would remain largely the same apart from moving back to the online format that was used over the past two years. More details will follow on both events.

Dental hygiene winners

First place
The oral-gut axis: Crohn’s Disease and oral health
•    Hailey Fricker-MacNeil, Emma Green-Clements, Larissa Gautreau, Britney Larsen, Madison MacLeod
•    Advisor: Alma Wade

Second place
 Cleidocranial dysplasia: A 'strange' disease
•    Emma McIntyre, Yumna Madi, Sama Aqlan, Sukhvir Kaur, Kali Phillips
•    Advisor: Leslie Kenwell

Third place
Flowing into the future: Exploring guided biofilm therapy
•    Nisha KC, Nakiah Marsman, Sarah Mershati, Lauren Smith, Marie Sukkar
•    Advisor: Lindsay McDonald
 
Dentistry winners


Best original research
Outcomes of condylar fractures using transparotid or submandibular approaches: A retrospective study
•    Mohammad Alabdoulsalam
•    Advisor: Dr. James Brady
 
First place
Dentist job satisfaction: An insight into the career
•    Cecilia Keith
•    Advisor: Dr. Ferne Kraglund
 
Second place
What therapeutic resources do oral health care professionals use to manage work-related pain or injuries and how effective are they?
•    Emily Benteau
•    Advisors: Drs. Ferne Kraglund and Frances Tompkins
 
Third place
Underlying causes of aphthous ulcers
•    Claire Jurgens
•    Advisor: Dr. Yang Gu

A complete list of all the dentistry abstracts and the dental hygiene video recordings is available on the website.