Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD)

Indiana University School of Dentistry
1121 West Michigan Street
Indianapolis IN 46202-5186
General Information: (317) 274-7957
IU School of Dentistry: Always Striving for Simply the Best
The only dental school in the Hoosier state, Indiana University School of Dentistry (IUSD) offers an extraordinary learning environment in which teaching, research, and community service come together in the best way possible for the preparation of tomorrowÌs dental professionals.
Under the leadership of Dean Lawrence I. Goldblatt since January 1997, the school is located at the center of Indiana, and in the heart of Indianapolis. It is part of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), one of eight campuses in the IU system. IUPUI is a fast-growing campus situated just a few blocks from Monument Circle in downtown ÏIndy.Ó
IUPUI shares its location on the near west side of the city with the Indiana University Medical Center, one of the finest teaching and research centers in the world. Many of the dental schoolÌs faculty members have established strong collaborative ties with physicians and other scientists in the medical center facilities, which are just across the street from the school.
The IU dental school has more than 11,000 living alumni. They are pursuing careers throughout the United States and in more than 30 other countries. The IU Alumni Association counts dentistry among its most supportive groups. IU grads have been named to prestigious leadership posts in organized dentistry and in dental education throughout the world.
During the 2004-2005 academic year, 663 students are pursuing seven types of degree and/or certificate programs in dental assisting, dental hygiene, dentistry, and graduate dentistry. In addition, three other IU campuses (in Gary, South Bend, and Fort Wayne) offer certificates and degrees in allied dental programs.
About 115 full-time and 95 part-time faculty members contribute to IUSDÌs teaching and research programs, and many have earned solid reputations as experts in their fields. Additionally, 85 persons serve the school as adjunct and volunteer teachers. An outstanding roster of teachers trained as dentists, allied dental professionals, and dental specialists is complemented by teachers trained in such areas as molecular biology, medical genetics, pharmacology and toxicology, microbiology and immunology, biochemistry, anatomy, mechanical and electrical engineering, dermatology, anthropology, and pathology.
Three full-time professors and one emeritus faculty member hold endowed faculty positions: David R. Avery, Ralph E. McDonald Professor of Pediatric Dentistry; Jeffrey A. Platt, Ralph W. Phillips Scholar in Dental Materials; W. Eugene Roberts, Joseph R. and Louise Ada Jarabak Professor of Orthodontics; and Myron J. Kasle, Howard Riley Raper Professor Emeritus of Radiology. A search is currently under way for a candidate to fill the Indiana Dental Association Endowed Chair in Restorative Dentistry, which was held until 2003 by former IU faculty member Dr. E. Steven Duke.
IUSD is one of the oldest dental schools in the nation. It got its start as the Indiana Dental College in 1879 and was purchased by Indiana University in 1925. In 1933, IU built a facility to house the school at its current site. Today this sprawling, five-story edifice is composed of the original building plus two major additions -- the first addition was constructed in 1962 and the second a decade later.
The school also provides treatment at several other outstanding patient care facilities, including the pediatric dentistry clinic at Riley Outpatient Center, which is part of IUÌs acclaimed Riley Hospital for Children; the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics at University and Wishard Memorial hospitals; and Cottage Grove and Grassy Creek, two clinics located in the community.
The clinical program at IU is one of the strongest in the country, gathering its strength from IUÌs time-honored traditions in educational excellence and drawing on a patient population of more than 20,500 persons. A Comprehensive Care Clinic, divided into seven sections, is contained within the third floor of the school. Students scheduled about 15,000 appointments for dental school patients during the past fiscal year.
EDUCATION
In 1997, IUSD launched a totally revamped D.D.S. curriculum. Phased in one class at a time, the graduating class of 2001 was the first to participate in all four years of this new program. Now known as the Indiana Model of Dental Education, the new curriculum is a dynamic blend of contemporary and traditional learning environments designed and continually refined so as to maximally promote the principles of student centeredness, critical thinking, problem-solving, evidence-based decision-making, competency-based clinical care, and lifelong learning. The programs for allied dental professionals have also undergone revisions that embrace the tenets of the Indiana Model.
In 2000, the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation awarded the education programs at IUSD the status of Approval Without Reporting Requirements with strong commendations in several areas. The schoolÌs next accreditation site visit is scheduled for September 2006.
RESEARCH
Across the parking lot from the dental school is its Oral Health Research Institute -- a little building with a big reputation. The brilliant efforts of three IU scientists in the 1950s made the construction of this highly regarded research facility possible. Chemistry professors Harry Day and William Nebergall and dentistry professor Joseph Muhler created the first stannous fluoride formula that became the active decay-preventive agent in Crest toothpaste. Their work was patented, and IU made an agreement with Procter & Gamble to use the patent. Royalties from the sale of Crest were used to build the facility in 1968. It was originally named the Preventive Dentistry Research Institute (and nicknamed ÏThe House that Crest BuiltÓ).
Four decades later, the renamed Oral Health Research Institute is moving ahead faster than ever and can now look back on an entire portfolio of significant contributions to dental health in the U.S. and abroad. Directed by Dr. Domenick Zero since 1999, the Institute is one of the best-known product-testing sites in the world.
The InstituteÌs researchers have also acquired international reputations for their studies of fluoride and their work in caries prevention. With a series of grants, including one from the Indiana legislatureÌs 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, the Institute has become one of the world leaders in studies of methods and techniques used in the early detection of dental caries. Dr. George Stookey, formerly associate dean for research and the InstituteÌs longtime director, is currently developing a core of talented cariologists to further advance IUÌs work in this important field. Dr. Stookey has been selected to lead the ORCA meeting (European Organisation for Caries Research) in 2005. This prestigious conference, which will be hosted by the city of Indianapolis, annually draws the worldÌs leaders in the field of cariology.
IUSD has a significant multidisciplinary research program that addresses several of the priority areas cited by the U.S. Surgeon General. In addition to the areas of study mentioned above, these externally funded research programs include efforts to identify specific genes and related genetic factors responsible for specific craniofacial anomalies; molecular and cellular studies of the processes involved in the induction of bone formation; molecular studies of the microbial factors involved in the etiology of dental caries and periodontal disease; basic and clinical studies of strategies for further improving restorative materials; the identification of more effective measures for the control of incipient dental caries; and factors responsible for the development of dental and skeletal fluorosis.
In 2004, IU dental school faculty member Dr. Michael Kowolik was awarded a $1.3 million, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study dental plaque accumulation as a risk factor for heart disease.
In all, nearly 40,000 square feet of space divided into more than a dozen facilities has been devoted to wide-ranging research opportunities at IUSD. During fiscal year 2003-2004, the school received more than $7.3 million in external funding.
COMMUNITY DENTISTRY
IU stresses to its students the importance of becoming professionally engaged with the community at large. The Division of Community Dentistry, under the direction of Dr. Karen Yoder, seeks to continually broaden the scope of the schoolÌs outreach efforts and thus the studentsÌ exposure to community populations having special needs. IUSD is developing long-term relationships with various community agencies in Indiana, and in 2001 the school added an international component to its service-learning program. With guidance on site from IUSD faculty mentors, dental and dental hygiene student volunteers have been gaining a global perspective on patient care and the profession of dentistry by treating underserved patients in Haiti and rural Mexico during the annual Alternative Spring Break. In 2004, a team of volunteers conducted a healthcare mission to Ecuador for the first time.
One of many examples of IUSDÌs service-learning efforts closer to home is annual participation by faculty, staff, and student volunteers in a monthly program that provides dental sealants to children residing in several city shelters housing homeless persons and victims of domestic violence. Another is an ongoing collaborative project between the school and a local community health center in which second-year dental hygiene students and fourth-year dental students provide treatment to homeless persons. Through the second-year dental hygiene Community Dental Health course, which sends students into the community to assist citizens in need in