Budding dentists in action at School of Dentistry

Young people draped in yellow scrubs, face masks, and bright blue gloves bent over a table, a pair of hemostats wedged between their fingers, quietly and intently threading the thick and pliable skin of banana, stitch, after stitch.

That was one of the dozens of scenes captured during Dental Week, July 8-12, when 16 current high school students and recent graduates from across Oregon were at the School of Dentistry exploring what a career in oral health care would be like.

Suturing the skin of the banana was a highlight for the young adults. “We sutured in the shape of Ws,” said Logan Ajifu-Santos, a Parkrose High School student.

The 10 young women and six men also experimented with waxing a dental model with faculty member Christina Truong, D.M.D. Each student held a probe like a pencil, heated to 250 degrees, and dipped it into a sticky wax before dripping it onto a tooth model. They were building a tooth cusp ridge.

The experiential part of learning can often be the most rewarding and effective way to hold someone’s interest. That’s why these experiences are baked into Dental Week, a new initiative intended to draw more young people—especially under-served populations—into the profession.

Diverse backgrounds

The students were from the Klamath Tribes, Klamath Falls, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Jefferson County, Portland, Parkrose and Woodburn school districts. The Klamath Tribes students attending were from Chiloquin High School.

Of the group, 38 percent identify as American Indian/Alaskan Native, 12% as Black African American, 26 percent as Latino/Hispanic, 12% as multiracial/other than white, and 12 percent as white.

A local clinician, Thien-Y Hoang, D.M.D., from Permanente Dental Associates, opened the week with an overview of oral anatomy and basic dentistry vocabulary, such as occlusal (chewing surface) and dentin (under tooth enamel) People get their lower front teeth first by age 6 or 7 and the upper front teeth next. Overall, 20 teeth appear within the first year of life. By the time of adulthood, one typically has 32 teeth, according to Hoang.

The program is a collaboration with the OHSU School of Dentistry, Permanente Dental Associates, and On Track OHSU! This was the first of what’s expected to be two annual sessions. 

On Track OHSU! is a health and science pathways outreach program working to increase the number of middle and high school students from underrepresented backgrounds in the health sciences and Oregon’s biomedical workforce.

Permanente Dental Associates is an accredited partner of Kaiser Permanente Dental, providing comprehensive, quality dental care in Oregon and Southwest Washington for 50 years.

Some expect to be dentists someday, like Osvaldo Legaria, from Woodburn, who will attend Chemeketa Community College in the fall. Others are still exploring possible career tracks, like Diana Santiago, who recently graduated from Woodburn High School. That’s why she was at Dental Week and taking part in other On Track programs.

Leadership

“Find ways to differentiate yourselves,” said Dean Ron Sakaguchi, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., M.B.A., as he offered words of wisdom about the oral health care field. He suggested the students explore research as one option to stand apart.

“Take advantage of opportunities that come to you. You can never know how what you learn today—like this Dental Week experience—could apply to your career.”

Journeys into the field of dentistry can take many forms.

Cyrus Lee, D.M.D., CEO and executive dental director of Permanente Dental Associates and an OHSU School of Dentistry alumnus, didn’t have a direct path after college. Instead, he took two years off.

“This time was an opportunity to look at myself and decide what the next chapter would be,” he said.

Lee had done research projects with OHSU while in college and extended that work while he considered dental school. He also tutored immigrant children and taught at an alternative high school.

“Make the most of your detours,” said Lee.

Diversifying the health care workforce leads to better health outcomes, according to research. However, there is a health care workforce shortage that is hampering improvement efforts. Oregon’s current biomedical workforce is not representative of the state’s demographics. Dental Week is an effort to change the current trajectory for dentistry in the state to the benefit of the profession and the community.

A correction was made to this article on July 30. The high school students from Mazama High School, Daniel Tate and Isabella Lester were identified as Klamath Tribal members, but they are not members of the Tribes.