Reality of Cavity-free Society to be Addressed at
UNMC College of Dentistrys Annual Professionals Day March 22
The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry in Lincoln
will host its 16th Annual Professionals Day and 35th Annual Student Scientific
Program on Friday, March 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event celebrates
scholarly activities and provides students, faculty and the dental community
an opportunity to share professional and academic activities.
The event will be held in the Great Plains Room in the East Campus Union
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, located at 37th & Fair streets,
just north of Holdrege. Activities will include the Annual Student Scientific
Program at which students will display dentistry projects from 9 to noon.
Max Anderson, D.D.S., vice president of the Washington Dental Service,
will talk about the future with no cavities at 1:30 p.m. Faculty and students
will be honored with awards and recognition at 2:15 p.m.
Dr. Anderson said just as polio isnt an issue anymore with children,
so it will be with cavities in children 10 years from now.
He said a number of products now being tested stand a good chance of
eliminating the organism that leads to cavities. Ultimately, a cavity-preventing
substance could be delivered through pacifiers, baby bottles, toothpaste,
mouthwash and non-traditional substances like sugar substitute, breath
mints and even candy, said Dr. Anderson. He envisions babies up to 30 months
old and people over 65 years old who take medications would receive cavity
protection which would probably be delivered through health care providers.
The public health and economic effects will be positive, Dr. Anderson
said. Instead of dentists fixing cavities, they will be doing all the
other work they now do. He said with the increasing shortage of dental
professionals, elimination of cavities would allow dentists to concentrate
on more serious oral health problems like periodontal disease.
Dr. Anderson received his dental degree from the University of Nebraska
College of Dentistry in 1976, his masters degree in restorative dentistry
from the University of Michigan in 1983 and his masters degree in education
from George Washington University in 1988. He served in the U.S. Navy and
has served on the faculty of the University of Washington and Indiana University.