Noor Obaisi, a May 2013 graduate of UIC's orthodontic specialty program, received the First Place $1,000 prize in the Charley Schultz Resident Scholar Research Competition at the May 2013 national meeting of the American Association of Orthodontists in Philadelphia. 

The Charley Schultz Resident Scholar Award program is sponsored by Dentsply GAC and offers an opportunity for graduate students/residents to present their research using narrative material and a posterboard.  The team of judges selects prize winning entries on the basis of originality, relevance, research design validity and results/conclusions.

Noor conducted her research with her M.S. in Oral Sciences thesis advisor, Maria Therese Galang (Assistant Professor and Director of Predoctoral Orthodontics), Spiro Megremis (Assistant Director; Standards, Protocols and New Test Method Development at the American Dental Association Laboratories), Grace Viana (Biostatistician), T. Peter Tsay (Professor) and Carla Evans (Professor and Department Head).  The title of Dr. Obaisi's project was “Determination of the Transformation Temperature Ranges of Orthodontic Nickel-Titanium Archwires Using the Bend and Free Recovery Test.”

Attached photo (L to R): Spiro Megremis, Noor Obaisi, Maria Therese Galang, Grace Viana at the UIC College of Dentistry Clinic and Research Day.

The Class of 2014 initiated a debate about "Use of Cone Beam CT in Orthodontic Patients" under the advise of Coach Dr. Tony Eltink on April 4, 2013. The 8 2nd year orthodontic residents were divided into two teams: Team "ALARA" and Team "Another Dimension".

Proponents' argument: "Cone Beam CT is the standard of care in diagnostic imaging and should be routinely taken on all orthodontic patients."

Opposition's argument: "The routine use of Cone Beam CT on orthodontic patients is malpractice due to the lack of scholarly evidence and risk of radiation exposure."

After a hot debate, Team ALARA won the most votes of all faculty and residents. Congratulations!

Sam Berkowitz, University of Illinois orthodontic alumni (Class of 1959), Adjunct Clinical Professor of Orthodontics at UIC, author of several books on cleft lip/palate, and noted speaker has prepared an online course. We asked our UIC orthodontic and pediatric dentistry specialty students to test the class and they found it to be helpful in understanding discussions about management of cleft patients. Please follow the link given below to obtain more information.

Link to information: http://www.cleftlippalateaudiovisuallecture.org/course.html

"The general aim of this audiovisual lecture series to be given to each graduate department is to present recognized treatment concepts from the clinical sciences of dentistry, medicine, speech, audiology, psychology, genetics, ethics and biology so that all aspects of treatment of cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies can be scrutinized from long term clinical experience using objective treatment records of serial casts, lateral cephs and photographs."

Enrollment in the course: Students are able to log in from this website, register for the course, and view course materials at their own pace.

They can also sign on as a guest and view two modlules at no cost, namely Module 1 (Introduction) and Module 7 (Complete unilateral cleft lip and palate).

Admission to the webcourse for a period of two years is available for $235. Should you have any questions, do contact Dr. Berkowitz at sberk3140@aol.com.

We will announce the winners of the poster presentation soon. For more pictures of the event, please visit: http://uicortho.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/orthodontic-residents-presenting-on-the-uic-college-of-dentistry-clinic-research-day-2013/.

Special thanks to the outgoing past Board Member of the Orthodontic Alumni Association of Illinois John Lisac, Michael Conlon, and Michael Naboroski. These three individuals have served the Board for 12 years and have been instrumental in the operation and advancement in the Association. They have been in extremely generous in their support of the renovation of the clinic and all were chair level donors in our Quest to be the best fundraising campaign. We are appreciative of their assistance and help in planning the renovation of the Department.

We are pleased to welcome the following people to the Board for a 12 year term: Barry Booth, Pam Johnson, and Jeff Kemp. See more details on http://www.uic.edu/depts/dort/alumni.html.

The current Board members include: President Dale Davis, Vice President Anthony Eltink, Howard Spector, Michael Durbin, Ashok Kothari, Robert Christopher, Gerry Samson, Honorary Board Member Carla Evans, Executive Director Vincent Arpino. Anthony Eltink and Ashok Kothari are also clinical instructors in the Department.

If you ever have any questions or would like an update on the ongoing activities within the Department, you are encouraged to contact any of the Board members. If you are interested in serving on the Board, please let us know.