A Day of Mourning for a Buckeye in the Gator Nation. Dr. Marc E. Ottenga, clinical associate professor of operative dentistry and dental graduate of Ohio State University, suffers through yet another Gator Chompfest Jan. 10 as members of the D.M.D. Class of 2010 show their Gator Spirit during Sim Lab. Ottenga, dressed in Buckeye scarlet and gray accessorized with an OSU necktie and black armband, mourned the death of OSU’s national football championship dream as a jubilant Gator Nation celebrates bringing home the BCS National Football Championship prize.

News from the College of Dentistry!

Welcome to the Academy of Alumni & Friends E-NEWS, your quick and convenient connection to the University of Florida College of Dentistry. E-NEWS arrives electronically packed with news about the college and your fellow UFCD alumni and friends. Send us an e-mail to let us know what you think; your feedback is important to us.

Message from the President of the Academy of Alumni & Friends

Last summer, I introduced the new Academy of Alumni & Friends annual giving campaign, the Alumni Affairs & Student Activities Fund. Response to this student-focused fund has been outstanding, and I’m pleased to report we’ve raised more than 90 percent of this year’s $100,000 goal! We can all be proud of this achievement, and I am confident, with help from a few more alumni and friends, we’ll be successful in reaching $100,000!

The 2007 calendar of events got off to a great start with Freshman Family Day in January for the Class of 2010 and their families (see the pics here). First-year students and their families gathered on campus to meet faculty, take college tours, and learn more about the curriculum, challenges and events that make up dental student life. Other student events slated for 2007 include: Senior Banquet, the student-run Acid Etch Talent Show, Dental Ambassador Dinner, and the White Coat Ceremony—all sponsored by the generous support of the Academy of Alumni & Friends! Thank you for your commitment UFCD!

I look forward to seeing you in Orlando for FNDC June 14-16, 2007! Watch your mail and our web page for FNDC and Dental Fall Weekend updates.

Thousands of disadvantaged children will soon benefit from a $5.5 million gift to the University of Florida College of Dentistry that will fund the construction and operation of a state-of-the-art pediatric dental facility in Collier County.

The gift was announced Dec. 13 by trustees for the Naples Children & Education Foundation, the founder of the hugely successful Naples Winter Wine Festival. The exclusive event, featuring international celebrity chefs and prestigious vintners, has raised nearly $40 million for local children’s charities since its inception in 2000 and is billed as the “most successful charity wine event in the world.”

Of the foundation’s gift to the UF College of Dentistry, $4 million is eligible for state match through the Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program and will fund the construction and equipping of the UF dental facility on the Collier County campus of Edison College. The remaining $1.5 million will cover the dental program’s start-up operational expenses.

The $8 million building, modeled after the UF dental clinic on the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College in Pinellas County, will be a two-story, 20,000-square-foot dental clinic and education facility. The UF dental program at Edison College is expected to open in the fall of 2008 and eventually will expand to provide specialized pediatric dental treatment to Collier County’s Medicaid-eligible and at-risk children during an estimated 15,000 patient visits each year. Click here for the full story.


Tampa periodontist honored as UF distinguished alumnus

Tampa periodontist Gerald Kluft, D.D.S., was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus for his achievements in dentistry, his leadership and his commitment to the community during the University of Florida’s fall commencement activities held last December.

Kluft graduated from UF with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1969. He earned his dental degree in 1973 from the Medical College of Virginia, soon followed by graduate training in periodontics at the University of Kentucky. He has since enjoyed a distinguished career as a practicing periodontist in Tampa, Fla.

Although UF did not yet have a College of Dentistry when Kluft entered dental school in Virginia, he has consistently demonstrated his support for dentistry at UF. His was the lead gift for the renovation of a surgical suite for the UF College of Dentistry’s department of periodontology. He extends his time and expertise to the college as president of the UF College of Dentistry Development Advisory Board, and he currently serves as co-chairman of dentistry’s Capital Campaign. Perhaps most important, Kluft also provides the benefit of his clinical and management expertise to UF residents through service as a courtesy faculty member in the college’s graduate periodontics program.


Give Kids a Smile UFCD screening day

Feb. 2 marked the UF College of Dentistry 5th Annual Give Kids a
Smile event, sponsored by the American Dental Association as part of ADA’s National Children’s Oral Health Month. UF dental faculty and students screened nearly 200 Alachua County school children identified as being at-risk by school nurses. The children, who were bused from schools to the UF College of Dentistry, were screened to identify oral health needs. Screenings included a complete examination, radiographs, charting and treatment planning. While at the college, children also received oral hygiene instruction and prophylactic fluoride treatments.

This day of screening lays the groundwork for the children to receive comprehensive dental care during the Give Kids a Smile treatment day on Feb. 23. During the treatment day, UF dental faculty and Alachua County Dental Association members will provide an estimated $100,000 in free dental care to the school children at the UF College of Dentistry clinics in Gainesville and the ACORN Clinic in Brooker, Fla. as part of Project: Dentists Care, a volunteer program of the Florida Dental Association. Click here to visit the GKAS online photo album.

MDL or Frankenstein's laboratory?

MDL. The name alone probably conjures up memories of long hours of study for many UFCD grads. Opened in the early 1970s with the completion of the Communicore Building, the college’s two MDL rooms, short for multidisciplinary teaching laboratory, have remained unchanged for decades. According to one dental student, the college’s MDLs are as appealing as Frankenstein’s basement. Now the push is on to renovate the labs—MDL6 has already been transformed from a dark, outdated space into a modern and inviting learning lab for freshmen and sophomore dental students. That leaves MDL3 still awaiting renovation. Click here for the full story.
 

Applying for fellowship in the American Academy of General Dentistry?

University of Florida Continuing Dental Education and the Florida Academy of General Dentistry are proud to announce an update course in general dentistry as preparation for the written examination portions for the AGD Fellowship and the American Board of General Dentistry examinations.

This three-day symposium is scheduled to take place March 29-31 at the Disney Hilton in Orlando, Fla., and is presented by UF dental faculty members and other nationally recognized experts and private practitioners known for their standards of excellence.
Thorough review and update of selected general dentistry topics includes: Endodontics; implant surgery; oral medicine; pediatric dentistry; dental materials; TMJ disorders; and, implant restorations. Click here for complete details.