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Welcome to the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine Community
Dentistry website. We invite you to visit our site frequently to gain a better
understanding of how we are ensuring healthy mouths for the children and young
adults of Western
New York.
Our Mission
Our mission is to educate vulnerable Western New York populations through
public awareness, dental programs, and community services/projects and provide
accessible quality dental care for the life of their smile.
Community Dentistry at the University at Buffalo
Over 80% of dental problems are found within only 20% of the
population of Western New York. This population
is extremely vulnerable to oral health problems that may plague them their
entire life, from childhood to adulthood.
 How We Beat The Odds:
Throughout the year, our faculty, residents, dental clerkships, and dental
students participate in series of outreach programs that provide preventive
dental health care and dental health education to children in core city
neighborhoods and rural towns and villages across Western New York.
We have established and continue to collaborate with Western New York public
health and social services departments, Head Start programs, and Erie and
Niagara County School Districts.
The Team and What We Do:
Faculty: Our full-time and part-time
faculty are active participants in the numerous community dentistry
products, programs, projects, and services.
Residents: Our
pediatric dentistry postdoctoral residency program has grown from
 accepting two residents per year
to five residents per year. Each resident actively participates in the
department's community dentistry program.
Pediatric Dentist Clerkships: Fourth
year dental students are given the opportunity to sign up for a clerkship in one
of the dental specialties. Pediatric and Community Dentistry has seen an
upward trend in clerkships, with the average over the past three years of 15
students. In addition to hospital dentistry, pediatric dentistry clerks
visit summer school, summer camp, and summer athletic programs where they teach
proper hygiene instruction to children using interactive games and instructional
puppets.
Dental Students: Every first-year
dental student must take a mandatory course entitled, Profession, Practice, and Community,
whereby they learn ethics, community program development, and the
importance of "giving back" to the communities that they serve (or eventually
where they will practice). Each student designs a dental education program
within an already established Western New York social services program. In
addition, students visit area primary schools where they
teach proper hygiene instruction to children using games and puppets. This
course is very popular, and is increasingly welcome in the
primary schools.
 Rural Area Health Education Center:
We partner with the Western New York Rural Area Health Education Center
(R-AHEC), through a grant from the Greater Community Foundation of Buffalo to
introduce health professions to high school students from underserved and
minority backgrounds. "UB The Dentist" is a one-day hands-on experience
where teens learn how to drill and fill a tooth, make an impression, fill out a
medical history form, and look through an electron microscope. Dental
faculty from Restorative, Orthodontics, Endodontics, Radiology, Oral Biology,
and Pediatric Dentistry are on hand to answer clinical and research related
questions.
Contact Information
- Telephone
- 716-829-3717
- FAX
- 716-829-3895
- Postal address
- UB SDM, 114 Squire Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14214-8006
- Electronic mail
- General Information:
jmdim@buffalo.edu
Webmaster:
emmer@buffalo.edu
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