Focus on Academics

The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston Postgraduate Program in Orthodontics

Questions posed to Jeryl D. English, DDS, MS, Chair, Professor & Graduate Program Director

What is the overall mission of your Program?

The mission of the Graduate Orthodontic Program is to prepare residents to practice the clinical specialty of orthodontics. As part of this mission, the Program will provide the biological and clinical science education necessary to support the clinical practice of orthodontics. Residents will develop competency in orthodontic patient care by treating a wide range of orthodontic problems in the clinic. Essential to their clinical education, residents will be provided with opportunities to perform "cutting-edge" research in a clinical or translational biological setting of their choice for the research portion of their training.

Tell us about the history of the Department:

Postgraduate orthodontic training in Texas became a reality in June 1956, when Dr. A. P. Westfall formed the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Texas School of Dentistry. In 2006, the Department of Orthodontics is still known as the Department of Orthodontics but the School of Dentistry is known as the Dental Branch. The "Branch" designation resulted in 1958, when the 56th Texas Legislature approved a name change to honor the School's status as the oldest dental institution in Texas -- The University of Texas Dental Branch. There have been only two branches in University of Texas System history: the Dental Branch in Houston and the Medical Branch in Galveston. The official name of the Dental School is The University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center - Dental Branch.

The UT Department of Orthodontics was the first postgraduate orthodontic department in Texas. Since its inception, it has been engaged in research, teaching and patient care. Our graduates have contributed greatly to the development of dentistry's oldest specialty. Dr. Westfall's first clinical orthodontic faculty members were Drs. W. J. Schoverling and Milton Yellen. Both received their orthodontic training at the University of Washington in Seattle. The first students of this 24-month program, Dr. Shannon and Dr. Ressling began training in 1956 and graduated in 1958.

Dr. Westfall continued his role as chair until 1976. Dr. Dan West assumed the chair position in 1977 and kept that position until 1995. Dr. Marion L. Messersmith took on these duties in 1997 for the next three years. I assumed the chair position in 2001.

Fifty years and 345 graduates later, the program duration has increased to 26 months. Class size has ranged from a low of 2 students in 1956 to 15 in 1971. From 1981-2004, the number of students per class was limited to 6. The current physical facility and logistics of clinical supervision limit the program to 7 students per class or 6 students and an optional Ph.D. candidate. In 2005, the department received permission from the American Dental Association to increase class size to 7 students per class. Dr. Hitesh Kapadia received his orthodontic certificate in 2005, as our first class of 7. Dr. Kapadia completed his Ph.D. in 2006 as the first Ph.D.

The American Dental Association, Council on Dental Accreditation completed an evaluation of the Postgraduate Program in Orthodontics in March 2005. The program was fully accredited and received special recognition for these areas:

"The visiting committee noted that the program director has established a blend of high quality clinical teaching, excellent research encompassing both basic and clinical investigation, and an ongoing commitment from the faculty and residents to enhance the advanced education program in orthodontics, the specialty of orthodontics, and the current and future patients they serve. Further, the committee determined that the part-time clinical faculty has been and continues to be a positive force, providing dependable, productive, and enthusiastic support to the program. Their teaching, emotional, and financial support to the program was judged to be exemplary. Also, it was noted that the full-time research faculty has compiled an impressive record of achievement and contributions to the program that has gained broad national recognition. The recent hiring of a productive clinic director is viewed as a positive addition that has allowed the program director to again devote his considerable talents to the overall program administration. Therefore, the program director is commended for his productive blend of leadership and direction; the part-time teaching staff is commended for their sustained support of the program; and the full-time basic science teaching faculty is commended for their teaching and research."

The Department currently has two full-time orthodontic faculty members, one half-time orthodontic faculty member, one full-time Ph.D. research faculty member, twenty part-time clinical faculty members, two executive assistants, three dental assistants, and one clinic receptionist.

What are the unique features of your Program?

The University of Texas Orthodontic program is well-known for excellence in clinical orthodontics. The emphasis on clinical orthodontics enables the graduating student to easily transition into the private practice setting. The tradition of clinical excellence can be attributed to a dedicated group of part-time faculty members. Several of these clinical faculty members are recognized leaders in local, state and national orthodontic organizations. This "core" group has actively recruited and mentored new faculty members. This is one example of what makes this program special - an extremely competent and dedicated faculty who have a keen interest in training future orthodontists and orthodontic faculty.

The Department is committed to maintaining its reputation for clinical excellence while expanding its contribution to orthodontic research. Several changes have been instituted toward achieving this commitment. The biomedical science curriculum was streamlined to conform to those standards specified by the American Dental Association Council on Dental Accreditation. All orthodontic faculty and residents are highly encouraged to publish all research projects. The program offers a certificate in orthodontics and Master of Science degree. A research project is required and a publishable paper must result from the research done for the certificate and the M.S. All graduates of the last 5 classes completed the requirements for a M.S. degree.

In addition to lectures and seminars, students are given a brief, but thorough, introduction in how to select, plan and complete a research project. The course culminates with students making a formal presentation of their research project.

No orthodontic program is successful without the support of an active alumni organization. Fortunately, the UT Orthodontic Alumni make it a priority to support their Department. The UT Orthodontic Alumni sponsor 2 continuing education meetings each year, the Century Club meeting in the winter and the A.P. Westfall meeting each summer. Internationally known speakers provide continuing education at both meetings. About 5 years ago, the UT Orthodontic Alumni set up a foundation (TOF) to raise $1 million within 5 years, which they succeeded in accomplishing. The yearly interest from this money has been available to support the Department. In addition, the UT Orthodontic Alumni donated funds that were used to purchase a state of the art digital SLR camera, imaging software and a digital Pan-Ceph unit. The camera allows the residents to learn SLR photography techniques with digital technology. Photographic feedback on positioning and composition errors is immediate. In conjunction with the digital imaging purchase, two desktop computer workstations, a slide scanner, a flatbed scanner, a laptop computer and a digital projector were purchased with alumni funds to enable the residents and faculty to make computer audiovisual presentations. This makes lecture and seminar audiovisual preparation easier and more cost effective. Almost all faculty members now present all lecture and seminar material by computer. Thanks to the TOF, each of our residents has 10 cases of digital models using the OrthoCad 3-D technology. I envision 100% of the models will be digital within this year so we will have totally digital records. Recently, our alumni purchased a new ZAP Diode Laser for our department. Again, this is a wonderful instrument that will allow our residents to uncover teeth, perform crown lengthening, perform frenectomies, and remove tissue buildup. I anticipate many of our alumni will be purchasing a laser for their practices. Beginning July 1, 2006 the Department will begin using Axium, a management software program that is fully compatible with the imaging software. This program allows part, or all, of the patient's photographic, radiographic or forms/write-ups to be maintained in digital format. The software is used for scheduling patient appointments, tracking finances, and electronic patient records.

The orthodontic conference room and the orthodontic laboratory were renovated by the Alumni approximately 5 years ago into a state-of-the-art facility. The orthodontic lab has 18 individual resident laboratory workstations. Each resident workstation has its own color-corrected lighting, electric hand-piece, gas and air outlets, suction and collectors for model and acrylic grinding, individual lockable cabinetry and a network plug for connection to the Dental Branch network and internet.

Finally, our clinic is part of the University of Texas Dental Branch. The clinic features an open design and provides a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere for the patients and personnel. We accept patients having all types of malocclusions, ranging from very simple to extremely complex conditions. Only patients who meet the educational needs of the department are selected for treatment.

The goal of the Department of Orthodontics is to provide orthodontic care that is specific and appropriate to the needs of each patient. Patients are treated by orthodontic residents using contemporary and advanced techniques under careful supervision by members of the faculty. Each resident starts approximately 50 orthodontic patients.

Residents are required to purchase a laptop computer as part of their instrument package. This encourages use of the Department's audiovisual resources and ensures that UT residents graduate computer literate.

Residents are individually evaluated on orthodontic didactic competency during the final year of residency by taking the ABO Written Examination. First year residents are assigned clinical cases so they can present a variety of cases which would meet ABO difficulty standards using the Discrepancy Index. Second year residents present 6 cases to external reviewers just prior to graduation. These cases must meet the examination standards using the Objective Grading System of the ABO. Successfully passing this clinical examination is a measure of clinical competency. These same 6 cases will then be presented to the ABO the following February for initial Board Certification.

Orthodontic residents from both classes attend a weekly oral surgery and orthodontic seminar/lecture series with the oral and maxillofacial surgery residents. This series is primarily given by Dr. Jamie Gateno with the Orthodontic Chairman and faculty from both departments attending all meetings and presenting lectures and seminars. Residents are exposed to all phases of orthognathic surgery treatment planning, treatment, surgical procedures and surgical outcomes by the combined faculty and other invited guest lecturers. Individual presurgical case workups and the postsurgical results attained are presented by the treating orthodontic and oral surgery residents throughout the year.

The program benefits from a good relationship with the University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center Cleft Palate Team. Residents participate in monthly cleft palate/craniofacial anomaly screenings with the UTHHSC Cleft Palate Team under the supervision of Dr. Randy Ellis. Whenever possible, the craniofacial anomaly patients requiring orthodontic treatment are treated by the orthodontic residents under the supervision of any one of three clinical faculty members (Dr. Ellis, Dr. English and Dr. Corbett) who work with the cleft palate team.

The pre-doctoral program continues to be run by Dr. Anna Salas-Lopez. She continues to do a remarkable job. She is a tireless worker, always looking for ways to improve the pre-doctoral program. This year she has added competency evaluations for our 3rd and 4th year dental students as they rotate in the orthodontic clinic.

What would you like to say about your faculty/staff?

Our strengths result from numerous assets and activities, but the most important are the people involved. I want to tell you how thankful I am for the opportunity to work with our faculty and to be their colleague. Our great department has a significant mission of training the orthodontic specialists for the next generation. All of our faculty members play a vital role in that mission, and we are making a difference.

Speaking of making a difference, I want to tell each of you how lucky we have been to have Dr. Bonham Magness on our faculty. The 2007 recipient of the Dale B. Wade Award will be Dr. Bonham Magness, who has taught at UTDB for the past 42 years. The Dale B. Wade Award of Excellence is bestowed by the American Board of Orthodontics in the memory of the late Dr. Dale Wade, expert clinician, teacher and former chairman of Ohio State University's Department of Orthodontics. The award honors an exemplary senior clinician who demonstrates exceptional dedication to orthodontics through clinical excellence and/or devoted teaching. Dr. Magness is a perfect recipient for this prestigious ABO award, and he will be presented this at the 2007 AAO annual session in Seattle.

ABO Orthodontic Resident Pilot Study - Approximately 20 orthodontic residency programs participated in a 2002 program sponsored by the ABO. The purpose was to measure whether cases treated in their residency would meet the same ABO standards as current certifying orthodontists. Of the participating schools, only 50 residents brought cases to be examined by the ABO. All six of the UTDB orthodontic graduates of the Class of 2004 were able to show 6 cases treated to board standards and all were granted a 10-year board certification. No other program had all of their residents become board certified. The vast majority of successful residents in the Pilot Study were from schools of 30 - 36 month duration. This is a tremendous validation of the clinical competency of our residents.

The statistical analysis demonstrates that orthodontic residents can treat cases to ABO standards, and their case complexity using the Discrepancy Index is similar to past cases evaluated by the board. The more experienced orthodontists scored slightly better than the orthodontic residents.

Are there any plans for renovations, moves, new collaborations on-campus, etc?

New Dental School for UTDB - In a special legislative session in May 2006, the Texas State Senate and House both approved funding of Tuition Revenue Bonds for a new dental school for UTDB. Pending approval by the Governor, the new dental school could become a reality within the next five years. This will provide our alumni with the opportunity to build our orthodontic department for the next 50 years. Through the collaborative planning and dedicated efforts of our alumni, we will ensure that our department is simply the "best." Our great orthodontic department has the significant mission of training the orthodontic specialists for the next generation. Each of our alumni plays a vital part in that mission so that our department does make a difference in training the best clinical orthodontists possible.

What are your biggest needs and plans for future development?

Alumni support to help us create the best orthodontic clinic in the country.

Today, Dr. Westfall, Dr. West, and all other previous orthodontic leaders and faculty would be proud of The University of Texas Orthodontic Department as one of the finest in the country.

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