From new dental schools to university leadership moves, here are 10 essential updates for dental educators:
1. The cost of dental education at public and private universities has more than tripled in the last 50 years.
2. Richard Workman, DMD, founder of Heartland Dental, and his wife, Angela Workman, donated $5 million to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry.
3. Batesville, Ark.-based Lyon College is planning to create a new dental school in Little Rock, Ark.
4. Sixteen U.S. dental schools were ranked among the best in the world by QS, a global higher education analytics company.
5. Laurie McCauley, DDS, PhD, dean of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, has been appointed university provost and vice president of academic affairs.
6. Amherst, N.Y.-based Daemen University is partnering with Todd Shatkin, DDS, to open a dental school that will alleviate a shortage of dental professionals in the area.
7. Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Wash., has tapped Fotinos Panagakos, DMD, as founding dean of its upcoming dental school.
8. The Florida legislature is considering a proposal that would pay dental school graduates to practice in rural communities.
9. Pacific Dental Services Foundation gave $80,000 in scholarships to 17 dental assisting students.
10. Penn Dental at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia added an advanced education in general dentistry program that will begin in July.