Pre-doctoral Grand Rounds Presentations Begin For 2015-2016 Academic Year

On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 Jae Kwak DMD 16 delivered the first presentation in the 2015-2016 series of pre-doctoral Grand Rounds presentations to an audience of faculty and students in room G-301 of Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM).

Approximately 50 faculty and students, including Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter, were in attendance for Kwak’s presentation, which was—like all pre-doctoral Grand Rounds presentations—about a treatment plan she devised for an extraordinary patient at her 10-week Externship rotation site. Kwak did her Externship rotation at Family Health Centers of South West Florida in Port Charlotte, Florida.

All pre-doctoral students in the first rotation of GSDM’s Externship program, which took place this summer, presented their treatment plans to faculty in the Department of General Dentistry. Three finalists were chosen, and Kwak’s presentation was selected from these three finalist to be the Grand Rounds Presentation by Professor in the Department of General Dentistry Dr. John Carl McManama.

Dr. McManama also moderated the Grand Rounds presentation.

The case Kwak chose for her treatment plan presentation involved an African American male in his mid-40s with type 2 diabetes, low socioeconomic status, and dental anxiety. The man presented at the Family Health Centers of Southwest Florida with pain when eating or drinking hot or cold items, and general pain in his tooth #11.The patient also had a flipper in place for his tooth #9, which he lost in a sports injury, and was congenitally missing his maxillary laterals.

Kwak performed an emergency procedure for the patient, which was followed up by a root canal. After the root canal, Kwak proceeded with a thorough examination of the patient’s problems and possible treatment.

Kwak considered many options for the patient’s treatment plan that would aid his most pressing problems: his missing teeth, malocclusion, periapical abscess, and dental anxiety.

Kwak considered treatments such as implants and orthodontics, but after much thought she decided to create a conservative treatment plan, because—due to the patient’s dental anxiety—he may not have come back if the procedures were too involved. Kwak presented the four phases of her treatment plan to those in attendance at the Grand Rounds presentation, while also detailing an alternative treatment plan she had devised.

After Kwak’s presentation, a discussion took place. Dean Hutter and several faculty members engaged with Kwak in the discussion, which focused on the different ways to treat and diagnose the patient.

Three more Grand Rounds presentations are scheduled for the 2015-2016 academic year. The next presentation will take place on December 16, 2015.

“I would like to congratulate Ms. Jae Kwak on a successful Externship rotation and a wonderful pre-doctoral Grand Rounds presentation,” said Dean Hutter. “I look forward to the next pre-doctoral Grand Rounds presentation on December 16.”

Photos of Jae Kwak’s Grand Rounds presentation can be found on Facebook and Flickr.