Alex Vasserman DMD 12 Sparks Lively Discussion

Fourth-year DMD student Alex Vasserman presented the first grand rounds of the 2010-2011 school year on October 28. He started things off with a well-researched and thought-provoking case. The patient was a 53-year-old woman that he treated while on his externship rotation at Mid-Upper Cape Community Health Center from May to August. Vasserman’s externship preceptor was Dr. Gerry Keen.

Vasserman’s patient arrived at the Health Center complaining of two broken teeth and one of the two was causing her a great deal of pain. As the examination went on she also mentioned some esthetic issues that she had recently become concerned with after getting divorced.

Vasserman described the patients healthy medical history and good dental hygiene practices, then went on to list the issues he found during her exam. The patient had two broken teeth, #31 and #14. She also suffered from malocclusion, resulting in increased overjet, overbite, crowding, and supereruption. She had generalized moderate gingivitis and grew up in a non-fluoridated community which resulted in her having many amalgams placed over the years. In other factors relating to her treatment, it was noted that the patient works three jobs so she doesn’t have a lot of time or money for treatment, but she is a member of the Mass Health Safety Net insurance plan so she is able to visit the Health Center for most procedures and pay just $20 per visit.

Vasserman presented three treatment plan options, with the first being his ideal treatment plan. The first plan encompassed approximately two years of treatment to address all of his patient’s issues by repairing her broken teeth, scaling and prophy to address her gingivitis, replacement of crowns and amalgams, adult fluoride treatment, and corticotomy and full orthodontic treatment to address her malocclusion issues. The second and third treatment plans treated her broken teeth but were less extensive and featured more esthetic solutions to her malocclusion issues instead of full orthodontic treatment.

The presentation was well received and host and moderator Dr. Carl McManama pointed out that Vasserman’s treatment plans were full of excellent discussion points. The assembled group of students, faculty, and staff then discussed his choice of materials, the benefits of corticotomy for a patient of this age, the psychological factors surrounding the patient’s sudden concern with her esthetic issues following her divorce, and the impact of growing up in a non-fluoridated community and why it would be important for Vasserman’s patient to now begin receiving fluoride treatment.