GSDM Endodontic Alumni Raise $52,000 for Sirona XG3D CBCT Imaging Machine
In 2015, a total of 60 alumni from the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) Department of Endodontics donated approximately $52,000 to the department in order to fund the purchase of a much needed piece of equipment, a Sirona ORTHOPHOS XG 3D CBCT imaging machine.
Following GSDM’s historic transition, in 2014, to seamless digital dentistry for its clinical education and patient care, the Department of Endodontics determined that an ORTHOPHOS XG 3D CBCT machine from Sirona would be an important and beneficial component for the residents and faculty in the Advanced Specialty Education Program in Endodontics in this new all-digital environment. While the current 3D imaging machines at GSDM are top tier, the ORTHOPHOS XG 3D CBCT machine can produce a resolution up to 100 µm with a field of view of 5 by 5.5 centimeters while also reducing the radiation dose per-scan required; properties beneficial for endodontic imaging.
“We want to train the next generation of endodontists for their future practice. With the level of resolution and detail obtained from smaller areas of the jaw alongside a Metal Artifact Reduction Software (MARS), the ORTHOPHOS XG 3D is precisely tailored to the demands of the Endodontic practice,” said Dr. Sami Chogle, Associate Professor in the Department of Endodontics and Director of the Advanced Specialty Education Program in Endodontics.
The fundraising effort began in January 2015 when Dr. Chogle sent out a letter to all of the 502 alumni from the Department of Endodontics at GSDM, in which he updated the alumni on the status of the department and some of its most recent successes. In this letter, Dr. Chogle urged the alumni to consider donating to the fund to purchase the machine, which would be a crucial component of providing twenty-first century education to GSDM’s current and future endodontic residents.
Just one month after Dr. Chogle’s initial letter, Dr. Peter Morgan ENDO 75 and Dr. John West ENDO 75 recognized the importance of the new Sirona machine and the benefit it would have on training the GSDM residents. Dr. Morgan and Dr. West reached out to alumni in order to encourage them to donate.
“I am asking each of you to consider making a special contribution so that the BU Endo Alumni may purchase the Sirona XG3D machine and donate it to the endo department at the school,” read one letter to alumni sent from Dr. Morgan.
In the letter, Dr. Morgan also talked about the importance of the field cone beam imaging technology that the Sirona XG3D CBCT machine provides.
“As many of you have discovered in your practices, focused field cone beam imaging has become a very important addition to the practicing endodontist’s diagnostic protocol,” said Dr. Morgan. “In many residency programs, this technology is available giving the endo residents experience in the use of 3D imaging for diagnosis and treatment planning.”
After just a few months of fundraising, a total of 60 GSDM alumni of the Advanced Specialty Education Program in Endodontics (from years 1964-2014) raised $52,000, enough money to purchase the imaging machine with a supplemental donation from GSDM as approved by Dean Jeffrey Hutter. The average donation from the alumni was $1,000.
The Sirona XG3D CBCT imaging machine has been stationed on the second floor of 100 East Newton Street since November, 2015. GSDM’s 29 endodontic residents in the Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) program, the DScD program, and the MSD program have been able to use the machine since that time.
“I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of the alumni who donated to help bring this Sirona ORTHOPHOS XG 3D CBCT machine to the Department of Endodontics,” said Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter. “GSDM would certainly not be the institution it is today without the tireless support of our alumni.”