Anacristina Chapa is more than just a dental student. She is also a poet — and a well-recognized one at that. She was named the 2016 Poetry Slam Champ of Laredo BorderSlam and has competed in various regional competitions. Last year, she was a member of Houston’s Write About Now poetry team and competed in the National Poetry Slam competition in Denver. She has received media attention for her work illustrating modern life, especially for college-age students and Latinos.
This time of year, many of us slow down (just a little!) to reflect. With Thanksgiving around the corner, our thoughts of family and pumpkin pie are interspersed with gratitude and recognition for what makes us feel special. Our Editorial Board wanted to share with you some of the things for which we’re thankful this year.
It’s that time of year when we get to show off our creative sides at their nerdy best. If you haven’t found the perfect dental-themed Halloween costume yet, don’t fret! Here are a few ideas sure to amaze your classmates and spark your friends’ interest (because they probably won’t catch the dental reference the first time around).
In February of this year, a CBS News article touted an exciting new potential treatment for mental illness: psychedelic drugs. More surprising, however, is how little we know about the treatment potential, despite the concept of psychedelic substance-turned-pharmacotherapy in the world of psychiatry since the 1950s.
Almost one in three Americans has a tattoo, according to the Harris Poll in 2015. What once made someone seem unique and possibly a little extreme is now commonplace. What’s an artistic, self-actualized Millennial to do to stand out nowadays? Perhaps consider a crown tattoo.
Oral cancer kills 40 percent of those diagnosed within five years. If caught early, the survival rate is as high as 90 percent. Scarier still, more than 1 percent of U.S. adults will develop oral cancer at some point in their lives. Despite these sobering statistics, many patients aren’t screened regularly for the appearance of oral and pharyngeal cancers. According to Matthew Kim – chairman, founder and CEO of Vigilant Biosciences – only 29 percent of U.S. adults are screened by their dentist. Part of the oversight, he explains, is a widespread lack of awareness and understanding of the danger of oral cancer. His plan, in addition to increasing awareness for the general public, involves a novel diagnostic test that identifies patients as high risk of developing certain types of oral cancer.
Dentists have long been demonized in Hollywood. With our wickedly sharp instruments and penchant for causing bleeding (perio probing is important, okay??), it’s not hard to understand why. We’re not always portrayed as malicious sadists, however. I still get a laugh from movie dentists who are hopelessly friendly and naïve. Below are some of the most famous (and most entertaining) TV and movie dentists currently shaping patient opinions.
