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Executive Director of Global Endodontic Sales & Category Management for Henry Schein, Mr. John Ferone is a Trustee of the AAE Foundation for Endodontics.\u00a0 He has been instrumental in the Foundation\u2019s access to care initiative in Jamaica.<\/p><\/div>\n
Why do your company and you personally support the Foundation? <\/em><\/p>\n Instead of just writing a check, Henry Schein Cares wanted to give to something tangible or measurable.\u00a0 We want to know we\u2019re having impact. To hear the stories at Treasure Beach, in a market in Jamaica that\u2019s centered on tourism and hospitality, preservation of that natural dentition is critical. For a person who\u2019s going to be the first touchpoint with a guest, at the front desk, a bellhop, a bartender, to smile at someone without a gaping hole in your mouth\u2026extraction isn\u2019t always the best option.\u00a0 The stories were profound about what this meant to people\u2026. A lot of people don\u2019t have simple access to care.\u00a0 Providing that access is a fundamental pillar in my mind and my company\u2019s as well.<\/p>\n For me personally, being a donor has promoted a better understanding of what the Foundation does and created a good narrative that\u2019s given me \u00a0specific understanding of the Foundation\u2019s impact. When you talk in broad strokes like access to care, research and education grants, I don\u2019t think people get excited, but when you can take them to something tangible and there\u2019s real life stories behind it and the impact it\u2019s had on residents, mentors, and patients, all of a sudden that broad narrative becomes personal and evokes an emotional response.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Incoming Foundation Trustee Tom von Sydow is COO of Cornerstone Holding Co, which includes the largest endodontic DSO in North America and a Training institute for advanced dental surgical training.\u00a0 He has previously volunteered on dental missions in Ethiopia and supported access to care initiatives of the AAPD pediatric dental foundation.<\/p><\/div>\n Welcome to the AAE Foundation! <\/em><\/p>\n I love the overall mission of driving research and helping residents through the scholarship program and of course the charity work.\u00a0 We have a 501c3 nonprofit charitable arm, so figuring out how to increase exposure to opportunities to serve the underserved would be great to focus on.<\/p>\n Tell us about your volunteer experiences.<\/em><\/p>\n My two trips to Ethiopia were lifechanging.\u00a0 People who had pain for years would walk for literally days to get to the clinic because there is zero access to care out there\u2026 none.\u00a0 No dentists six hours from the main city.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We do charity days now once a month in our training center clinic in Orange Co. for the underserved and veterans.\u00a0 They shut the dental clinic down at the VA hospital in Long Beach two years ago so there\u2019s a lot of veterans in Orange Co and southern LA who have no access to dental care. There\u2019s plenty of need here, you don\u2019t have to go to Ethiopia to find need\u2026<\/p>\n How are you looking forward to contributing as a Trustee?<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m excited to use my 30 years in health care to help steer the strategy and decision making\u2026With AAPD I was able to connect on a personal level with the volunteer leadership to navigate some of the challenges \u2026 bringing a different perspective as a businessman.\u00a0 I have a long track record of managing challenges, problems, and opportunities, and how I diagnose and treatment plan in business vernacular \u2026 I think I bring objective ways of looking at things, stepping back,\u00a0 getting out of the emotion to look at the gap, why does the gap exist, how do you diagnose the gap and how do you create a solution\u2026 There\u2019s a four-square formula : current state, desired state, root cause, action plan \u2026 if you can diagnose that down to identify where the gaps exist you can pretty much solve any problem\u2026<\/p>\n Dr. Victoria Ball participated in the Foundation\u2019s Resident Expert Advisory Council, REACH and joined the first international access to care trip to Jamaica in 2016. She founded Contemporary Endodontics of Oklahoma in Edmond.<\/p><\/div>\n What do you value about participating in REACH?<\/em><\/p>\n I met residents from other parts of the country, and that\u2019s an integral opportunity to share ideas and educate others.\u00a0 All these people are brand new endodontists who can shape and change our future.\u00a0 Being around a lot of sought-after faculty, brilliant minds and key players in the organization motivates you to be a better clinician, a better private practice owner, a better student. It really made me want to pursue board certification so I could attain that level of prestige\u2026.<\/p>\n The AAE leadership conference connected me with many different views of where you could go once you graduate.\u00a0 I established connections with so many people to lean on and ask them questions. I frequently message them and get advice about building a practice.\u00a0 You get a feel for certain situations you might find yourself in, ask them for advice and mentorship\u2026<\/p>\n What impressed you about your volunteer experience in Jamaica?<\/em><\/p>\n The outreach trip to Treasure Beach, Jamaica was such an eye-opening experience\u2026 to provide care in places that don\u2019t routinely have access to power or clean running water.\u00a0 Dental care is not really a priority when you don\u2019t have water and power\u2026 your teeth get set on the back burner.\u00a0 Just seeing how grateful and appreciative the people were makes you feel a certain way; I wish we could send more people.<\/p>\n What motivates you to give to the AAE Foundation?<\/em><\/p>\n I remember where I am and where I could have been. I am happy to be a board-certified private practice owner, especially in an area where I am the only female board-certified private practice owner. I\u2019ve worked really hard to get where I am, the least I can do is give\u2026 at the end of the day, it\u2019s just two root canals, right? How many do we do on a daily or weekly basis? I hope to be one of the larger donors at some point.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n REACH participant Dr. Ehsan Farrokhamesh volunteered twice in Jamaica.\u00a0 He is an associate at East Coast Endodontics on Long Island, NY.<\/p><\/div>\n Why did you go to Jamaica? What did you learn there?<\/em><\/p>\n I went to Jamaica twice, as a resident and as a mentor, they were highlights of my career.\u00a0 We see people all the time from other countries who are missing teeth.\u00a0 To go there and save these people from extractions was really gratifying and fulfilling, and I saw the power of bringing great minds together.\u00a0 To me that\u2019s what the Foundation is,<\/p>\n I experienced a family with a young daughter with an abscess \u2026 they walked miles and miles in the scorching Jamaican sun in July to come to the clinic….The father told me, \u201cyou don\u2019t know how much this means to us.\u00a0 If our daughter loses these teeth, she\u2019s going to have a hard time getting married.\u201d It\u2019s more than just having a good smile, to them our care could really make a difference in a young person\u2019s future.<\/p>\n Just getting the microscope there was crazy.\u00a0 I live in Brooklyn, there\u2019s rarely any offices with microscopes and we\u2019re in St Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, doing endodontics under a scope!<\/p>\n On your second trip as a mentor, what did you want to pass on to the residents?<\/em><\/p>\n When I went as a resident, I noticed a lot of the dental students were very interested in endodontics, but the door was kind of closed to having the dental students do any of the endo, which was a shame because there was so much interest and enthusiasm.\u00a0 When I went as a mentor, I tried to get some of them involved as a group\u2026aside from helping the patients, getting our colleagues interested in what we were doing and understanding what life as an endodontist is like\u2026\u00a0 we had some of them get on the scope and do some cases. A couple of them ended up going into endodontics. It was nice to amplify the educational component of that experience.<\/p>\n What do you say to your peers about the Foundation?<\/em><\/p>\n I teach at a hospital in a GPR program, and I\u2019ve turned a couple of those residents into endo residents.. I encourage them to apply to REACH, which is such an incredible experience. \u00a0I think is amazing to get residents involved.\u00a0 If it wasn\u2019t for REACH, I don\u2019t think you and I would be speaking right now.\u00a0 I try to spread that enthusiasm.<\/p>\n Our specialty relies on the strength of AAE, the Foundation, and the American Board of Endodontics College of Diplomates.. without these organizations we don\u2019t have a specialty. To have the Foundation on our side as a specialty, donating is the least that I can do.\u00a0 I hope to have a nice long prosperous career to continue giving.<\/p>\n Past Foundation Trustee Dr. Daniella Peinado founded Endodontics | Bartram Park, Florida and is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Florida. She participated in the Foundation\u2019s inaugural access to care outreach mission in Jamaica in 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n What does the volunteer experience mean to you personally?<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m from Brazil where resources are very difficult.\u00a0 When you volunteer, you\u2019re educating people as well as providing care, and this is a huge thing to strengthen our specialty.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been volunteering since I became a dentist 27 years ago.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I believe in and makes me feel good.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a part of my life. I can\u2019t live without it.<\/p>\n We started access to care when I served on the Foundation Board in 2016, with the intention of engaging members \u2026 On our first trip (to Jamaica) we were blessed to go to a place that had this dental clinic running for 20-plus years, but a root canal had never been done there.\u00a0 When we got there and explained we had a team of specialists who could save teeth rather than extracting them, on the second day they were in the line asking for root canals.\u00a0 Right there I knew we had planted a seed that there was no way back.\u00a0 It was an extremely blessed week full of joy.\u00a0 I lost track of how many teeth we saved that week.\u00a0 The 17-year-old girl, who was scheduled to have the two front teeth extracted because she was in so much pain, wanted to take a photo of me with her. She said, \u201cYou are my savior, I\u2019m going to keep this picture in my heart for the rest of my life\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n I just got invited to join the Florida Dental Foundation board\u2026 I\u2019m excited to bring a little of this experience to engage members to donate not only their resources but a little bit of their time to local clinics where we can provide good endodontic care.<\/p>\n What do you say about the Foundation to your peers?<\/em><\/p>\n We love what we do, but without a backbone and Foundation, our specialty won\u2019t exist.\u00a0 I come from a country where we don\u2019t have specialty organizations.\u00a0 There\u2019s no such thing as being an endodontist because you won\u2019t survive.\u00a0\u00a0 I had to be a general dentist and<\/em> an endodontist\u2026. One of the reasons is we don\u2019t have anyone to have our back, to support us.<\/p>\n Dr. Anne Williamson, associate professor at the University of Iowa, was among the first cohort of endodontic educators to receive Foundation support.\u00a0 She previously practiced in Lincoln and Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and currently trains pre-doctoral students as well as directing the graduate endodontic program. She currently serves as the Treasurer of the American Board of Endodontics.<\/p><\/div>\n I\u2019m an educator, but I\u2019m still stepping up and giving. I feel I owe that to the Foundation. The Foundation has been supportive of us in increasing the level of Board-certified endodontists, which is crucial to our specialty. I don\u2019t believe many of the AAE members realize the impact of the Foundation on the specialty\u2026.I love everyone involved in it\u2026we continue to be a very tightknit group\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotten emails recently from graduates saying, \u2018I\u2019ve just realized how important my education was and the opportunity you offered me, and I just want to say thank you\u2019 now, seven or eight years later\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr John Nusstein is the Foundation\u2019s President of the Board of Trustees. He is chair of endodontics at The Ohio State University.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n What is the value of the research funded by the Foundation?<\/p>\n <\/em>For more than 30 years, the Foundation has supported discoveries that have become part of everyday clinical practice, including research on bioceramic materials, local anesthesia techniques and non-narcotic pain management, pulp regeneration and healing, new materials and techniques to prepare canals and canal disinfection.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em> Research & Scientific Affairs Committee Chair Dr Ariadne Letra is Interim Associate Dean for Research at University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/em>Capturing the potential for translation of those basic science findings into the clinical routine and how we\u2019re going to be working–not today but in a few years from now–is the biggest point.\u00a0\u00a0 The basic science research improves our knowledge of our specialty and leads to improved treatment strategies in the nearby future, even if we can\u2019t pinpoint that future\u2026.\u00a0 Sometimes we can\u2019t predict when that\u2019s going to help with my patient in my chair right now.\u00a0 It\u2019s a big puzzle.\u00a0 And sometimes things in dentistry happen backwards–regenerative endodontics started with a clinical procedure and then the investigators started more active research to understand the mechanisms of how those procedure work\u2026.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Foundation Past President Dr. Mary Pettiette is dean of admission at Virginia Commonwealth University. Previously, Dr Pettiette was associate dean of admissions and student life at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.<\/p><\/div>\n Why is strong endodontic representation important in dental institutions? <\/em><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have a strong presence, departments are merged together. Endodontics becomes part of operative dentistry, with general dentistry and perio groups, where you have non-specialists teaching the specialty, which in turn dilutes the educational experience — adversely affecting endodontic clinical education, and of course the practice of endodontics once these students have graduated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Endodontists should be teaching endodontics.\u00a0 It goes right to the root of the matter\u2026.<\/p>\n As an academic leader, why do you think AAE\u2019s research funding so important in education?<\/em><\/p>\n Private foundation funding is very important because it\u2019s difficult to get NIH level grants now. It\u2019s highly competitive, and very difficult.\u00a0 What our money does is help to give you the data to start the project to even be eligible–the boost so you can reach the NIH level grant.\u00a0 Without our support, they can\u2019t do the research projects they need to apply for higher levels of funding.<\/p>\n Private sources also allow for smaller grants that may not be headed to NIH but still add to our body of knowledge \u2026 it\u2019s very important that we build our evidence-based literature so we can practice evidence-based dentistry. If we didn\u2019t have it, our base of evidence-based literature would be severely lacking.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Carla Falcon, assistant professor at Rutgers University, is the 2016 recipient of the Edge Endo Endodontic Educator Fellowship.\u00a0 She also serves as chair of the AAE Membership Services committee.<\/p><\/div>\n What was the impact on you of receiving the Educator Fellowship?<\/em><\/p>\n I would not be in academics anymore without this fellowship. Education is quite pricey and academic salaries are quite low. Unfortunately, we still have the same amount of loans as anyone in private practice. But as a result, I\u2019ve been able to impact quite a few years of students here. In my case I\u2019m influencing the future of general dentists who our specialty is dependent upon for our own future health.\u00a0 It\u2019s very rewarding to watch all the different components click and come together through a student\u2019s eyes\u2026 seeing that \u2018now I get it!\u2019 over and over again is I think what keeps people in academics\u2026<\/p>\n Also, I\u2019m a product of this institution: I did my pre-doc and specialty training here and now I teach here, so I lived the whole program from start to finish.\u00a0 You see areas you think can be improved upon \u2026 the pieces are there but you can put them together in a slightly different way.\u00a0 My background is industrial engineering, that\u2019s all about systems and systems efficiency which is so broadly applicable in a bureaucratic institution like a school where you have 260 kids you\u2019ve got to get through all these different steps\u2026. We have so many good things here, but if we organize it in a slightly different manner, it will be less haphazard which in the eyes of a student makes it that much better of an experience.\u00a0 Sometimes I didn\u2019t understand the path I had to travel until I had already traveled it. I know what I need to learn, I can make it better for those who come after me\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Michael Feldman founded East Coast Endodontics, a group specialist practice of five endodontists with offices in Hewlett and Massapequa, NY.\u00a0 He is also director of endodontic training at Nassau University Medical Center.<\/p><\/div>\n You\u2019re a third-generation dentist. What did you learn from your father and grandfather?<\/em><\/p>\n I learned from both of them that giving back is an obligation — to the profession, and to the school that allowed you to develop your skills, among other give backs, religious and community causes \u2026<\/p>\n How has your involvement in AAE and the Foundation influenced you as an educator?<\/em><\/p>\n Everything we do is science based. The Foundation promotes clinical research and research in schools. As a practicing clinician I\u2019ve been fortunate financially.\u00a0 Full-time educators don\u2019t have the same financial benefits we have.\u00a0 Having grants available to them helps subsidize their incomes which I think is important.\u00a0 The work they do is very important for the profession.\u00a0 It\u2019s the combination of the two that really amplifies my everyday work.<\/p>\n You were an early adopter of microscopy. What do you see on the horizon now?<\/em><\/p>\n The future is exciting.\u00a0 With newer 3D imaging technologies and newer irrigation techniques, there\u2019s a whole new exciting aspect of endo that we\u2019re just beginning to see incredible results.\u00a0 The business of endo is changing from solo practitioner, to groups, to specialty group and that\u2019s an exciting change \u2026 from a student\u2019s point of view they\u2019re moving into a new world just as I moved into a new world and if I listened to the older practitioners then it would have been very discouraging, but I\u2019m encouraged by change whether I embrace it or not \u2026 With the microscope came ultrasonics and retrofilling techniques for surgery, and rotary instrumentation which brought less time, more efficiency, and a better patient experience.<\/p>\n I also teach in two GP residencies. Since most root canals are done by GPs, it\u2019s important as endodontists that we share our knowledge and expand the ability of GPs to provide good quality care, they\u2019re going to do it anyway\u2026 Educate yourself and talk with your referrals and help them make better decisions.\u00a0 Learning about implants and choosing not to place them still allows me to share my knowledge with general dentists and help them make the best decision for that patient.<\/p>\n I have a very good friend who\u2019s a perio; we started in the community about the same time.\u00a0 I remember when we first started, I would say to him let me re-treat the tooth, and he would say let me put the implant in.\u00a0 About 10 years into our practices I was telling him to do the implant and he was telling me to re-treat the tooth.\u00a0 With experience comes understanding \u2026 we need to help the patient make the decision that\u2019s best for them.\u00a0 That relationship was important to my growth and understanding of my own biases.\u00a0 The question is when is a tooth done? That\u2019s always been our challenge.<\/p>\n Dr. Rachel Kalman is a third-year resident in endodontics at the University of Connecticut.<\/p><\/div>\n How did your participation in REACH shape you?<\/em><\/p>\n Feeling part of the endo community and the strength of the endo community as a whole… REACH opened my eyes as to how much research is going on in endo, and how much investment endo is putting into the future\u2026materials, treatment, research, and how much that\u2019s really valued.. When I went to the Board meeting, just hearing the head of Treloar and Heisel talk about how unique endodontics is in our investment in research when compared with the other dental specialties the firm serves\u2026<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had a lot of great conversations with residents from other programs about teaching and treatment processes and philosophies at different schools.\u00a0 Also putting a face to the name of all the authors I read in the JOE<\/em> \u2026 I\u2019ll read a paper by (Dr. Alan) Law and think, \u201cI\u2019ve met him!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n How will your awareness of research shape you in your practice life?<\/em><\/p>\n When you\u2019re in school you\u2019re learning a lot about philosophy of endodontics and treatment, but sometimes when you leave you can become more of a technician, and you get into your routine of treatment.\u00a0 Seeing how vibrant the research community is makes me want to make sure I\u2019m keeping up to date with how much is evolving over time\u2026<\/p>\n I tell my peers that an investment in the future of the profession is also an investment in your own future\u2026 when you frame it in terms of root canals, you\u2019re investing three or four root canals into the future of your profession.\u00a0 That\u2019s a worthy thing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Past Foundation Trustee Dr. Melissa Marchesan is a clinical associate professor at the University of Florida.\u00a0 She taught endodontics in Brazil before repeating her specialty training and teaching at Nova Southeastern University, followed by a faculty position at the University of Tennessee.<\/p><\/div>\n Why are you so committed to endodontic education?<\/em><\/p>\n If I hadn\u2019t received the Endodontic Educator Fellowship, I wouldn\u2019t be able to afford to teach. I never saw myself just being in my office the whole day.\u00a0 I like interacting with students and residents and faculty members and be on the cutting edge of technology \u2026<\/p>\n Being taught by a specialist takes it to a different level. I like to merge what we do in research to be applicable to the clinic. I think that changes the residents\u2019 perspectives and impacts their career long term.\u00a0 For example, how they view canal anatomy: I just did a project with two residents–we looked at the canal anatomy with a nano CT which you can only use on extracted teeth.\u00a0 Then we simulated taking 3D images on a patient. You can just see the sparkle in their eyes — \u2019Oh my God that\u2019s<\/em> what the anatomy is?!\u2019 — when they\u2019re looking at the images and have a better appreciation for what\u2019s really going on inside the tooth and how our technologies can benefit us.<\/p>\n The Foundation supports the residents from the beginning. That\u2019s very meaningful: their resident research grants allow them to use the nano CT technology, now we\u2019re writing the article, we\u2019re going to use part of the grant to do the statistical analysis of the results. If we didn\u2019t have the foundation support none of this would be possible. Residents in other branches of dentistry don\u2019t get the same support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So many AAE members contribute to the success of the AAE Foundation\u2019s programs. Please meet a few \u201cFaces of the Foundation,\u201d each describing their experiences in their own words. Why do your company and you personally support the Foundation? Instead of just writing a check, Henry Schein Cares wanted to give to something tangible…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.aae.org\/foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/02\/FACES21_TvonSydow-300x263.jpg\")
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\n<\/strong>What is most significant to you about the Foundation?<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.aae.org\/foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/02\/PresidentsLetter_JNusstein-200x300.jpg\")
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\nWhat is the value of the research funded by the Foundation?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.aae.org\/foundation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/BOT_2-Pettiette.png\")
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