This is Scott Becker with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast and the Becker Dental Podcast. I I
am thrilled today to be joined by a
really special guest. We're joined by doctor Koot
Alkabeze.
Doctor Alkabeze
is the assistant dean of clinical affairs at
the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.
Brilliant to visit with her today. She's gonna
tell us about what she does, her career,
trend she's watching, and a lot more. Doctor
Alcabazie,
take a moment and introduce yourself and tell
us a bit about the University of Maryland
School of Dentistry.
Good morning, and and thank you for having
me, Scott. My name is Kuda Kabezi. I
am a currently a faculty member at the
University of Maryland School of Dentistry,
and, my role is the assistant dean of
clinical affairs at the school.
I am internationally trained dentist and have spent
most of my career in higher education within
The United States as well as globally.
I have been in the University of Maryland
collectively for about twelve years.
Four of those were spent in residency and
graduate schoolwork,
and then I re returned, back. Was recruited
as a faculty member and spent the past
eight years as a general dentistry residency program
director.
I'm also involved in global partnership programs at
the school and serve as a director of
global partnerships and educational initiatives in Rwanda.
A little about UMB,
which is a University of Maryland Baltimore. We
are the only public,
institution
graduates
most of the health care professionals. And it's
really a privilege to work at the school
of dentistry because,
as you may and may not know, but
the school of dentistry is the first dental
school in the world, and it was established
in 1840.
Amazing. I did not know that it was
the first dental school in the world. What
does, like, I'm gonna ask you two questions,
very unrelated. First, dental shortages in The US,
what does that look like? What does it
look like in terms of the number of
dentists versus our population
and and other specialties within dentistry?
How does that look? And second, have you
been to Rwanda as part of dentist as
part of the the the partnership? And what
is Rwanda like, and what is dentistry like
in Rwanda?
Shortages
right now, especially after COVID, impact the dental
hygienist. So there's a significant shortage in dental
hygienist,
within the community.
And
that really poses an an issue issue for
a lot of the patients in,
especially the rural areas because
the dentist now are not only saddled,
with, you know, doing the dental work, but
also providing,
significant preventative services for recall patients.
Your second question, which is about Rwanda,
I have been to Rwanda back in '22.
I it was a short visit just to
establish relationship as well as to execute the
agreement that we have between the University of
Maryland,
and the University of Rwanda.
We have a trip,
coming up this fall. So in about a
couple of months, where a team of faculty,
that in including me, will be traveling to
Rwanda.
During this visit, we'll be delivering some patient
care as well as, we'll be paired up
with local dentist
so that we assist them well, we exchange
knowledge and expertise, but also assist them with
delivery of care.
Rwanda,
if
you know or don't know, but, back in
the mid nineties,
they had
a very horrific genocide. And
through that genocide, they have lost
a lot of their, health care
workforce.
And so they had to reestablish,
their workforce capacity.
And,
before
2018,
they did not have a dental school there.
So one of my predecessors at the School
of Dentistry
helped the University of Rwanda establish,
a dental school, and they graduated the first
class in 2018.
So the
the workforce right now, the dental workforce is,
the significant group is what they call dental
therapist, and I believe their dentist to population
ratio is about one to 92,000,
if I'm not wrong, and that's probably old
data. But they don't have a lot of
dentists in Rwanda.
So in Rwanda, one dentist per 92,000 people,
real shortages and so forth.
What trends are you watching in dentistry and
dental education here? How does the AI
impact dental education, and how how are people
looking at that?
Dentistry, the way we deliver dentistry and we
teach dentistry is really influenced by,
digital modalities.
Digital dentistry enables
the providers to be more, efficient and precise.
So as an educator, we have to be
very knowledgeable what's on the market and how
do we incorporate it. As you know, a
lot of these technologies,
they die fast. You know, they require a
lot of maintenance,
but they are really what our students are
excited about. And they it really it
allows them to have the tools, to work
in rural areas because with digital dentistry, you're
able to deliver more,
and, with a wider scope of practice.
In terms of AI,
you know, we have
a department
within the school that, handles a lot of
the AI research. But AI,
definitely, in education and treatment will allow us
to enhance diagnosis of diseases such as dental
decay, monitor bone loss, disease outcome, and progression,
especially with, you know, gum disease.
The other thing that we're watching as well
in in terms of
preclinical training,
I'm just gonna take one step back. Our
students spend the first couple years
in labs where they're learning how to deliver
dentistry on plastic teeth. And,
with virtual and augmented reality,
there is all these tools available now that,
allows the students to really get a feel,
of how how a natural tooth is gonna
feel like and how the handpiece is gonna
react to the natural tooth. So it really,
develops their,
fine motor skills,
I'm gonna say, possibly a lot better than
just working on plastic teeth.
Fascinating. So I'm gonna take you back to
to one second. So I just found the
stat on dentist ratio here
compared to Rwanda. So Rhonda Rhonda has one
dentist per 90,000 people. In The United States,
to give people comparison, there's one dentist per
1,700
people. So that's really is a huge remarkable
difference. That that really is fascinating. So in
terms of
education, I'm gonna ask you two more questions,
doctor Alcabasi.
The the first is,
what do you find most interesting about dentistry
in the profession today? What do you find
what sort of, like, not necessarily keeps you
up at night, but just stimulates your brain.
You're like, oh my god. This is interesting
what we're doing here. In in some way
about education and teaching and developing, you
know, programs,
what's most interesting and exciting to you? From
dental school to residency,
there was digital dentistry. It was new at
its infancy, but it was very, very primitive.
The leap it took from, I'm gonna say,
the past eight to ten years is amazing.
So it's it's really exciting
to
work with the machines and see what they're
capable of and
allowing us to work very differently. The patients
are fascinated. They're more comfortable with digital modalities.
The the current generation of of dentists and
training, you know, they're excited by technology. They
love their phones, their computers, anything that works
fast. So I I find digital dentistry really
fascinating. I think it's gonna open
up a lot of doors, you know, for
us in terms of clinical practice.
That's fantastic. And in terms of, like, developing
programs,
clinical programs, serving as dean,
assistant dean, what's the most interesting part of
that?
First of all, working with students is amazing
because I love the relationship part. You know,
establish your relationship, getting to know people.
You always feel
young when you work in a university because
you see what's the latest and greatest constantly.
Let me just you know, this is just
being in higher ed is just amazing.
But,
in terms of developing programs, you know, you're
in higher edge, you're constantly being challenged. It's
very different to, you know, being in a
in a in a practice environment.
Knowing how the current generations work and how
they enjoy learning and and and just the
changes that you make in the learning environment
and seeing the outcome of the changes that
you make is very gratifying.
Learning and getting people to work together,
building a unified vision,
it
it is just it's exciting. It it excites
me. It keeps me going. It, and it
just, you know, just infuses,
a lot of,
you know, passion in me.
So, doctor Alcovec, let me ask you this
question. And I'll and I'll give you sort
of different variants of the question.
What advice do you give to an emerging
dentist today, an emerging leader today, someone who's
going to dental school? Is it worth it?
Is it still a good decision?
Should they be excited about their career? What
advice do you give to somebody who's going
into medical school today or dental school today,
and and going to dentistry? And what advice
to emerging later?
Working in health care is amazing. It is
a significant
change in lifestyle because
you have to be there for your patients
and your community all the time.
And it is a huge responsibility, but
on the same token, it's great because people
look up to you. You become inspirational to
a lot of people, and,
you develop a lot of good relationships.
But dental school, medical school, you know, any
health care school, professional school is is a
lot of work. And
I would say looking back at my journey,
first thing I would say to myself is
to allow yourself grace
to learn,
make mistakes,
be open up to new opportunities,
invest in yourself,
you know, learn, be open minded, be a
lifelong student,
be humble,
and,
you know, always explore new opportunities to get
out of your comfort zone.
Because, really, getting out of the comfort zone
is what's gonna get you to learn.
I have enjoyed and I will continue to
enjoy being a dentist.
I think dentistry opened up a lot of
opportunities,
in my life that I otherwise, it wouldn't
they wouldn't have presented themselves to me.
Amazing. And and and let me ask you
a question. I'll ask you another question. And
I I hate to keep you longer, but
such an interesting career.
Here. The difference in practicing, I think you
also practiced and taught in in I I
take it in England in at Leeds University.
And the difference in practicing in The United
Kingdom versus here,
you also
did some of your education or were you
taught in Kuwait. So you've had this incredible
international career. Just give us two seconds on
the differences
practicing or teaching in Kuwait versus practicing here
versus England.
I mean, you gave us this great contrast,
Rwanda versus here.
Give us some no. One more sense of
international flavor between
Kuwait, England here,
if that's okay.
Yes. Of course. I,
so I I grew up in Kuwait, and
I left Kuwait to pursue dentistry in England.
And then after that, I moved back to
Kuwait, and I, started early in my career
in Kuwait.
I practiced, and I taught at the university
and,
completed my postgrad in The United States, and
then I, of course, returned to work here.
Dentistry is different, slightly different. Your approach working
with patients is different.
Dentistry in England as well as in Kuwait
is is socialized.
The approach to dentistry, especially general dentistry, is
a little different between
Kuwait
versus
westernized countries, such as England and, you know,
The United States.
So,
when you deliver dentistry in in certain parts
of the world, there's it's more focused on
what they call episodic care, which is whenever
the patient needs,
you know, senses pain or they feel or
they perceive that they have a a problem,
they would go to the dentist,
and they get treated and they go. But
the approach,
you know, in westernized countries is usually
you have the patient establishes down home, and
then you provide them long term care. And
sometimes their family is part of the practice,
so you provide comprehensive care.
The other, I would say, significant difference between,
working here versus, and this is just in
general, westernized countries as well, is patients.
Patient,
you know, patients have autonomy, and they're usually
part of the decision process.
In certain parts of the world such as
Kuwait, patients usually,
look up to you to make the decision
for them.
And,
they you know, the majority of the population
expects,
they they're not really that engaged, and their,
dental awareness is not as high or what
they call the dental IQ as high as
the population
in The United States or The United Kingdom.
So
the dentistry
in Europe
tends to be a little more on the
conservative side,
and the dentistry in The United States tends
to be more towards the mechanical side.
And having trained in, you know, two different
continents,
my approach
combines
and utilizes
either approach depending on the patient and the
case that I have.
And
being in Kuwait,
I
was able to do that because most of,
I'm gonna say, the Gulf Nations and The
Middle East, a lot of the dentists and
the health care providers have received, you know,
postgraduate training internationally. So they bring that blend
together in that country.
So I would say, you know, there are
differences in the approach, but, also, there are
differences in how you deliver the dentistry
in various parts of the world. The the
the fascinating. Doctor Alcubazy, what a pleasure to
visit you with you. You. What an amazing
career. What an amazing leader. Thank you so
much for joining us today on the special
episode of the Beckers Health Care Podcast, the
Beckers Dental Podcast.
Thank you very, very much for joining us.
Thank you for having me, Scott.