UCLA Special Patient Care Blazes New Horizons at SCDA Conference in Dallas

Faculty, staff, and students affiliated with the UCLA School of Dentistry’s Special Patient Care Clinic did a Texas Two-Step last month, returning from the Lone Star State with awards, inductions, and new connections in the field.

The Special Care Dentistry Association (SCDA) held its 38^th annual conference in Dallas from April 16 to 19, with a theme of Blazing New Horizons. Two faculty members in the Section of Special Patient Care and Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Drs. Reeva Mincer and Kelly Vitzthum – both graduates of its General Practice Residency program – were inducted as SCDA fellows. Dr. Mincer now serves as residency program director, while Dr. Vitzthum, in addition to her teaching responsibilities, directs the School’s Community-Based Clinical Education initiative.

These honors were all the more notable as the induction ceremony was led by Dr. Eric Sung, a UCLA professor of clinical dentistry and Momentum Endowed Chair in Special Patient Care, who serves as SCDA president.

“Dr. Mincer and Dr. Vitzthum represent the best of our School’s General Practice Residency program,” Dr. Sung said. “Now, as clinicians and educators, they exemplify excellence in special patient care dentistry. Their dedication to compassionate care and commitment to mentoring future providers embody what it means to be an SCDA Fellow.”

At the conference, Dr. Vitzthum presented on Bolstering Special Care Dental Education, while Steph Tuazon, a licensed clinical social worker in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs’ Social Welfare Department embedded in the Special Patient Care Clinic (SPCC), presented Social Work Integration.

In another highlight of the UCLA delegation’s presence in Dallas, fourth-year undergraduate Psychobiology major and SPCC disabilities studies intern Rebecca Lee earned third place in the student and resident research competition for her poster entitled Unmet Dental Needs Among Insured Adults with Special Healthcare Needs.