Profile

Dr. Paula Ortega-Verdugo is wearing a blue top

Paula  Ortega-Verdugo,  D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
portegaverdugo@dentistry.ucla.edu
Phone
  • (310) 825- 6142
Office
CHS 43-085
Address

UCLA School of Dentistry
10833 Le Conte Ave.
Box 951668
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668

Classifications
  • Full-Time Faculty
Academic Sections
  • Public and Population Health
Biography

Dr. Paula Ortega-Verdugo, a dual-trained dentist in restorative and dental public health, joined the Section of Public and Population Health as an assistant professor in January 2024.

She joined UCLA in 2020 as a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. James Crall and as a lecturer in the Section of Restorative Dentistry. Previously, she was a clinical instructor throughout her Master's and Ph.D. training at The University of Iowa. She obtained the 2020 Keith E. Heller Dental Public Health Graduate Research Award for outstanding achievement among dental public health graduate students.  In 2022, Dr. Ortega became a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health (ABDPH). Earlier in her career, she worked in private and public health systems, including several primary care public health centers.

Dr. Ortega-Verdugo specializes in minimal intervention dentistry for managing dental caries, dental utilization, oral health interventions, and diversity of the dental workforce. Her goal as a dental educator is to use her research, restorative, dental public health background, and teaching experience to inspire dental students to pursue scientific careers and to strengthen our dental workforce.

Representative Publications
  • Ortega-Verdugo P, Warren JJ, Gaeth GJ, Carter K, Kateeb E, Kolker JL, Shane DM. Assessing the Acceptability of Less Invasive Caries Removal Techniques for treating Deep Carious Lesions: A Conjoint Survey among Dentists Practicing in a Midwestern American State. Caries Res. 2023; 57(3):243-254.
  • Carl A. Maida, Marvin Marcus, Di Xiong, Paula Ortega-Verdugo, Elizabeth Agredano, Yilan Huang, Linyu Zhou, Steve Y. Lee, Jie Shen, Ron D. Hays, James J. Crall, Honghu Liu. Investigating Perceptions of Teachers and School Nurses on Child and Adolescent Oral Health in Los Angeles County. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19 (8):4722.
  • Pourat N, Ortega-Verdugo P, Ditter M., The Challenge of Meeting the Dental Care Needs of Low-Income California Adults with the Current Dental Workforce. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 2021.
  • Ortega-Verdugo P, Warren JJ, Kolker JL, Carter KD, Guzmán-Armstrong S, Gomez MR. Retrospective analysis of factors associated with the success of stepwise excavation procedure in deep carious lesions, The Journal of the American Dental Association, 149(6): 442-50, 2018.
  • Ortega-Verdugo P, Guzmán-Armstrong, S., Cobb, D., Dawson, D. V., Blanchette, D., Kolker, J. L., Hernández, M., and Warren, J. J.: Factors Associated with Reevaluation of the Stepwise Excavation Procedure: An 8-Year Retrospective Study, Caries Research, 50, 71-77, 2016.
Additional Information

Teaching activities:

Clinical Preventive Dentistry, Chair (CL403.19, CL404.19)
Quality Improvement in Dentistry, Chair (PFD 402)
Selective Dental Public Health
Critical Thinking & Evidence-Based Dentistry (PFD 101)
Dental Morphology (RFE 101)
Direct Restoration (RFE202, 211)
Indirect Restoration (RFE203)
Esthetic Dentistry (RFE 313)
Faculty advisor for the UCLA-American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) student chapter

Educational & Professional Background
  • D.D.S, Universidad Mayor, Chile, 2006
  • Clinical Advanced Certificate in Operative Dentistry, University of Iowa, 2014
  • M.S. in Oral Science, University of Iowa,  2014
  • Residency Dental Public Health University of Iowa, 2019
  • Ph.D., Oral Science, emphasis in Epidemiology and Health Services, University of Iowa, 2019
  • Diplomate, American Board Dental Public Health, 2022
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship with Dr. James Crall, School of Dentistry, UCLA, 2019- 2021
Research & Interests

Dr. Ortega-Verdugo research interests and peer-reviewed publications are focused on minimal intervention dentistry for managing dental caries, dentists’ clinical decision-making, oral health care disparities, dental utilization among children, and diversity of the dental workforce. 

Publications
Professional Memberships
  • Academy of Operative Dentistry (AOD)
  • American Board of Dental Public Health (ABDPH)
  • American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD)
  • International and American Association for Dental Research (IADR)
  • American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
  • American Dental Education Association (ADEA)
  • California Dental Association
  • American Dental Association
  • Western Dental Society
Awards
  • Keith E. Heller Graduate Dental Public Health Research Award, Preventive & Community Dentistry (June 2020)
  • First place, ADA Post-doctoral poster competition in AADR, USA (February 2019)
  • Honor table clinic Presenter, Iowa Dental Association (May 2015)
  • Chilean National Commission of Technology and Scientific Research Scholarship (2014-2018)
  • First place, Table Clinic Award for Dental Graduate Student clinics, Iowa Section AADR (May 2014)
  • First place, Post-doctoral/ Graduate Specialty Award, Iowa Section AADR (February 2013)