Susan Hyde, DDS, MPH, PhD, an award-winning
teacher and population scientist, knows firsthand how seemingly small
health issues can become disabling over time, threatening life quality.
“I have a passion for quality of life,”
says Hyde, DDS, MPH, PhD, an associate professor at the UCSF School of
Dentistry.
In all her career endeavors, she
promotes practices that preserve oral health and quality of life, not
only for patients, but for practitioners as well.
Hyde has a special interest in working
with populations that are underserved, including minority children and
the homebound elderly. Her research on health practices that prevent
cavities confirm that these groups fare poorly and probes reasons and
remedies.
When Hyde, born and raised in Canada,
first came to the United States as a recent college graduate, she found
satisfying employment in cancer research. Yet she always wanted to be a
dentist. Her father was a professor of dentistry at the University of
British Columbia, and Hyde got a taste for private dental practice
working as his office assistant. When she decided to stay in the US, she
enrolled in dental school at UCSF. Upon graduation she made a smooth
and happy transition into private practice.
Then she hit a roadblock. “My body
ergonomics were not well suited to it, and I became disabled after only
four years.” Hyde soon came to see this setback as an opportunity to
return to research, this time from a public health perspective, while
remaining connected to dentistry.
Addressing Health Disparities
She earned a doctoral degree in
epidemiology at UC Berkeley, completing original research as part of a
US Department of Health and Human Services program. Hyde worked with
welfare recipients, who often have oral health problems that affect
appearance and quality of life, as well as limited resources for
obtaining dental care.
Hyde developed new survey and clinical
data and found that oral health and use of dental care services was
positively associated with the likelihood that study participants would
obtain employment. People who actually used the dental services provided
through the program were more successful in obtaining work, she found.
Hyde then completed a fellowship in
geriatric dentistry at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco VA Medical
Center, and joined the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental
Sciences in the UCSF School of Dentistry in 2005. She soon signed on
with the CAN DO (Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral
Health) project aimed at preventing early childhood tooth decay, which
is on the rise and is worst among minority and low income populations.
In 2008, the School of Dentistry received the largest grant in its
history — $24.4 million from the National Institutes of Health — to
enable CAN DO to launch a second round of programs to address
socio-economic and cultural disparities in oral health and prevent early
childhood tooth decay.
In a study she co-led with UCSF School
of Medicine researcher Sally Adams, RN, PhD, Hyde informed and surveyed
Hispanic and African American mothers in San Francisco about preventive
treatments. The treatments included three targeted to children: brushing
with fluoride toothpaste, application of fluoride varnish, and having a
child eat foods that contain caries-fighting xylitol sugar. However,
the bacteria that colonize the mouth and cause caries are frequently
transmitted from parent to offspring, so two additional treatments are
targeted to mothers: antimicrobial chlorhexidine rinse and xylitol gum.
“For the Hispanic population, fluoride
varnish and brushing with fluoridated toothpaste ranked highest,” Hyde
reports. “They perceived fluoride varnish to be very effective and
perceived brushing to positively promote lifelong healthy habits.”
African Americans in the study similarly
valued toothbrushing, but were more likely to express concerns about
other treatments. “If we were to stage an intervention with African
Americans at the community level, we would want to target respected
elders and spokespeople who could vouch for the safety and efficacy of
these treatments.”
In another CAN DO-related project, Hyde,
working with School of Dentistry colleague Jane Weintraub, DDS, MPH,
has been evaluating oral-health-related quality of life among
agricultural workers and their families in Mendota, California, a
Hispanic community.
The researchers found that workers who
were the least acculturated and those with the lowest wages had the
worst oral health, and that oral health problems that arise in early
childhood continue to have an impact later in life. Public health
measures to improve oral health might include making dental treatment
available at federally qualified health centers, or improving the
acceptance and availability of fluoridated water, Hyde suggests.
Advocating Interprofessional
Education
“I love the CAN DO Center because it is
so interdisciplinary,” Hyde says.
At UCSF, she advocates the same
interdisciplinary collaborations that mark her own research. She is an
active organizer of interprofessional education initiatives, including
classes open to students and faculty from all four of UCSF’s
professional schools. For example, Hyde, who remains committed to
research on oral health and quality of life across the lifespan,
organized an interdisciplinary “training of trainers” program called
“Oral Health and Aging; Focus on Long Term Care.”
She recently developed online training
modules for the UCSF Academic Geriatric Resource Center, as well as for a
UCSF fellowship program, Pathways to Careers in Clinical and
Translational Research.
“No matter what your practice is,
patients – especially older patients – don’t usually have health issues
pertaining only to one organ system,” Hyde says. “We’re not just
mechanics for the mouth. Oral health is intimately tied to systemic
health.”
A dentist might be the first to observe
that a middle-aged patient has diabetes symptoms, for instance and in
the first years of life a pediatrician may be the first to observe early
tooth decay.
In recognition of her exceptional and
innovative teaching, Hyde has received the Dugoni Faculty Award from the
California Dental Association, an Excellence in Teaching Award from the
School of Dentistry, a Junior Faculty Award from the American Dental
Education Association, and most recently, the 2010 Outstanding Faculty
Award from the American College of Dentists.
Hyde mentors students at all levels,
including students in the combined DDS/PhD program, and directs the
fourth-year course on patient-centered care, a keystone of the
curriculum. She’s also a dedicated preceptor and coach in the clinic.
Hyde wants to prepare dentists for the long haul. As students work with
patients in the examination chair, she wants them to avoid habits that
might cause them harm.
“Ergonomics is a big issue in dentistry.
Dentists are perfectionists by training or personality. But you have to
use the mirrors and develop your indirect vision, because it will serve
you in the long run. Dentists also must learn to take breaks, and to
work effectively with assistants.”
Article Source: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/01/6089/geriatric-dentistry-underserved-cross-disciplinary-care-tops-ucsfs-hyde
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