Dental Olympics underway at SmileCon
UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso win first round of dental trivia contest
Houston — The first-ever Dental Olympics are underway in Houston.
The two-day event at SmileCon features students from four Texas dental schools — Texas A&M University, UT Health Science Center at Houston, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso — all battling for state bragging rights.
Gabriel Holdwick, D.D.S., a member of the New Dentist Committee, moderated the trivia contest, Dental Jeopardy.
“I know you’d all rather be in school today learning about perio and all that stuff, but thank you for being here,” Dr. Holdwick told the students.
The trivia questions ranged from fun questions about dentistry, “Who is noted as the ‘father’ of dentistry?” and “Where and when was the ADA founded?” to the more challenging, “The periodontal ligament is primarily composed of which collagen sub-type?” or “Which of the following answers best distinguishes periodontitis from gingivitis?”
In addition to trivia, the first day of events also included a social media battle to see which school could get the most likes or followers. For Day 2, the Dental Olympics include a Putt for Points contest and the final round of Dental Jeopardy.
Dentist and Olympian Tara Peterson, D.D.S., a member of the U.S. National Curling Team who participated in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, provided opening remarks for the Dental Olympics, which are sponsored by Pacific Dental Services.
“Supporting the growth and development of organized dentistry elevates the entire dental industry, which better serves oral health care professionals and ultimately their patients,” said Gary J. Pickard, senior director of Government and Industry Affairs at Pacific Dental Services in a news release.
As for who won the first round of trivia?
That would be UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and Texas Tech University Health Science Center El Paso, who will face off against each other in round two of trivia. The winning team overall for all events will be announced during the SmileCon closing session on Oct. 15.
