Dentists with Ph.D. degrees are reshaping the oral health industry

Oral health has become a kind of canary in the coal mine when it comes to tiny changes that can lead to disease in the rest of the body — from colorectal cancer to diabetes. With this in mind, University of Florida students are broadening their academic scope to include a more interdisciplinary approach to learning that extends far beyond the mouth.

Since 2012, the UF College of Dentistry and the UF College of Medicine have teamed up to offer a combined D.M.D./Ph.D. program, which allows dental students to graduate with a Doctor of Dental Medicine, or D.M.D, degree in addition to a Ph.D. Students in the program not only learn how to manage and treat dental diseases, they also study biomedical science and examine how to improve oral health through research — skills that are invaluable for pursuing clinician/scientist jobs.

“Our program is geared to identify and train the next generation of academically focused dental researchers early on,” said Frank Gibson, Ph.D., the program’s coordinator.