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IU SCHOOL OF DENTISTRY AT IUPUI NAMES NEW DIRECTOR OF DENTAL ASSISTING

INDIANAPOLIS - Patricia Capps, the new director of dental assisting for the IU School of Dentistry at IUPUI, hopes to add more web-based courses to the curriculum and increase student and worker retention in the dental assisting profession.

Capps, a professor at IUPUI since 1997, began her new assignment in August.

The dental assisting program at the dental school, part of the department of periodontics and allied dental programs, is a one-year certificate program that trains students to assist the dentist in the comprehensive treatment and education of patients.

"Unfortunately, retention is a problem for the dental assisting profession," said Capps. She hopes to help combat this problem by working with local dentists and professional organizations to offer information about the profession and provide continuing education.

She is also working to incorporate online components into many classes. "This will allow students to both work and go to school, and it will also enable the program to attract students who live a distance from the school," she said.

Capps brings unique qualities to her post including experience as both a registered dental hygienist and as a licensed practical nurse. Nursing, she said, has helped her become a better dental hygienist. "It helped me consider the whole patient and not just the mouth," she said.

Capps received her nursing training at the Mexico School of Practical Nursing, Mexico, Mo., and at Avila College, Kansas City, Mo., in 1972. She earned a bachelor's degree in dental hygiene in 1979 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and studied public health at Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois at Springfield) from 1991-1994. She also received a master's degree in health science from Ball State University, Muncie, Ind., in 1997.

"Professor Capps' energy and her broad experiences in the health professions will add substantially to the IU dental school's contributions to the education of tomorrow's dental team," said Dr. Lawrence Goldblatt, IU's dean of dentistry.

Capps, a resident of Noblesville, Ind., is also involved in several professional dental organizations. She was elected second vice-president of the Indiana Dental Assistants' Association (IDAA) in 2001 and is currently the secretary of the Indianapolis Dental Assisting Society. She also was voted "Most Active New Member" by the IDAA.

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