DDS, Faculty and Staff, Outreach

The Adams School of Dentistry Hosts Second Virtual Shadowing Event

Lowery and Driver demonstrate the procedure for abfractions during the virtual shadowing event

Earlier this month, the UNC Adams School of Dentistry hosted its second event in the virtual shadowing series. The series is an effort to help predental students and those interested in dental school the chance to shadow – due to lingering effects of the pandemic, there are fewer opportunities for students to shadow providers in-person. 

The virtual shadowing series hopes to help bridge the gap in shadowing hours for those students, which are critical to providing them insight into the world of dentistry.  

“We are excited to continue to offer our virtual shadowing series and to see it grow substantially from our first event,” said Assistant Dean for Student Recruitment and Engagement, Lamont Lowery, MA, who has spearheaded the virtual shadowing series.  

“We know how challenging the past year has been for everyone, and predental students are no exception. Our faculty and student providers have enjoyed hosting the virtual shadowing events and interacting with such an enthusiastic group of predental students, and we are all encouraged by the overwhelming response and appreciation for the series.” 

General dentist Allessandra Bennett Lowery, DDS, worked with second-year dental hygiene student, Nickylyn Driver, to demonstrate a live patient procedure to the 324 participants. 

For this session, participants were able to get an up-close perspective of two composite resin restorations. The restorations treated abfractions on the canine and premolar teeth due to the grinding and clenching. 

Lowery answering questions from participants following the procedure

Throughout the procedure, Lowery engaged the audience by walking them through the steps of the procedure and asking questions, even consulting the participants on the shade of composite best suited for the patient’s teeth. 

While Lowery and Driver worked, Assistant Dean for Student Life, Sumi Ahmed, BDS, MS, answered participant questions from the chat about the procedure, dental conditions and treatments, the school, and student life.  

At the end of the session, participants expressed their appreciation for the opportunity.  

“This was an amazing experience! This was actually better then some of the in-person shadowing experiences I had because the camera allowed for better and close up visuals, compared to in person shadowing when it can be hard to see the treatment,” said one participant.  

“I also appreciate the Q&A session at the end, as often times during in-person shadowing the dentist is so busy that they cannot answer a lot of questions. I look forward to future virtual shadowing events!”