How UMB Alumna Kathryn Pawlak's Summer Camp Inspires Future Dentists

Each summer, University of Maryland School of Dentistry alumna Kathryn Pawlak, DDS '19, returns to the University of Maryland, Baltimore to inspire teenagers to become dentists through her Discovering Dentistry Camp she created through her non-profit Planet Smilez. Pawlak created Planet Smilez as an undergraduate at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, and in this episode she tells us why pediatric dentistry is near and dear to her heart, and shares how two close family members inspired her to become a dentist.

Today, Pawlak is an attending pediatric dentist at University Pediatric Dentistry, which is the faculty practice for the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine Pediatric Dentistry department. She also has privileges to treat patients at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, where she works closely with the Hematolgoy and Oncology Department

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Transcript

Charles Schelle: 0:00

I just had my teeth cleaned yesterday. I'm a little bit embarrassed to say that apparently it's been over like a year since I've been able to get in, you know? Um Right.

Jena Frick: 0:10

I bet they're not really good afterwards. Like there's nothing better than that clean dentist like post dentist feeling where you're just like, man, I don't wanna eat anything to mess this up. Right.

Charles Schelle: 0:20

Exactly right. You, your, your tongue goes against the groove of your teeth and you're like, I didn't feel that before in a while. And it's like, and uh, but I was, I was so happy cuz they were like, everything looks great. You know, we're like amazed that it's been like a, a year, you know, gums are in great shape. No cavities. You're doing great. I was getting the pat on the back. I was like, oh, I've only had this, at, when I was a kid, when I did have a bunch of cavities. As a kid, if something would've clicked, I would have a lot less, uh, visits to the dentist in, in my teenage years.

Dana Rampolla: 0:50

I remember being afraid of the dentist. I had a couple of teeth pulled when I was young, and it wasn't a great experience. They needed to make room when I was getting braces. Yeah, so I think, I think developing that that relationship with younger children and making them feel like it's okay, it's not scary. That's a really great thing.

Jena Frick: 1:10

Yeah, that familiarity is very important. Um, especially at a young age. And, uh, really understanding how to take care of your teeth at a young age, age is also very important. And that was the topic that we spoke about with our guests that we had on today so let's get into our interview with alumni, Dr. Kathryn Pawlak.

Dana Rampolla: 1:49

With us today is a Changemaker who has accomplished so many incredible things in the name of dental and oral health. She is a board certified attending pediatric dentist at University Pediatric Dentistry, and she's also the founder of Planet Smilez, an oral health education program for children that has impacted communities in the US and abroad. And last but not least, she is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. We're so happy to have her joining us via Zoom today. Dr. Kathryn Pawlak.

Kathryn Pawlak: 2:20

Thank you all for having me. It's great to be back.

Jena Frick: 2:23

So you graduated from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 2019. Uh, tell us what happened after you graduated and where you are now and what you're doing.

Kathryn Pawlak: 2:33

Yeah, so I graduated the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 2019 and pursued a pediatric dental residency program at the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Currently I stayed on working with the faculty practice, um, through the Department of Pediatric and Community Dentistry. So my role is, um, engaging in patient care, teaching dental students at the predoctoral level, and residents at the postgraduate level. Um, I also, work closely with the hematology oncology department at the John R Oishei Children's Hospital. So, um, I have a lot of different roles and I think that all of these experiences really, um, make me, be able to provide a wealth of knowledge for patients and students and residents as well.

Jena Frick: 3:24

So you were a student and now you're a teacher basically in pursuing your, your dental career.

Kathryn Pawlak: 3:30

Yes. Yes. And I think, my, my duties with my excitement for founding Planet Smiles back when I was in college, really lines up with the career choice that I made today. Education is a huge part of who I am and trying to pass, the wealth of knowledge to the future generations of oral healthcare providers is really important to me. So we can provide the highest quality of care to our patients.

Jena Frick: 3:57

Yeah, for sure. And we will get into Planet Smilez, uh, in just a little bit. But first, can you explain for our listeners, uh, what pediatric dentistry is like in a hospital versus working in a private practice setting?

Kathryn Pawlak: 4:10

Sure. So I think that it's a little bit different, right? So sometimes, like when I was on call as a resident, my duties were I would get paid for inpatient consults. So patients that were undergoing, um, hematology or oncology treatment at the hospital, and they had some type of, you know, dental issue at the time. So they had a toothache or they had jaw pain or they needed clearance before they underwent oncology treatment. Um, in addition, part of the duties are treating patients that come in with emergencies, dental emergencies. So someone falls off of a dirt bike, right, and it's in the middle of the night and they lose their two front teeth. What do you do? And so we were the only service that was available to patients throughout the evening. So we would provide patient care three o'clock in the morning, four o'clock in the morning. And, um, I think that it's, it's nice and the advantage of being at the hospital is that you get to learn all about, uh, different complex medical histories and how that contributes, um, to dental health and really how dental health plays a vital role in overall health. In private practice and where I am, I'm kind of at like a hybrid, I would say between education and private practice. You're seeing, the routine care. So patients come in for, um, their six month exams and cleanings. And then part of my duties are to review the medical history, do a clinical exam, and identify any treatment needs that might need to be done. And then we schedule them back for, for treatment, um, in the chair. Our program here and our practice has a great sedation center, so part of my training included learning all different levels of sedation. Which is I think, a great part of pediatric dentistry because a lot of patients are nervous or might have, um, extenuating circumstances that prevent them from being able to complete treatment in the dental office. So whether it's here in the office and we provide oral sedation or we do an IV sedation or at the hospital, part of our hospital duties are to provide care for patients under general anesthesia. So full mouth rehabilitation.

Jena Frick: 6:31

Sounds like you did a whole lot of everything

Kathryn Pawlak: 6:34

Yeah, I did. And I think that that was wonderful about my program. I got to learn, the foundation of pediatric dentistry through the education side and get, I did a lot of teaching. I participated in the academic track, so my last year of my residency, I was, I worked closely with the predoctoral program director in developing assessments, teaching lectures, administering exams, teaching clinically, and as well as, closely working at the hospital as well. Wow.

Dana Rampolla: 7:06

Super busy. And of all the dental specialties you could have pursued, why did you focus on pediatric?

Kathryn Pawlak: 7:15

For me, I think it's, the preventative aspect that I think is really important, um, to really educate parents and families and children at a young age about the importance of oral health and really how that can, um, affect overall health as children get older. I know that there's, um, this really, heartbreaking story of diamante driver in Maryland and he was a young boy who had a dental abscess. And due to the lack of, um, access to care, he unfortunately passed away. So access to care is huge and getting patients in for, their preventative treatment will prevent all of these, you know, life, life-threatening, situations that can be caused by, such as a dental infection. Um, and for me, I really like to work with the families, um, and watch children grow up. Um, I know that my grandfather really on both sides, didn't have any access, um, to dental care until they moved to America. My mom's family is from Italy. I have my Italian citizenship, so I go back to the little village where my mom, my mom's family grew up. Like no running water, no electricity. My grandparents communicated that they met and they traveled to each other on the donkey eight miles away, so

Dana Rampolla: 8:41

Wow!

Charles Schelle: 8:41

That's adorable.

Kathryn Pawlak: 8:43

Yeah. My grandfather, my dad's side, he was held as a prisoner of war, um, during his youth and didn't have access to care. And so these, having these, I guess, um, situations so close to home and understanding how. The lack of dental care during their youth affected them long-term really was quite eye-opening to me. And I wanted to prevent that for as many children as I can through education and, also mentorship. I think that mentorship is huge. So, um, being a mentor for these children in the community, especially the Baltimore community, was always near and dear to my heart.

Charles Schelle: 9:20

You had mentioned your, your grandfather and, and tell us a little bit more about him. What, what was his name and tell us about that, that journey that, that he had as a POW..

Kathryn Pawlak: 9:32

Yeah. So my grandfather's name was Kashmir Pawlak. Um, he was an American, he was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. Um, his family had a, a bus company here. They were from Poland, um, prior to the war, they sold the company and moved back to Poland. The war hit and he had three brothers. He and his three brothers were held captive as prisoners of war in separate concentration camps and during, you know, his lack of access to dental care during his youth, I remember, you know, seeing him with dentures, right. And I always wondered why he, like, he wasn't so old, right? Why, why did he have dentures? And I just remember this as a child, and so I just wondered what, what this could be. And, you know, hearing about like the stories and things like that. So his, his three brothers and him, after they all were released, they all met back up in, in America and two of the brothers lived back in Bayonne and the two brothers married two sisters and they all lived in the same house. Um, and then the other brother moved to Michigan. Really for me, I think the important thing is, is if I can prevent, any of this from happening to any other children and increase their access to education, increase their access to, you know, coming to the dentist, increase their access to pursuing a career in dentistry or the, the health sciences, I think that that's the big thing for me.

Charles Schelle: 11:12

When you were a kid talking to your grandfather or relaying these stories and, and you, you learned,

Kathryn Pawlak: 11:17

A lot of the stories were relayed through the family

Charles Schelle: 11:19

Okay.

Kathryn Pawlak: 11:20

Yeah.

Charles Schelle: 11:21

Did you realize then that you wanted to be a dentist? Or did it occur much later on?

Kathryn Pawlak: 11:27

So I knew, I always liked to work with my hands and I liked the sciences. My, my uncle, who is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, graduated the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 1993. He's from my mom's side of the family. So he really kind of influenced me to pursue a career in, um, in dentistry, I would say from like the application standpoint. He showed me his office, like what he did, things like that. But I knew always that my grandfather's story was in the back of my head, right? As, as why I thought of this career as a possible opportunity and why Planet Smilez served to be founded.

Dana Rampolla: 12:16

Well, that brings us to our, our next topic, which is the, the fun part, the interesting part that I really am excited to learn more about. Tell us about Planet Smilez, and that's Planet Smilez with a Z on the end. Um, how, how did it grow over the years? You started back in 2014, is that correct?

Kathryn Pawlak: 12:34

Yes. So I was. Oh goodness. I was back in college. I went to Hobart and William Smith Colleges in, in Geneva, New York. Um, I had a mentor who I love near and dear, her name is Deborah Pilla. Uh, she's a pediatric dentist, retired at this time, but she graduated William Smith Colleges and I was working for the admissions office and she was, uh, a newly, um, appointed board of trustee member. And I was asked to give her a tour of the campus, and I mentioned I was interested in pediatric dentistry. So she had, had me down to her office in New York City, um, to, to explore and everything like that. And I told her my interest in wanting to do dental outreach and so we spoke with the president of the college, um, Mark Gearan at the time, and he had given me, um, like a stipend to go on an outreach event supported by the colleges, um, to the Dominican Republic. And so with Dr. Pilla and myself, I remember we were in the town of Ojo de Agua, which was a small remote town in the Dominican Republic, and we provided oral health education to the community. And on the plane ride back, I said to Dr. Pilla I wanna continue doing this. Let's, let's build something. And she's very much like a go-getter like myself. And she was a, an excellent mentor. She actually hooded me at my University of Maryland School of Dentistry graduation with my uncle Anthony Petito, who was the graduate of the University of Maryland. But both of them together, um, have always supported me in this endeavor. And after my time, at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, I started to grow Planet Smilez. And when I started dental school, um, in 2015 in Baltimore, I approached Dr. Andrea Morgan, who is my restorative, and operative faculty, and I said, I have this idea. I wanna work with the community. How can I get engaged? And so she, um, through her campus connections, introduced me to Brian Sturdivant and, and the U M B Cure Scholars. And I was a first year dental student just trying to get through, like stay alive, right? Like trying to make it through do well. But, uh, what kept me going was my engagement in the community. It was like my break, but also my, what drove me to succeed, I would say. So I came up with an idea to do a summer camp, um, to, to work with the Cure Scholars, and the focus was, prevention education and also like oral cancer prevention as well. The Cure Scholars have a, you know, a focus in working with the National Cancer Institute, and so I thought that it was a great avenue to try to connect pediatric dentistry, education and oral cancer. And it actually ties in with one of my interests now and looking back, it, it all makes sense. I work closely with the hematology oncology department and, but at a pediatric level now. So how I can provide care to these patients, um, and really like how can I make their their journey easier? Can I help with prevention of mucositis? Can I help with, um, relieving symptoms of xerostomia, dry mouth? These are all things that I didn't know that I could do as a pediatric dentist, but my training taught me that I can do that, and now I can pass that along and go forward.

Jena Frick: 16:29

And just for those of you who don't know what the U M B Cure Scholars is, uh, the U M B Cure Scholars is a STEM enrichment program for, uh, middle school to high school students. So we start the program in sixth grade and follow those students, providing them with mentorship and hands-on learning opportunities, follow them through high school and college and beyond, um, to really get them inspired and interested in pursuing STEM careers and it's specifically for students from three West Baltimore middle schools. And we actually did an episode on the U M B Cure Scholars, uh, with a couple of them talking about their experience. So you can actually go back and listen to that if you would like to learn more about it.

Charles Schelle: 17:08

Can you describe what the camps look like? Like what the, um, campers, get their hands into?

Kathryn Pawlak: 17:16

Yeah, for sure. So we have, we've worked with like the middle school population primarily, and, the, the Cure Scholars come into the dental school and they engage in a ton of simulation activities, which I think is, which is great. A lot of these activities I didn't get to do until I was in dental school. So now we have the Cure Scholars, middle schoolers from West Baltimore learning the hands-on components of dentistry at a sixth grade. So my hope is that these students really get the hands-on experience that will guide them through this career. So those simulation activities include, um, how to do a filling, um, how to manage a dental evulsion, which is when your teeth come out right, secondary to a trauma. So this summer they, they learned how to place a splint. So two teeth I have them a case two, two front teeth came out when a patient had suffered a trauma. So they learned what to put the teeth in, right? If they were at a summer camp and this happened to them, what are you gonna do? So they learned how to manage that, and then they learned how to place the teeth back in the, in the socket, and then they placed a splint. So it was really interesting that one of the, the campers you would say this summer, said, this happened to me. It wasn't so scary now seeing this.

Jena Frick: 18:53

Wow.

Dana Rampolla: 18:54

They're getting a little hands-on experience that's practical. And at the same time, you're hoping that that stimulates an interest in going into the field, at least for a few of them. Hopefully.

Kathryn Pawlak: 19:06

Yeah. And then this year we kind of expanded it to include sealants, what a dental sealant is, um, and how it's applied. They're, a lot of them are at the age where they're getting sealants, which is a clear protective, um, coating that's placed over the grooves of the molars in the back, um, to prevent cavities from forming. Right? So they, they simulated that. They also, um, learned how to suture, so they learned how to suture on like dental models. So sometimes if, you know, they've had suffered from a fall and they've had sutures what does that look like? How do they do it? A lot of them found that that was a really fun and engaging, um, activity as well.

Charles Schelle: 19:49

And it sounds like too, it, it makes for maybe some of the students dentistry less scary and, and more, you know, cool and exciting. Right?

Kathryn Pawlak: 19:58

Yes. It, I kind of try to break it down to a level that's, you know, simpler and not so scary. And I think that that's what part of pediatric dentistry is, is to engage children in our realm of dentistry, but in a way that's comfortable for them. So I think that this, the Discovering Dentistry Camp, uh, does that for them and also shows them like the prevention side of how they can be an active participant in their future oral health because they come to the dentist every six months. A lot of the work is, you know, done at home. So I try to inspire them to say, okay, you can do this. This is you, like you, um, you have the knowledge, you have the ability. Let, let's get it done.

Dana Rampolla: 20:50

And about how many kids are in that camp and how many other dental providers or educators are there?

Kathryn Pawlak: 20:58

So about 30 middle schoolers is what we've done in the past. Um, we're looking to try to expand our target population to include the high schoolers now in the future, because I think that that's one part that, um, is an area for improvement. Like I see the children when they're in the middle school age and they have interest. But what happens when they get to the high school age? The high school age is where they start to make those career choices as they go into college. So that's what we're looking to improve upon for this year is to, to target both, um, both ages and all, all children. And the educators include the dental hygiene department. They give a lecture on prevention and the, the connection between oral health and systemic health. We also have dental student volunteers,, first year students, second year students, third year students. We also have faculty from like the Department of Operative Dentistry, Dr. Andrea Morgan. And we also have Dr. Donita Dyalram from the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, who comes and lectures about what she does, um, in terms of, how oral cancer can be prevented. But her specialty is really the, the surgical aspect. So she manages these patients at the University of Maryland Medical Center. So how she does the surgeries and what their treatment looks like. So the scholars really get that firsthand education.

Jena Frick: 22:37

Yeah. And if any of our listeners are interested in actually seeing firsthand exactly what they're doing in the, this, uh, camp and at Planet Smilez, uh, our videographer Eric Nielsen made a wonderful video showing them, suturing hot dogs and learning how to make a sealant and all that stuff. So, um, I think we can include that in the description, a link to that video to take a look.

Kathryn Pawlak: 22:58

Always looking for volunteers. In terms of graduates of the program, uh, the University of Maryland School of Dentistry program, or the Dental Hygiene Program, um, we'd love to have alumni come back and, and be volunteers. So if anyone's interested, please, um, feel free to reach out.

Jena Frick: 23:17

Yeah we can put information for all of that in the description of these episodes. So if anyone's listening and wants to volunteer, this is a great opportunity to do that. Um, but Dr. Pawlak, so you've been doing Planet Smilez for a while, through college and dental school, and then through your residency, and then now as an attending. Why keep doing it? It sounds like a lot of things that you're doing, why keep doing Planet Smilez?

Kathryn Pawlak: 23:42

I mentioned my drive before and my passion. So I think that that's like passionate is one word that describes me and I, when I have my, my heart really invested in something, it's something that I, I wanna continue to. I'm the kind of person that really likes to constantly make improvements. How can I make things better? I became a better educator. I became a better dentist during my residency, and now I feel like I have a lot more to offer to the Baltimore community. So to continue Planet Smilez and work with the Cure Scholars and provide this, expanded level of education that dental students and dental residents are getting, I think is a wonderful way to give back to the community and also serve as like a mentor for, uh, the children of, of Baltimore to hopefully pursue careers in, in the health sciences, whether or not it's dentistry, um, dentistry is one component of, of health. But dentistry is, like a critical component of how oral health is connected to systemic health. So if we can all work together to provide, um, better quality of life for, for our patients, I think that that's the goal.

Jena Frick: 25:01

So you've been doing a lot of Planet Smilez outreach in Baltimore. Have you been able to do any of that in Buffalo where, uh, where you are now?

Kathryn Pawlak: 25:10

Right now I have not been doing Planet Smilez here in Buffalo. Um, I focus all of my efforts on the working with the, the Baltimore community. And so, um, I'd like to continue even expanding what we're we're doing in in Baltimore at the School of Dentistry to include, uh, like a longer duration of the camp. Of course I have goals and visions and I'd love to make them happen. And I don't know that they can happen overnight, but in the future I'd like to, to make it maybe like a three week summer camp so they can kind of follow like a dental, a dental student's life. Right. So learn a little bit about, um, the, the foundation of medicine in terms of like the gross anatomy component, right? Learn more in detail about, uh, the structures and the anatomical features of the face. And so then kind of build on that and kind of simulate what the dental curriculum looks like just at a more, um, simplified level. But essentially expand what we can offer in terms of duration and maybe it's more of like a concentration for those that are really interested in dentistry. Cuz I don't know that everyone would love it for three weeks. But those that wanna do dentistry I think would like to be engaged.

Charles Schelle: 26:36

Maybe you need a nice, uh, toothpaste sponsor to step up

Kathryn Pawlak: 26:40

Yes, that would be great. That would be great.

Dana Rampolla: 26:44

Well, Dr. Pawlak, you've obviously worked with a lot of children. Is there a special or a, a favorite story or anecdote that's really stood out to you over the years that you'd like to share?

Kathryn Pawlak: 26:55

Yes. So I was a third year dental student just about to start my fourth year dental school and I was hosting the Discovering Dentistry Camp at, um, the School of Dentistry. And at that time we had the students, you know, complete their, their filling on a stone model. So it was like a model of the teeth, but just made of stone and on, and when the stone is cured, it's something you can write on. So, One of the scholars wrote, um, like Dr. Johnson's First Step to Dentistry. And so that was really quite like touching to my heart. Aw. And so it made me feel fulfilled in the sense that, um, all of this, you know, effort and providing the education was something that they were really enjoying. And hopefully that, um, the future, Dr. Johnson would want to be a dentist.

Jena Frick: 28:02

I'm so glad that you mentioned that story because I know that's Caden Johnson is the scholar's name. I know exactly who he is, and he's, I believe in his junior or senior year of high school right now. So we'll have to check back in with him and see if he's, um, planning on becoming a dentist and, falling in those footsteps.

Kathryn Pawlak: 28:19

Yeah. And I have a picture with him and I always think about him. I wonder, how he's doing? Does he wanna be a dentist? And I hope that those experiences have kind of shaped his future and I hope to connect with him this summer. If we can, you know, expand our program to include the high schoolers,

Charles Schelle: 28:36

That'd be awesome. I was at the dentist actually yesterday getting my annual cleaning and uh, I was very happy to report that no cavities reported I was so happy. Excited. But, um, but I, I mentioned to the dentist how like, you know, the, the pandemic threw everything off for me schedule wise, um, to get back in for, routine cleaning. And I was wondering, I know you're in a hospital setting now, but maybe with some of your outreach and everything, are you seeing some of that pandemic effect still lingering as far as trying to get kids back into the chair, to, to kind of get that nice, healthy routine again.

Kathryn Pawlak: 29:11

Totally. Definitely. So a lot of what I do is, um, at the faculty practice, so it's like a private practice setting, and so I see that sometimes patients haven't been seen since you know, 2019, they haven't had access to care. And what was a treatment plan for maybe a filling at that point is now a tooth that needs to be extracted or removed. So I think definitely the pandemic has been really challenging on a lot of families, um, in many ways. And I think the children also are very much affected in terms of their oral health. I know that a lot of, these children at this point, um, might need treatment in the hospital setting. And, and the treatment plans are a lot more, um, the, like, the level of severity has kind of changed. Uh, so we're seeing a lot of dental infections that are coming in because patients haven't been in since 2019. We're seeing, um, you know, when I talk to patients about diet, we're seeing like a lot more snacking. And I try to get to the root of it, like, why are we snacking more? And parents are saying, well, they've kind of, you know, maybe adopted these behaviors when being at home, um, during the pandemic. Right? And so I think it's all about trying to best understand each family and trying to come up with a plan that works best for them on how they can, make small changes that can really impact their child's oral health. But access to care is, is really so challenging. I know that our, our operating room at this point, we've had limited access to the O-R, and a lot of the patients that we treat here in Buffalo, it's like, uh, I would say it's kind of like a melting pot community. We have patients from all over the world. There's a large refugee population here. And a large, diverse patient population, I would say. So patients come from all different socioeconomic backgrounds, um, and the care is still, the standard of care that we provide. And so I think it's really important that, we. Through outreach or, um, trying to increase our, our hours that we try to get as many patients in as we can. Like I'm working in the evenings four nights a week so we can increase the amount of, um, patients that we can see at this time.

Charles Schelle: 31:42

Wow. And, and I'm sure part of that outreach is trying to tell, the population about some of those, free dental clinic services cuz I know for instance, like the School of Dentistry here, as you very well know, offers some, uh, services as well. Um, for people who may not have that, routine access.

Kathryn Pawlak: 31:59

Yes. And I know I, I'm, I've, I've been a little bit out from the School of Dentistry, so I'm not sure as to what the current programs are, but I know, for instance, when I was a dental student in 2019, the Department of Pediatric Dentistry received a grant, um, to provide care to patients that might not have insurance. And so that was huge in providing access to care for a lot of the Hispanic population. So I was a pediatric dentistry, um, minor. And so as a minor I got the opportunity to, to work closely with a few of the families that were part of that, that grant program. And I remember the families just, just being so, so thankful, um, that, they had access to dentistry and they, um, really didn't have to worry about the financial aspect things

Charles Schelle: 32:52

And some of those can be lifesaving. Really. Those spot clinics where they discover something, you know, serious is going on with a child, like a, an infection.

Kathryn Pawlak: 33:01

Exactly. Exactly. And I know that the Department of Oral Surgery does oral cancer screenings in the, in the spring, and they, I was not participating in that, but I remember hearing about it from my classmates that, um, they would do oral cancer screenings and I think it was that College Park. And so that's another great outreach event to, um, screen patients for the possibility of any lesions that could be cancerous or pre-cancerous and to set them up. with a dentist that could help kind of manage that care.

Jena Frick: 33:35

All right. Well this has been a really amazing conversation, and you can find out more about, Dr. Pawlak's work with her Discovering Dentistry Camp at Planet Smilez. That's S M I L E Z.org. The website also features a link to donate to support the program. So check out our episode description. You can find all that information there as well as anyone from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry interested in volunteering in our next round of Planet Smilez with the U M B Cure Scholars. And you can find a link to a video like we had said, to see what Planet Smilez is all about with our U M B Cure Scholars. So, Dr. Pawlak, thank you so much for being on the UMB Pulse with us today.

Kathryn Pawlak: 34:15

Thank you so much for having me. It's great to be back and I can't wait to come back for the Discovering Dentistry Camp in Baltimore this summer. We're just working on dates and, and how to make the program better. So stay tuned for you know, future exciting news, I would say.