The general dentistry and public health sciences departments will host a workshop and lecture on Oct. 12 by Dr. Pamela Stein about her research on oral health, aging and dementia. Stein’s latest paper on the topic will be the lead article in the October issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association. Faculty, students and staff are invited to attend both the workshop and the lecture.

An assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the University of Kentucky dental and medical schools, Stein conducts research with the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Nun Study, investigating oral disease as a potential risk factor for dementia. She has lectured and published on her findings including articles in Grand Rounds in Oral-Systemic Medicine as well as JADA.

Stein received her dental degree from the UK College of Dentistry in 1990 and practiced general dentistry for 13 years. In 2003, she was jointly appointed as a full-time faculty member at the UK dental and medical schools, where she has taught restorative dentistry, local anesthesia and gross anatomy.

The workshop, “Current Concepts in Geriatric Dentistry,” will be held in Room 309-1 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will discuss issues regarding clinical dental care for elderly patients. Conditions associated with “normal” aging as well as common chronic conditions of the elderly will be highlighted.

The lunch lecture, titled “Tooth Loss and Risk of Dementia: Findings from the Nun Study,” is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in Lecture Hall 6. Stein will discuss her findings from a recent investigation utilizing longitudinal data from 10 annual cognitive assessments and dental records from the Nun Study archives.