Penn Dental Student Takes First Place in National Clinical Case Contest

Saro Atam, D’18,will represent the U.S. in the Dentsply Sirona Restorative Global Clinical Case Contest 2016-2017, to be held June 26, 2017 in Germany.

Philadelphia – Penn Dental Medicine student Saro Atam, a PASS (Program for Advanced Standing Students) student in the Class of 2018, was awarded first place in the national contest of the Dentsply Sirona Restorative Global Clinical Case Contest 2016-2017, competing with students from across the country to represent the U.S. in the Global Contest to be held June 26, 2017 in Germany.

The contest features aesthetic case studies using Dentsply Sirona Restorative products and is open to undergraduate and graduate students with less than two years of clinical practice. Atam’s case, titled “Direct Flowable Restorations Utilizing Injection Techniques: The Digital Approach,” combined a chairside CAD/CAM system, 3D printing, and a flowable injected direct composite restoration. His faculty mentors for the case included Dr. Eva Anadioti, Founding Director of the Advanced Prosthodontics Program; Dr. Julian Conejo, Fellow in the Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences; and Dr. Markus B. Blatz, Chair, Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences.

“This award exemplifies the quality of our educational programs and demonstrates our strong quest for excellence in clinical care,” says Dr. Blatz. “As a school, to be ranked among the best in research but also in clinics is remarkable and speaks for itself. I am extremely proud of our team and the outstanding work Saro has provided to his patient.”

Since the contest’s inception in 2004-2005, more than 2,300 dental students have participated with the 2016-2017 competition drawing a total of 592 entries from 169 universities.

There is one winner per country and Atam and the other national winners will present their cases to an international panel at a global judging event, taking place June 26,2017 at Dentsply Sirona Restorative in Konstanz, Germany. The top three cases chosen by the panel will then be presented at the Dentsply Sirona Restorative booth during the IADR Congress in Vienna (September 2017), with the professional audience voting to the select the most outstanding case.