Old Dominion University School of Dental Hygiene

One of the most anticipated milestones of dental hygiene school… Local Anesthesia & Nitrous Oxide Lecture and Lab has just wrapped up for the Class of 2027!💉

Rising senior students spent the last week mastering techniques, building confidence, and yes, practicing on each other! Here’s to developing safe, skilled, competent, and compassionate clinicians! 🦷✨

🦷 Expand your scope. Elevate your practice.

Take the next step in your professional journey with the ODU School of Dental Hygiene’s Laser Training Course for Dental Hygienists! Learn how to safely and effectively integrate diode laser therapy into patient care while earning 6 continuing education hours.

📅 August 14, 2026
📍 Old Dominion University, Ellmer College of Health Sciences
🔗 Register today through the link in this post, our bio, or scan the QR code!

https://www.odu.edu/dental/continuing-education/laser

SPACE IS LIMITED, SO RESERVE YOUR SEAT TODAY!

What an incredible week we had at our Dental Health Summer Institute June 22-26! 🦷💙

Last week, high school students from across Virginia joined us virtually to explore careers in oral health, learn about dental anatomy, radiology, public health, community dentistry, oral hygiene, admissions, and so much more. The week culminated with many students joining us in person at Old Dominion University, where they experienced hands-on learning in our radiology, dental materials, and iTero labs, toured our facilities, and connected with faculty and current students. And Friday we celebrated each camper for their success in completing the program.

Our hope is that this experience sparked curiosity, built confidence, and inspired the next generation of oral health professionals. Thank you to our outstanding faculty, guest speakers, and everyone who helped make this week possible. Most importantly, thank you to the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation for sponsoring this program and investing in the future of Virginia's oral health workforce. We can't wait to see where these future dental professionals go next! 🪥✨

Miss out on this opportunity this year? Not to worry! Applications will open for next year in early Spring 2027. Follow our social media pages to stay up-to-date on events like this and more!

Wow, our hybrid, fourth day of camp was so much fun! We had many campers join us in person at ODU and many more tuning in live virtually to learn about oral radiology and dental materials.

Campers then rotated through three hands-on stations for iTero scanning, impressions, and dental x-rays! Afterwards, we had a networking dinner with faculty, current rising seniors in the dental hygiene program, campers, and their parents followed by tours of the simulation lab, dental materials lab, and clinic. We’re getting ready to kick off our last day of the Dental Health Summer Institute today where we will discuss admissions and celebrate our week. See you soon, campers!

Day 3 of the Dental Health Summer Institute brought us lessons in public health dentistry and community oral health. We enjoyed learning about all the opportunities to help our communities and did some very interactive breakout rooms and had wonderful participation from our campers! The future is so bright! 🦷🌟

We just cannot contain our excitement for having our campers ON CAMPUS tomorrow for some hands on lectures and labs in oral radiology and dental materials by our very own Dr. Lee Melvin and Professor Emily Ludwig!

Day ✌🏼 of the Dental Health Summer Institute was another success. Students had an introduction to dental anatomy with Dr. Lee Melvin, and then learned the value of a diverse workforce with Professor Adaira Lee.

It was another great day of learning, and we kick off day 3 soon, where our campers will learn more about public health dentistry and community health.

Day 1 of the Dental Health Summer Institute was amazing! This virtual summer camp is designed for high schoolers to be immersed in the world of dentistry for a week, exploring all of the professional roles, and allows for hands-on experiences at ODU School of Dental Hygiene.🦷

For our first day, participants learned about all of the professional roles within dentistry and the educational pathways to get there. This was followed up with some oral hygiene basics and hands-on oral hygiene care. We learned a ton on just day one so we just can’t wait for tomorrow!

Read more and apply here today! https://jobs.odu.edu/postings/26357

Join us in celebrating excellence in research 👏
Congratulations to Tara Newcomb, MS, RDH, CBDH of Old Dominion University, recipient of the 2026–2027 ADHA Foundation General Research Grant!
Your work is helping advance the future of dental hygiene and strengthen the impact of our profession. We’re proud to support your journey! ✨