New oral and maxillofacial imaging clinic opens in Postle Hall

Brooke Tacsar
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 00:15:21 +0000
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Ohio State’s College of Dentistry, located at Postle Hall at 305 W. 12th Ave., now contains the new oral and maxillofacial imaging clinic that opened Jan. 8.

A transformative era of dental excellence at Ohio State has begun with the College of Dentistry’s recent completion of a new oral and maxillofacial imaging clinic.

Located in Postle Hall, the clinic opened Jan. 8 and was built to enhance patient comfort, advance dental education and integrate new, efficient and state-of-the-art technology, Dr. Carroll Ann Trotman, the dean for Ohio State’s College of Dentistry, said.

?“This facility allows [us] to accommodate so many more patients,” Trotman said. “It’s beautiful, very professional and wonderful.”

A space for imaging services was built as part of the College of Dentistry’s Postle Hall student clinic expansion — which opened in September of 2021 — to facilitate the college in providing the best patient care, hands-on education and research opportunities possible within dentistry through modern facilities and technology, Trotman said. As of January, construction was completed, and the imaging clinic now exists within that space.

?It contains 10 patient rooms designed for intra-oral imaging purposes and three rooms for extra-oral imaging, Dr. Joen Iannucci, the division of oral and maxillofacial radiology chair and professor of clinical dentistry, said. The clinic also features a reception area, seminar room, viewing room, processing area and a residents’ room.

?Roughly 3,200 square feet, the new clinic is more than double the size of the previous one — around 1,000 to 1,200 square feet — that was located within Postle Hall before its expansion and renovation, Trotman said.

“It is a massive upgrade, which allows us to be so much more efficient,” Trotman said. “I think that’s something that allows us to give our patients a unique [and] comfortable experience.”

?Iannucci said the new clinic is impacting patient care but could also have a potentially transformative effect on the educational experiences of future graduate students.

?“It is beautifully laid out with everything we would need for growth, as we hope to start a residency program in oral and maxillofacial radiology,” Iannucci said.

?Iannucci said she hopes this clinic will not only benefit patients and potential residents but will also provide current students a chance to acquire an in-depth and firsthand experience.

?“We have new equipment in this facility, and our students are very excited to be able to use things that are absolutely cutting edge,” Iannucci said. “They’re able to see patient after patient in this clinic and during their assigned rotation time, they build confidence, speed, accuracy and all the things that are needed to obtain the best diagnostic images.”

?Such new equipment includes a cone-beam computed tomography system that enables 3D extra-oral imaging, intra-oral imaging units that utilize magnetic sensor connections, a unit with both panoramic and 3D imaging capabilities as well as a traditional panoramic dental X-ray unit, Iannucci said.

?Together, this contemporary equipment and clinic space enables the College of Dentistry to provide students, patients and faculty with substantial experiences in oral and maxillofacial radiology, Iannucci said.

?“Our efficiency because of the expanded space is much improved just in the short time we’ve been open since Jan. 8,” Iannucci said. “It’s quite impressive.”