The UCSF Oral Health Alliance is committed to improving oral health and reducing oral health disparity among children in the underprivileged communities within the San Francisco Bay Area. Our mission is to incorporate appropriate trainings and evaluations, so that primary healthcare providers can readily identify early indicators of oral disease and make timely referrals to a dental home.
This Symposium will be the second in an annual series with this year’s theme being, “Myth and Practice of Dental Disease Prevention in Children.” Speakers from different health professions, including dentistry and medicine, will deliver instructional presentations on developing interprofessional training programs to improve dental primary care, tackling oral health disparities, and increasing access of care to children in underserved communities.
12:00 - 1:00 pm The Oral Health Alliance Poster Session
1:00 - 1:10 pm Introductory Remarks from Director of Oral Health Alliance
Brent Lin, DMD Clinical Professor,
Division of Pediatric Dentistry; Director,
Pre-Doctoral Pediatric Dentistry Program, UCSF School of Dentistry Opening Remarks
1:10 - 1:20 pm Opening Remarks
Jill Malmgren
Executive Director of America's ToothFairy: National Children's Oral Health Foundation
1:20 - 2:05pm Silver Diamine Fluoride: A Game Changer in the Treatment of Early Childhood Caries
Ray Stewart, DMD, MS
Professor, Division of Pediatric Dentistry UCSF School of Dentistry
2:05 - 2:15 pm Break
2:15 - 3:00 pm Sugar Industry Manipulation of Research: What Health Professionals Need to Know
Cristin Kearns, DDS, MBA
Postdoctoral Fellow, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, UCSF School of Dentistry Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, UCSF School of Medicine
3:00 - 3:10 pm Break
3:10 - 3:40 pm Improving Children's Oral Health Education Outcomes Through lnterprofessional Education and Collaboration
Devon Cooper, DMD
Resident, Division of Pediatric Dentistry UCSF School of Dentistry
3:40 - 4:00 pm Closing Remarks and Award Announcements
Brent Lin, DMD, is currently a Clinical Professor in the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and the Director of the Pre-Doctoral Pediatric Dentistry Program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Prior to joining the faculty at UCSF, Dr. Lin was a full-time faculty in the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. He received his dental degree from Temple University School of Dentistry in 1992, Certificate in Geriatric Dentistry from the University of Michigan Medical Center in 1997, Certificate in General Practice Residency from the Yale – New Haven Hospital in 1999, and Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry from the St. Barnabas Hospital in 2001.
Dr. Lin is an active member in the American Dental Education Association. He was a member of the Editorial Board for the journal Pediatric Dentistry and reviewer for several other peer review journals. He was awarded “Excellence in Dental Education” by the Pierre Fauchard Academy in 2006, UCSF Mentor of the Year award in 2009 and again in 2013, Albert Schweitzer Academic Mentor of the Year award in 2010, and Certificate of Honor by the City and the County of San Francisco in 2013. He has been involved with numerous public health & community service activities and clinical researches. Some of his grant supports are industrial supported FDA approved phase IV clinical trial, National Children's Oral Health Foundation, and Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). He has given lectures throughout U.S. and Asia and has authored over 45 abstracts, book chapters, and articles in pediatric dentistry and geriatric dentistry.
Jill Malmgren
Executive Director of America's ToothFairy
Jill Malmgren has served as the Executive Director of America’s ToothFairy: National Children’s Oral Health Foundation since November 2016. Jill has more than 15 years of successful leadership experience across a variety of industries. She began her career in dentistry in 2006, serving as Director of Operations for world-renowned Sheets & Paquette Dental Practice and the Newport Coast Oral Facial Institute. In 2011, she relocated to Charlotte, NC, where she joined the America’s ToothFairy team and later assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer. In that role, she oversaw operations, strengthened key stakeholder relationships, implemented systems to improve efficiency, and helped expand services for vulnerable children and youth. As Executive Director, Jill aims to continue to expand the organization’s role as a valued resource provider for nonprofit clinics and community partners delivering oral health education, preventive services and treatment for underserved children.
Ray Stewart, D.M.D., M.S.
UCSF School of Dentistry
Dr. Ray Stewart is a board certified pediatric dentist serving patients at both the UCSF Mission Bay and Parnassus campuses. His treatment philosophy is patient and family centered with emphasis on early prevention and intervention to avoid the need for invasive restorative procedures. Stewart has a special interest and expertise in treating patients who have inherited and developmental problems affecting teeth and other craniofacial structures. At Mission Bay, Stewart provides routine preventive and restorative care at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Pediatric Dentistry Clinic as well as treating patients with complex genetic and craniofacial conditions in both the general clinic and in the operating room under general anesthesia. He is a member of the UCSF craniofacial anomalies team. Stewart's research work focuses on two areas: clinical trials of various materials and medical devices used in pediatric dentistry, and growth and development studies in patients with craniofacial anomalies. Stewart received his D.M.D. from the University of Oregon, followed by a master's degree in medical genetics from the University of Oregon. He is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, California Society of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry.
Stewart is a health sciences professor of pediatric dentistry at the UCSF School of Dentistry.
Cristin Kearns, DDS, MBA
UCSF School of Medicine
Dr. Kearns is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco in the Department of Orofacial Sciences, and is affiliated with its Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. She received her DDS from the University of North Carolina in 1998, and completed a General Practice Residency at the University of Colorado in 1999. As a general dentist, Dr. Kearns focused on delivering care to the underserved while Dental Director at Inner City Health Center in Denver. After completing an MBA in Health Administration in 2006, also at the University of Colorado, she managed dental operations for the Kaiser Permanente Dental Care Program of the Northwest. In 2009, she left Kaiser to pursue independent research into the sugar industry's public-relations claims. In 2010, she discovered a trove of unexplored internal sugar industry documents in public archives. With little formal research or writing training, she co-authored an article in Mother Jones with Gary Taubes. It offered one of the first glimpses documenting that the sugar industry and tobacco industry use similar tactics to delay public health legislation, regulation, and policies. Subsequently, she pursued and was offered a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF to learn about health policy and industry documents analysis. Dr. Kearns is one of the first academics to rigorously study the influence of the sugar industry on health.
Devon Cooper DMD
UCSF School of Dentistry
Dr. Devon Cooper was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, had a big move deep south to Ocean Springs, Mississippi when he was 13, attended the University of South Alabama where he received a Bachelors of Science in biology with a minor in Spanish. Devon has always wanted to be a dentist because a pediatric dentist impacted him at the age of 8, which influenced him to pursue a career in dentistry. Dr. Cooper feels very blessed to be a part of the UCSF Pediatric Dental Residency Class of 2018.
Brent Lin, DMD
Jill Malmgren
Ray Stewart, D.M.D., M.S. 
Cristin Kearns, DDS, MBA
Devon Cooper DMD