ANN ARBOR—Earth made contact with the planet Badgumbian and its ambassador is coming to meet with the president of the United Nations to forge this important new relationship.

But Earth’s representative has a toothache and might not be able to participate in this historic meeting.

University of Michigan students in an undergraduate class called Science and Practice of Dentistry in the 21st century addressed this science-fiction futuristic dental crisis as a writing assignment to explore the many roles of dentists and the importance of their jobs. They will present their visions for resolving the dilemma during class Dec. 4.

The assignment was a way to promote creative learning in science. "What I don’t want them to do is rote memorization," said Russell Taichman, associate professor of dentistry who teaches the class. Here are some excerpts from students’ papers:

• Bryan Kitahara described a preventive gene therapy the U.N. president unfortunately had not received, leaving her with several problem teeth that he would treat with non-invasive implants. "As it turns out, the Badgumbians had named their planet after their tendency to have very severe periodontitis—a condition to which the president could relate. Consequently, they took a great interest in our periodontal technologies, and an instant alliance was forged between the two worlds."

• The dentist "quickly began construction of the missing part of the tooth, using materials created from a sample of (the president’s) DNA to help mimic the natural structure of the original tooth," wrote Lauren Darmanin, also expounding on dental advances of the future including Super-Pain-Eliminating-Gel and X-ray chewing gum.

• "My conclusion was that this problem had been caused or mostly aggravated by her shocking decision to pierce her tongue with a metal, barbell tongue ring," wrote Sarah Miller.

Peter Polverini, dean of the U-M School of Dentistry, began the seminar class while he was a department chairman. Taichman took it over about three years ago.

Taichman said nearly all of the undergraduates in the class started the semester intending to become dentists and about half of them said they have a family member who’s a dentist. He sees his job as exploring the wide range of careers available for those who will continue on to dental school, and helping those who are not sure they really want to be dentists find clarity before they choose a profession that makes them unhappy.

"Either way is equally valuable," Taichman said.

Through a series of guest speakers, students learn the history of dentistry and discuss its future, and they are introduced to the roles of academic, research, private practice and hospital dentists. Dental school students talk about what their life is like, and specialists discuss periodontics, orthodontics and forensic dentistry.

They talk about topics the students might not think of as dentistry—the history of fluoridating municipal water, or cutting-edge work in tissue engineering, which generates cells outside the body to create such things as new bone or the mouth’s mucous lining.

"I want to open their minds to a whole range of career options," Taichman said.

U-M School of Dentistry