DMACC 60th Anniversary: Sharing of Knowledge, Friendship Lead to Better Dental Health in Japan

For over 20 years, Marilyn Corwin was part of DMACC's dental hygiene faculty on the Ankeny campus. She remembers those years -- from 1984-2005 -- as a time when the college had phenomenal growth in the number of campus locations, student enrolled, and distance learning. Outreach programs and exchanges-- both locally and internationally - expanded. One focus was with dental program faculty and students from Kofu, Japan, which has had far-reaching effects.

Kofu is Des Moines' sister city. It's a big reason an exchange between DMACC and dental instructors and students there began. "We hosted the first two dental students and faculty for a three-week exchange in 1988," Marilyn says, "and I was the first faculty from DMACC to accompany two of our students to Japan in 1989. I again represented the faculty and returned with two students in 1999."

In the 1980s, tooth decay was a national public health issue in Japan partly due to complicated restrictions on access to fluoride products, Marilyn recalls. A focus on improving dental hygiene resulted in significant outcomes.

Easier access to fluoride products for Japanese dentists programs is one. With support of DMACC's Golden Circle Incubator Project on the Ankeny campus in the 1990s, Japanese orthodontist Dr. Miho Imamura established a business specifically to ease the situation for Japanese dentists. "Her success addressed a major stumbling block to improved oral health for residents of Yamanashi Prefecture (where Kofu is located)."

A more robust dental program at the Yamanashi Dental Hygiene College in Kofu is another. In the 1990s, the private college offered a two-year program for about 90 students. Students did clinicals at a clinic treating differently abled patients housed in the same building. However, Yamanashi faculty long felt adding a third year to the program would greatly improve graduates' skills and knowledge. Aided by this exchange, the college's faculty and governing board circumvented the complicated bureaucracy, and Yamanashi Dental Hygiene College now offers a three-year program.

Continuing education for dental hygienists is yet another. Until the early 2000s, specific dental hygiene continuing education following gradation didn't exist in Japan. Through relationships formed because of the exchanges, Marilyn and former DMACC Dental Hygiene chair Sandra Leggett (who retired in 2004) worked with Dr. Miho Imamura to develop and deliver 10 modules of instruction on various dental hygiene topics. "The presentations were well attended," Marilyn shares, "and as a result, since October of 2006, there now is specific continuing education available to dental hygiene practitioners."

"Because of the futuristic focus and willingness to share DMACC's gifts, the college's impact had far-reaching effects," Marilyn says. "The gifts to me personally have been many, but I treasure most the enduring friendships that would never have been possible without these opportunities."

The exchange program continues to this day.