Faculty Development Summer Seminar Series
Interactive Lecture: Integrating Nutrition and Food Security into Dental Education: Food as Medicine in Oral Healthcare
Speaker: Khatija Noorullah, MPH, MS, MEd
Learning Objectives:
- Explain the importance of integrating nutrition education into dental curricula to prepare students for comprehensive, prevention-focused patient care.
- Describe the concept of “food as medicine” and its relevance to oral health, including how dietary patterns influence caries, periodontal disease, and systemic inflammation.
- Discuss the principles and benefits of culinary dentistry, including how experiential learning in kitchen settings can enhance students’ ability to educate and empower patients.
- Identify practical tools, such as MyPlate, Nutrition Facts label reading, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, that can support dental students in delivering effective dietary counseling.
- Recognize the prevalence and implications of food insecurity, and articulate the dental professional’s role in identifying at-risk patients and connecting them to appropriate resources.
- Demonstrate familiarity with the Axium nutrition forms, including how to guide students in completing them accurately to document dietary risk factors, counsel patients, and integrate nutrition into treatment planning.
Eligible for one (1) CE credit. Open to all faculty. Free to attend. No relevant financial relationships to disclose.
For more information, contact Alison Doubleday.
University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry is an ADA CERP Recognized Provider.
ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry.
University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry designates this activity for one (1) continuing education credit.
