Dr. Maresca has called North Carolina her home since 2001. During her time in North Carolina she has earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also obtained a Master Degree in Operative Dentistry at UNC in 2006, and was an Adjunct Faculty member in the Operative Department while in private practice in Chapel Hill and Cary before pursuing her second Master at UNC in Endodontics.
As a graduate student, Dr. Maresca won numerous awards as well as the Jacob Freeland Scholarship for Endodontics. She is a member of the American Dental Association and of the American Association of Endodontics, and currently is a part time faculty in the Department of Endodontics at UNC.
Dr. Rivera has been the Jacob B. Freedland Distinguished As sociate Professor with tenure, and has served as Graduate Program Director and Chair of the Depar tment of Endodontics at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry. He graduate d from the UNC School of Dentistry with honors and received many awards for merit and leadership. He completed his training in the specialty of Endodontics and received his M asters Degree from the UNC School of Dentistry. He has had experience as a GPR Dental Resident at Charlotte Memorial, private practitioner in Durham, NC as a general dentist and as an endodontist, and was previously Graduate Program Director and Head of the Department of Endodontics at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.
He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, a Founder and Former Director of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics, and was the recipient of the American Association of Endodontists 1996 Endodontic Educator Award. He has published extensively in refereed journals and book chapters, has served as Se ction Editor and on scientific review panels for many refereed research journals, and has presented his research findings and scholarly pursuits nationally and internationally.
Dr. Rivera has been able to combine his extensive training, knowledge and background in academia for over twenty-five (25) years with his clinical experiences in the Endodontic Dental Faculty Practice at the University of North Carolina, as well as maintaining privileges at the UNC Hospital Operating Room, the Durham VA Hospital Dental Clinic and the Central Prison Dental Clinic. He has served as team dentist for all men and women student athletes at UNC-CH, and has received recognition as Top Dentists Selected by Peer Recognition in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the Chapel Hill Magazine.
The myth: Patients searching the Internet for information on root canals may find sites claiming that teeth receiving root canal (endodontic) treatment contribute to the occurrence of illness and disease in the body. This false claim is based on long-debunked and poorly designed research performed nearly a century ago by Dr. Weston A. Price, at a time before medicine understood the causes of many diseases.
In the 1920s, Dr. Price advocated tooth extractionthe most traumatic dental procedureover endodontic treatment. This resulted in a frightening era of tooth extraction both for treatment of systemic disease and as a prophylactic measure against future illness.
The truth: There is no valid, scientific evidence linking root canal-treated teeth and disease elsewhere in the body. A root canal is a safe and effective procedure. When a severe infection in a tooth requires endodontic treatment, that treatment is designed to eliminate bacteria from the infected root canal, prevent reinfection of the tooth and save the natural tooth.
But what about Dr. Price? This is a good example of how the Internet can give new life to long-dispelled theories. Believe it or not, the misinformation about roots canals that is found on the Internet is still based on Dr. Prices century-old, discredited research. Dr. Prices research techniques were criticized at the time they were published, and by the early 1930s, a number of well-designed studies using more modern research techniques discredited his findings. In 1951, the Journal of the American Dental Association took the extraordinary step of publishing a special edition reviewing the scientific literature and shifted the standard of practice back to endodontic treatment for teeth with non-vital pulp in instances where the tooth could be saved. The JADA reviewed Dr. Prices research techniques from the 1920s and noted that they lacked many aspects of modern scientific research, including absence of proper control groups and induction of excessive doses of bacteria.
Dr. Coe joins us from a private practice in Amelia Island, Florida. He is a native Floridian and second generation dentist. Dr. Coe received his dental training from the University Of Louisville School Of Dentistry.
Upon graduation, Dr. Coe practiced general dentistry alongside his father for 15 years. He regards working side-by-side with his father as one of the greatest attributes of his career. Pursuing a lifelong dream, he returned to the educational arena at the University of Florida, where he graduated with a Certificate in Endodontics, and a Masters of Science in 2013.