The University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine is one of the outstanding schools of dental medicine in the country. Although it is a relatively young institution, it has established a strong commitment to and tradition of basic and related clinical research as the foundation of its academic structure. The School currently has in excess of $4,000,000 of research grant support from the National Institutes of Health, ranking it at the top of all dental schools in the country. However, much of the equipment obtained when the school opened is now outdated and in need of replacement. There is only one transmission electron microscope in the School of Dental Medicine, a first generation, Zeiss EM 10 electron microscope. This machine suffers from all of the flaws of this 1st generation design (the original design has been changed at least three times by the manufacturer). Further, because of its age, the machine breaks down frequently (more than 18 service calls in the past 2 years) severely affecting available working time. There are 5 major users of electron microscopy with NIH support within the School and their work is frequently delayed by problems with the existing scope. The School has the largest combined clinical training/Ph.D. program among dental schools and it will initiate a new, NIH funded, Dentist/Scientist program in July of 1985. The replacement of the current, outdated electron microscope with a new, reliable instrument is critical to the ongoing research of several faculty members and to our graduate training programs.
