Case Summary:

As an expert in the field of restorative dentistry, our NIW (National Interest Waiver) client’s proposed endeavor was to continue her investigation into the applications of OCT in clinical dental practice. She wanted to develop minimally-invasive dentistry practices, including diagnostics for oral diseases and safe and effective treatments for dental caries and dentin hypersensitivity. Her research was notable because it promoted more effective and less invasive approaches for dental diagnostics, treatment, and restoration. She applies her expertise in restorative dentistry to develop more effective methods of teeth whitening for purely cosmetic operations. She also helps the much larger pool of patients with chronic and/or serious dental diseases through her use of OCT to better detect caries, cracks, and other risky dental anomalies, to better understand the seriousness of the problems in each patient, and to identify flawed restorative treatments, all the while providing the patients with much less invasive, uncomfortable, and potentially hazardous treatment than what X-rays provide.

This is why it was not difficult for her to obtain 5 letters of recommendation from other experts who knew her work. Two of her recommendations had the following passage praising her work in the field:

“[The client] is an expert in restorative dentistry whose impressive research has exhibited the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a diagnostic and imaging tool in dentistry settings. [Client’s] work focused on the fact that X-rays are not the most effective at identifying cracks and cavities deep in the tooth. [Client’s] research is particularly important for reducing the reliance of dentists on X-rays and has produced results showing the utility of OCT as a safe and powerful alternative to X-ray imaging. As technology progresses, [the client] has helped ensure that our current knowledge of the existing resources within the field of restorative dentistry continues to benefit the long-term health and wellness of patients.”

“[Client’s] work is important to the United States because it enhances the available research methods seeking to improve dental treatment for tooth decay and tooth loss. Her experience in facing these challenges regarding the evolving systems used in dental treatments has made her an asset to the United States. Therefore, her employment within the United States is crucial to the country’s sustained improvement of oral health.”

As is evident from the above passages, her work has improved dental health in America by developing better restorative adhesives through microtensile bond strength tests, delineating consistent treatment guidelines, more accurately identifying risk areas in teeth through OCT imaging, and using desensitizers to make restorative dental treatment much more comfortable and less invasive. This is why she received 3 financial aid from Parkell, Inc, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This further helped our client’s case.

At the same time, she has completed at least 30 peer reviews to date, and her research has resulted in 11 peer-reviewed journal articles (5 of them first-authored) which have been cited a total of 34 times according to Google Scholar. Finally, her dentistry practice of five years has lended her valuable experience and added to her credibility.

These factors helped her case a lot making the NIW approval possible. We are glad to have helped her win this approval as well as her I-485 approval. We wish her all the best in any future endeavors she may undertake.