Dr. Ludovic de Carle, a second-year prosthodontics resident, is the 15th recipient of the David H. Wands Fellowship in Graduate Prosthodontics at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
This fellowship is one of the School’s top academic awards, encouraging recipients to devote part of their time teaching prosthodontics upon completion of the three-year residency.
Dr. de Carle spent most of his childhood between his birthplace of London, England and Rome, Italy. While attending international baccalaureate high school in Rome and discovering many of his classmates planned to go abroad for college, he too set his sights on attending school in the U.S. He was accepted to Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to the U.S. in 2012, stepping foot in the country for the first time on his first day of freshman orientation.
Though Dr. de Carle had contemplated a career in the field of medicine or dentistry, he entered his undergraduate studies with an open mind and willingness to explore his options. “I am the kind of person who takes my time deciding which path to take,” said Dr. de Carle. My grandfather was a dentist and a huge inspiration for me, but it wasn’t until I was halfway through college that I finally decided to pursue dentistry.”
After graduating from Loyola University with a degree in biology, he was accepted to NYU’s School of Dentistry where he earned his DDS degree and continued in NYU’s International Implant Fellowship program. After completion of his first fellowship year his interest in prosthodontics piqued.
“I tend to pursue subjects that are a bit outside of my comfort zone,” said Dr. de Carle. “Prosthodontics was intriguing and somewhat unknown, so I was drawn to it. Of course, studying the new and unfamiliar comes with its challenges, but so far, it’s led me on an interesting and rewarding professional path.”
Now in his second year at UW, de Carle is working on a research project he hopes will contribute to the dental profession. He is charting new research territory, studying mandibular incisor dimension – hopefully discovering the minimum tooth size a crown or veneer can predictably be placed without failure. Nothing in the research currently exists on this specific topic, and that’s an exciting place for de Carle to be.
Dr. Van Ramos, director of the UW Prosthodontic program said “Dr. de Carle has been a highly performing resident since his first month in the program. I’m excited for him as he begins his journey into the specialty of prosthodontics. He has the potential to not only be a great clinician, but also a great teacher, which is what this fellowship award is really all about.”
Dr. de Carle is grateful for the opportunity to continue developing his interests and skills at UW and hopes to inspire other students and residents to do the same. “This award is certainly unexpected, and I am honored to have been selected as the 2023 Wands Fellowship recipient.”
Dr. Wands established his first prosthodontic fellowship in 1995 at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry with a gift of $100,000. He established a second fellowship in 1998 at UW with an initial gift of $100,000, which was matched by the university.
Dr. Wands graduated with honors from the University of Maryland’s Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1967. He then served seven years in the U.S. Public Health Service, where he completed a hospital internship and his MSD degree in prosthodontics at the UW. He returned to the UW in 1974 to teach in the prosthodontic program for six years as an associate professor. In 1980, he established a prosthodontic practice in Olympia and continued teaching for many years as an affiliate associate professor. He was recently honored as an affiliate professor in the UW Prosthodontics program.
He is a Life Member of the Academy of Prosthodontics and Pacific Coast Society for Prosthodontics. He retired from private practice in 1992 and enjoys retirement as a master gardener and devoted saltwater and freshwater angler.