Skip to content
Ronald J. Billings, D.D.S.

Ronald J. Billings, D.D.S.

Contact

Call Center (585) 276-3000

About Me

Professional Background

Dr. Ronald Billings served in the US Navy (1957-61) and subsequently received his BA (1965), DDS (1969) and MSD (1976) from Indiana University. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to study cariology at the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979.
Dr. Ronald Billings served in the US Navy (1957-61) and subsequently received his BA (1965), DDS (1969) and MSD (1976) from Indiana University. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to study cariology at the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979.

He has held faculty appointments at Indiana University School of Dentistry (1973-76), University of Minnesota School of Dentistry (1979-80), University of Texas Dental Branch (1980-84) and Eastman Dental Center (1984-97). He directed the Center's Community Outreach and Smilemobile Programs for over ten years and was Acting Chair of the Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Dentistry previous to his appointment as Director of Eastman Dental Center in 1994.

Dr. Billings has served, ex officio, on the Boards of Eastman Dental Center, Eastman Dental Center Foundation, and The University of Rochester Medical Center including its Executive Committee. Dr. Billings is a past member of the Greater Rochester Quality Council and was the recipient of that organization's 1998 Greater Rochester Quality Award. He also was named the recipient of the 1998 Indiana University School of Dentistry Distinguished Alumni Award. He is Professor of Dentistry Emeritus, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and Director Emeritus, Eastman Dental Center.

Dr. Billings has participated in over 30 federal or commercial research projects over the past 35 years as study coordinator, consultant, co-investigator or principal investigator. He holds a patent jointly with three other investigators for an intra-oral medication releasing system.

Dr. Billings is currently a consultant or co-investigator of various National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grants to study risk factors associated with the onset and severity of dental caries in children. He has been author or co-author of over 60 publications and abstracts. He has served as a special reviewer of grants and contracts for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and he served on the Institute's special projects and small grants study section.

In addition, Dr. Billings has served on the manuscript review panel of several dental journals, including the Journal of Dental Education, Journal of Dental Research, Journal of the American Dental Association, and Caries Research. He is a past member of the American and International Association for Dental Research, American Dental Education Association, American Dental Association and is a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the American College of Dentistry. He is a past member of the Seventh District Board of Directors of the New York State Dental Society and of the New York State Council of Dental Deans.

Dr. Billings is also past president of the Rochester Section of the American Association for Dental Research and of the Cariology Group of the International Association for Dental Research. He is a senior member of the European Organization for Caries Research. He is a member of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and an honorary Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health.

He has taught several courses including restorative dentistry, cariology, preventive dentistry, social issues in dentistry, research design and biostatistics, and oral epidemiology at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels. He has been research advisor to over 25 undergraduate and graduate students. Throughout his career, Dr. Billings's area of research interest has mainly revolved around risk factors associated with onset of early childhood caries.

Faculty Appointments

Professor Emeritus - Department of Dentistry (SMD)

Credentials

Education

MSD | Indiana University. Preventive Dentistry. 1976

DDS | Indiana University. Dentistry. 1969

BA | Indiana University. Zoology. 1966

Research

Dr. Ronald Billings served in the US Navy (1957-61) and subsequently received his BA (1965), DDS (1969) and MSD (1976) from Indiana University. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to study cariology at the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979.
Dr. Ronald Billings served in the US Navy (1957-61) and subsequently received his BA (1965), DDS (1969) and MSD (1976) from Indiana University. He received a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health to study cariology at the University of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979.

He has held faculty appointments at Indiana University School of Dentistry (1973-76), University of Minnesota School of Dentistry (1979-80), University of Texas Dental Branch (1980-84) and Eastman Dental Center (1984-97). He directed the Center's Community Outreach and Smilemobile Programs for over ten years and was Acting Chair of the Departments of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Dentistry previous to his appointment as Director of Eastman Dental Center in 1994.

Dr. Billings has served, ex officio, on the Boards of Eastman Dental Center, Eastman Dental Center Foundation, and The University of Rochester Medical Center including its Executive Committee. Dr. Billings is a past member of the Greater Rochester Quality Council and was the recipient of that organization's 1998 Greater Rochester Quality Award. He also was named the recipient of the 1998 Indiana University School of Dentistry Distinguished Alumni Award. He is Professor of Dentistry Emeritus, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and Director Emeritus, Eastman Dental Center.

Dr. Billings has participated in over 30 federal or commercial research projects over the past 35 years as study coordinator, consultant, co-investigator or principal investigator. He holds a patent jointly with three other investigators for an intra-oral medication releasing system. Dr. Billings is currently a consultant or co-investigator of various National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research grants to study risk factors associated with the onset and severity of dental caries in children.

He has been author or co-author of over 60 publications and abstracts. He has served as a special reviewer of grants and contracts for the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and he served on the Institute's special projects and small grants study section.

In addition, Dr. Billings has served on the manuscript review panel of several dental journals, including the Journal of Dental Education, Journal of Dental Research, Journal of the American Dental Association, and Caries Research. He is a past member of the American and International Association for Dental Research, American Dental Education Association, American Dental Association and is a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the American College of Dentistry. He is a past member of the Seventh District Board of Directors of the New York State Dental Society and of the New York State Council of Dental Deans. Dr. Billings is also past president of the Rochester Section of the American Association for Dental Research and of the Cariology Group of the International Association for Dental Research. He is a senior member of the European Organization for Caries Research. He is a member of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry and an honorary Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health.

He has taught several courses including restorative dentistry, cariology, preventive dentistry, social issues in dentistry, research design and biostatistics, and oral epidemiology at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels. He has been research advisor to over 25 undergraduate and graduate students. Throughout his career, Dr. Billings's area of research interest has mainly revolved around risk factors associated with onset of early childhood caries.

Publications

Journal Articles

Urease activity as a risk factor for caries development in children during a three-year study period: a survival analysis approach.

Morou-Bermudez E, Elias-Boneta A, Billings RJ, Burne RA, Garcia-Rivas V, Brignoni-Nazario V, Suárez-Pérez E

Archives of oral biology.. 2011 December 56 (12):1560-8. Epub 07/23/2011.

Caries risk pyramid: a practical biological approach to caries management by risk assessment.

Morou-Bermúdez E, Billings RJ, Burne RA, Elías-Boneta A

Puerto Rico health sciences journal.. 2011 December 30 (4):165-6. Epub 1900 01 01.

Urease activity in dental plaque and saliva of children during a three-year study period and its relationship with other caries risk factors.

Morou-Bermudez E, Elias-Boneta A, Billings RJ, Burne RA, Garcia-Rivas V, Brignoni-Nazario V, Suarez-Perez E

Archives of oral biology.. 2011 November 56 (11):1282-9. Epub 05/26/2011.

Nonfluoride caries-preventive agents: executive summary of evidence-based clinical recommendations.

Rethman MP, Beltrán-Aguilar ED, Billings RJ, Hujoel PP, Katz BP, Milgrom P, Sohn W, Stamm JW, Watson G, Wolff M, Wright JT, Zero D, Aravamudhan K, Frantsve-Hawley J, Meyer DM,

The Journal of the American Dental Association.. 2011 September 142 (9):1065-1071. Epub 1900 01 01.

Prevalence of dental caries and dental care utilisation in preschool urban children enrolled in a comparative-effectiveness study.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ

European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry.. 2011 June 12 (3):133-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

Assessment of caries experience in 12-year-old adolescents in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Pardi V, Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ, Pereira SM, de Meneghim M, Pereira AC

Oral health & preventive dentistry.. 2010 8 (4):361-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

The integration of social work into a postgraduate dental training program: a fifteen-year perspective.

Petrosky M, Colaruotolo LA, Billings RJ, Meyerowitz C

Journal of dental education.. 2009 June 73 (6):656-64. Epub 1900 01 01.

Effect of tobacco smoke on the oral health of U.S. women of childbearing age.

Iida H, Kumar JV, Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ

Journal of public health dentistry.. 2009 69 (4):231-41. Epub 1900 01 01.

Adjunctive chemotherapeutic suppression of mutans streptococci in the setting of severe early childhood caries: an exploratory study.

Berkowitz RJ, Koo H, McDermott MP, Whelehan MT, Ragusa P, Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Karp JM, Billings R

Journal of public health dentistry.. 2009 69 (3):163-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

Caries status and overweight in 2- to 18-year-old US children: findings from national surveys.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Auinger P, Billings RJ, Weitzman M

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology.. 2008 April 36 (2):157-67. Epub 1900 01 01.

Prevalence of dental caries in Early Head Start children as diagnosed using teledentistry.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Bell CH, Billings RJ

Pediatric dentistry.. 2008 30 (4):329-33. Epub 1900 01 01.

Dental screening of preschool children using teledentistry: a feasibility study.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ, McConnochie KM

Pediatric dentistry.. 2007 29 (3):209-13. Epub 1900 01 01.

Application of nonhomogenous Markov models for analyzing longitudinal caries risk.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology.. 2006 April 34 (2):123-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Teledentistry in inner-city child-care centres.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ

Journal of telemedicine and telecare.. 2006 12 (4):176-81. Epub 1900 01 01.

Healthful eating practices may lower caries prevalence in the primary dentition in children aged 2 to 5 years.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski D, Billings RJ

The journal of evidence-based dental practice.. 2005 March 5 (1):35-6. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical outcomes for Early Childhood Caries (ECC): the influence of salivary mutans streptococci levels.

Chase I, Berkowitz RJ, Mundorff-Shrestha SA, Proskin HM, Weinstein P, Billings R

European journal of paediatric dentistry.. 2004 September 5 (3):143-6. Epub 1900 01 01.

A longitudinal study of caries onset in initially caries-free children and baseline salivary mutans streptococci levels: a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis.

Kopycka-Kedzierawski DT, Billings RJ

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology.. 2004 June 32 (3):201-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical outcomes for Early Childhood Caries (ECC): the influence of health locus of control.

Chase I, Berkowitz RJ, Proskin HM, Weinstein P, Billings R

European journal of paediatric dentistry.. 2004 June 5 (2):76-80. Epub 1900 01 01.

Teeth.

Billings RJ, Berkowitz RJ, Watson G

Pediatrics.. 2004 April 113 (4 Suppl):1120-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical outcomes for early childhood caries: influence of aggressive dental surgery.

Graves CE, Berkowitz RJ, Proskin HM, Chase I, Weinstein P, Billings R

Journal of dentistry for children.. 2004 71 (2):114-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

The association of basic proline-rich peptides from human parotid gland secretions with caries experience.

Ayad M, Van Wuyckhuyse BC, Minaguchi K, Raubertas RF, Bedi GS, Billings RJ, Bowen WH, Tabak LA

Journal of dental research.. 2000 April 79 (4):976-82. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical evaluation of new designs for intraoral fluoride-releasing systems.

Billings RJ, Adair SM, Shields CP, Moss ME

Pediatric dentistry.. 1998 20 (1):17-24. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical outcomes for nursing caries treated using general anesthesia.

Berkowitz RJ, Moss M, Billings RJ, Weinstein P

ASDC journal of dentistry for children. 1997 64 (3):210-1, 228. Epub 1900 01 01.

Xerostomia and associated factors in a community-dwelling adult population.

Billings RJ, Proskin HM, Moss ME

Community dentistry and oral epidemiology.. 1996 October 24 (5):312-6. Epub 1900 01 01.

Association of free arginine and lysine concentrations in human parotid saliva with caries experience.

Van Wuyckhuyse BC, Perinpanayagam HE, Bevacqua D, Raubertas RF, Billings RJ, Bowen WH, Tabak LA

Journal of dental research.. 1995 February 74 (2):686-90. Epub 1900 01 01.

Future directions for root caries research.

Billings RJ, Banting DW

Gerodontology.. 1993 December 10 (2):114-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Saliva and dental caries risk assessment.

Mundorff SA, Billings RJ, Leverett DH, Featherstone JD, Gwinner LM, Shields CP, Proskin HM, Shaffer CL

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.. 1993 September 20694 :302-4. Epub 1900 01 01.

Caries risk assessment in a longitudinal discrimination study.

Leverett DH, Proskin HM, Featherstone JD, Adair SM, Eisenberg AD, Mundorff-Shrestha SA, Shields CP, Shaffer CL, Billings RJ

Journal of dental research.. 1993 February 72 (2):538-43. Epub 1900 01 01.

Caries risk assessment by a cross-sectional discrimination model.

Leverett DH, Featherstone JD, Proskin HM, Adair SM, Eisenberg AD, Mundorff-Shrestha SA, Shields CP, Shaffer CL, Billings RJ

Journal of dental research.. 1993 February 72 (2):529-37. Epub 1900 01 01.

An epidemiologic perspective of saliva flow rates as indicators of susceptibility to oral disease.

Billings RJ

Critical reviews in oral biology and medicine : an official

Associations of microbiological factors and plaque index with caries prevalence and water fluoridation status.

Eisenberg AD, Mundorff SA, Featherstone JD, Leverett DH, Adair SM, Billings RJ, Proskin HM

Oral microbiology and immunology.. 1991 June 6 (3):139-45. Epub 1900 01 01.

Use of an intra-oral model to evaluate 0.05% sodium fluoride mouthrinse in radiation-induced hyposalivation.

Meyerowitz C, Featherstone JD, Billings RJ, Eisenberg AD, Fu J, Shariati M, Zero DT

Journal of dental research.. 1991 May 70 (5):894-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

Clinical evaluation of Fluroshield pit and fissure sealant.

Jensen OE, Billings RJ, Featherstone JD

Clinical preventive dentistry. 1990 12 (4):24-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

The origin of the initial negative component of the averaged lambda potential recorded from midline electrodes.

Billings RJ

Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.. 1989 February 72 (2):114-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

The origin of the occipital lambda wave in man.

Billings RJ

Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.. 1989 February 72 (2):95-113. Epub 1900 01 01.

Rerandomization tests for analyzing correlated data from dental studies.

Espeland MA, Murphy WC, Cox C, Billings RJ, Bouwsma OJ

Computers and biomedical research, an international journal. 1989 February 22 (1):1-10. Epub 1900 01 01.

Retention of topical fluoride in the mouths of xerostomic subjects.

Billings RJ, Meyerowitz C, Featherstone JD, Espeland MA, Fu J, Cooper LF, Proskin HM

Caries research.. 1988 22 (5):306-10. Epub 1900 01 01.

Quantitative comparisons of potentially cariogenic microorganisms cultured from noncarious and carious root and coronal tooth surfaces.

Brown LR, Billings RJ, Kaster AG

Infection and immunity.. 1986 March 51 (3):765-70. Epub 1900 01 01.

Restoration of carious lesions of the root.

Billings RJ

Gerodontology.. 1986 5 (1):43-9. Epub 1900 01 01.

Contemporary treatment strategies for root surface dental caries.

Billings RJ, Brown LR, Kaster AG

Gerodontics. 1985 February 1 (1):20-7. Epub 1900 01 01.

A survey of gold foil use among Texas dentists.

Billings RJ, Simmons FF

Texas dental journal.. 1981 September 99 (9):25-8. Epub 1900 01 01.

A clinical caries evaluation of a stannous fluoride prophylactic paste and topical solution.

Beiswanger BB, Mercer VH, Billings RJ, Stookey GK

Journal of dental research.. 1980 August 59 (8):1386-91. Epub 1900 01 01.

Streptococcus mutans dextransucrase: stimulation by phospholipids from human sera and oral fluids.

Schachtele CF, Harlander SK, Bracke JW, Ostrum LC, Maltais JA, Billings RJ

Infection and immunity.. 1978 December 22 (3):714-20. Epub 1900 01 01.

Effect of an SnF2-Ca2P2O7 dentifrice and APF topical applications.

Beiswanger BB, Billings RJ, Sturzenberger OP, Bollmer BW

ASDC journal of dentistry for children. 1978 45 (2):137-41. Epub 1900 01 01.