Karanth Appointed Program Director for Graduate Ortho

Dr. Karanth
Dr. Divakar Karanth

UF College of Dentistry clinical associate professor and board-certified orthodontist Divakar Karanth, BDS, MDS, MS, MOrth RCS, was appointed program director for the college’s graduate orthodontics program in October 2021.

Karanth joined the UFCD orthodontics faculty at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020 to teach predoctoral students and orthodontics residents. He additionally provides care in the college’s faculty practice.

In his new role as program director, Karanth oversees graduate orthodontics program administration, including resident scheduling and ensuring compliance with Commission on Dental Accreditation standards. He also leads development and implementation of the curriculum plan, clinical goals and clinical and educational outcomes assessment.

Karanth came to UF from Lexington, Kentucky, where he completed his orthodontics residency at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry, or UKCD, in 2020. He also completed an Advanced Continuing Education Program in the UKCD Craniofacial Biology Division.

Karanth brought a great deal of teaching, clinical and research experience with him to UF. Prior to his time in Kentucky, he spent 17 years teaching orthodontics after earning his master’s degree in 1995 from the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Karnatak University, in Karnataka, India. He also worked in a private practice for 10 years in Goa, India, and three years in Doha, Qatar.

Karanth’s research interests center on bone biology related to orthodontic tooth movement and, as part of his master’s thesis, he developed customized 3D-printed biodegradable scaffolds capable of bone regeneration. That project was awarded a pilot study grant from the National Institutes of Health, a National Science Foundation Grant, a first-place award during UKCD’s research day and the Charley Schultz Research Scholar Award at the American Association of Orthodontists in 2019.