BIOGRAPHY

As a university educator he actively participates in several courses, introducing young student dentists, assistants, and hygienists to anesthesia, sedation, medical emergencies, special care, and trauma-informed care. As the course director of anesthesia and sedation for DS2 students, he has created an evolving curriculum with a virtual objective structured clinical examination final, small-group near-peer facilitation, asynchronous video content didactics, in-person case-based learning, and continuous improvement based on student feedback. In the Introduction to Dental Practice course, he contributed to the integration of an MD instructor and helps develop and deliver the Emotional Intelligence content. Dave teaches how to deliver comprehensive dental care for medically and psychologically complex patients via clinical supervision for GPR residents, specifically focusing on IV moderate sedation training and covering all facets of risk assessment, pharmacology, medical emergency management, and venipuncture.
Within the Washington State Department of Health, he provides mentorship to the legal team, staff, and dental commissioners. Dr Carsten’s recent research, publications, and advocacy focus on infection control in dental settings. He chaired the infection control committee for eight years and primarily authored the 2020 infection control rule in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC 246-817-615). It has been cited by the CDC. This led to his current participation in the CDC dental waterline management committee. His research collaborations contributed to a JADA publication in June 2024 on waterline infection control. As an infection control expert, he has delivered multiple presentations for the Association of Dental Safety (formerly OSAP). Dave’s contributions to scientific literature also include the topics of teledentistry, pregnancy, anesthesia, shade matching, and artificial intelligence in dentistry. His work is well recognized, with 144 citations recorded in Google Scholar. He has written nine publications, three in the past two years.
While leading the Infection Control Committee at the Washington State Department of Health, he did extensive literature research on infectious diseases from 2016 to 2020. That gave him the up-to-date background to deliver forty lectures during the COVID-19 pandemic, many recorded. Two were made for private distribution at the ADA during the earliest months of the pandemic. He was also able to connect Chad Gehani, the ADA President, with his contacts in China, helping Dr Gehani in his decision-making. Those contacts also created an opportunity to ship in masks during the shortage that supplemented supplies in the Portland/Vancouver metro area when none were available.

Dave’s leadership in organized dentistry includes two terms as Chair of the Clark County Dental Society, roles within the Washington State Dental Association, and service as Secretary of the Pacific Coast Society for Prosthodontics Executive Council. Nationally, he has contributed to licensure and assessment initiatives, including a seat on the Steering Committee for the DLOSCE examination. He was also part of the Technical Advisory Group for the Council of State Governments, developing legislation for licensure portability, the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. This compact legislation, signed into law in Washington State in 2023, has been adopted in eleven states. In January 2024 Dr Carsten was one of the participants at the standards-setting workshop for the Integrated National Dental Board Examination administered by the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations. Dave was recently invited to be a featured speaker on 23 January 2025 at the Council on Dental Education and Licensure. Dave looks for opportunities to help institutions and the people within them to make good decisions, using his experience in teaching, leadership, and problem-solving at both local and national levels.