Program Goals
Program Goals
Graduates of our program will be able to function as highly trained primary oral healthcare providers, demonstrate compassionate care for a diverse population, and show technical competency of multidisciplinary dental treatment modalities. Specifically, graduates of this program will:
- Demonstrate the ability to develop a comprehensive, definitive treatment plan or limited treatment plan that considers a patient's chief complaint, disease condition, and medical presentation, leading to a state of esthetics, function and oral health.
- Act as a multidisciplinary team member to provide high-quality and sophisticated dental care for patients, including those with special needs.
- Use didactic knowledge, technology and scientific evidence to guide oral healthcare decisions, emphasizing best practices, outcomes assessment and preventive care.
- Demonstrate positive and ethical relationships with patients, peers, staff and programs.
- Engage in community service.
First-Year Clinical Competencies
First-Year Clinical Competencies
Providing Primary Oral Health Care
- Provide episodic and comprehensive multidisciplinary oral health care that the general dentist coordinates.
- Understand and obtain informed consent.
- Treat patients who present with a wide variety of acute and chronic systemic disorders and social difficulties, including patients with special needs.
- Promote oral health through disease prevention activities.
- Maintain a patient record system that facilitates the retrieval and analysis of the process and outcomes of patient treatment.
- Obtain and interpret relevant clinical data to develop a logical, sequenced and comprehensive treatment plan to restore patients' health, function and esthetics.
- Practice and promote ethical principles of dentistry in relation to patients, colleagues, institutions and staff.
- Treat patients efficiently in a dental healthcare setting.
- Provide compassionate service to the community with empathy towards others, especially patients with limited access to oral health care.
- Use effective sterilization techniques, workplace controls and other universal precautions to prevent the spread of disease in the health care setting.
- Evaluate outcomes of treatment to develop a prognosis and plan for long-term oral health.
Restoration of Teeth
- Provide direct and indirect restorations for single teeth, using a variety of functionally acceptable materials and techniques.
- Understand the materials used to fabricate dental restorations.
- Restore endodontically treated teeth.
Periodontal Therapy
- Use clinical data to develop an appropriate diagnosis and prognosis of the periodontium and develop an intervention plan when necessary.
- Treat patients presenting with mild and moderate periodontal disease using non-surgical interventions.
- Manage severe periodontitis patients.
- Provide adjunctive periodontal soft/hard tissue procedures to improve periodontal health, enhance esthetics, or facilitate restorative procedures.
- Evaluate the results of periodontal treatment to establish/monitor a periodontal maintenance program.
Endodontic Therapy
- Treat anterior and posterior teeth with endodontic therapy.
- Use relevant clinical information to test and diagnose teeth demonstrating pulpal pathology.
- Manage complex endodontic complications.
Oral Surgery
- Demonstrate proficiency in exodontia.
- Manage or treat patients with orofacial pain and infections.
- Manage postoperative pain with appropriate pharmacological approaches.
- Identify and manage soft tissue lesions and pathology.
- Manage temporomandibular disorders and other facial pain disorders.
- Treat or manage patients demonstrating complications from oral surgery.
- Be familiar with techniques to manage patients with traumatic injuries to the face or dentition.
- Be familiar with the diagnosis and management of oral mucosal diseases and soft tissue biopsy.
Evaluation and Treatment of Emergencies
- Perform limited evaluation exams to collect clinical information and diagnose causes of dental pain.
- Anticipate, diagnose and provide initial treatment and follow-up management for medical emergencies that may occur during dental treatment.
- Prevent emergencies through coordination and communication with physicians and other healthcare providers to understand patient medical conditions and suitability for dental care.
Pain and Anxiety Control
- Use nitrous oxide to alleviate anxiety during patient care.
- Use parenteral moderate sedation to alleviate anxiety during patient care.
- Use other pain control and anxiety relief methods, such as local anesthesia, behavior management techniques and communication skills.
- Perform medical, social and dental history reviews and physical exams to identify and manage patients with complex medical presentations.
Managing the Edentulous Space
- Treat patients with complete and partial removable dentures.
- Use dental laboratories to develop fixed and removable indirect restorations; communicate effectively with these laboratories.
- Place single implants in abundant bone.
- Restore dental implants to provide function and esthetics for patients.
- Use site development techniques to preserve and restore anatomic bone contours.
Second-Year Competencies
Second-Year Competencies
In addition to the first-year competencies, successful graduates will demonstrate the following additional competencies.
Implant Sites
- Perform dental procedures to develop adequate bone for implant placement in jaws deficient in width and height.
- Communicate professionally to the dental community regarding original research or focused literature review findings that promote and further dentistry practice.
Minimum Clinical Expectations
Minimum Clinical Expectations
While our program is competency-based, educators recommend several foundational exercises to display and document clinical competencies adequately. Please find the minimum number of cases expected below.
PGY1 Expectations
Clinical Item or Procedure |
Minimum Expectations |
Diagnostic | |
Treatment plans | 20 |
Patient evaluations | 20 |
Informed consent | 20 |
Operative Dentistry | |
Crowns | 5 |
Direct restorations | 20 |
Periodontal Therapy | |
Sc/Rp/QDS | 8 |
Soft tissue surgery (including implant uncovery) | 2 |
Implant site development | 2 |
Endodontics | |
Anterior RCT | 2 |
Posterior RCT | 2 |
Oral surgery | |
Extractions | 20 |
Pre-prosthetic surgery | 2 |
Dentures | |
Conventional complete | 2 |
Implants | |
Implant placement | 10 |
Implant restoration, crown | 5 |
Implant restoration, overdenture | 2 |
PGY2 Expectations
Clinical Item or Procedure |
Minimum Expectations |
Site development for implants | |
Subantral augmentation | 2 |
Ridge width augmentation | 2 |
Autogenous bone harvest | 2 |
Contact Us
Contact Us
For additional information about this program, please contact admissions at
[email protected]
or call
706-509-2997