List of courses
M.S.D. Core Course Descriptions
DENS 550 Update in Practice Administration
15 seminar hours. 1 credit. Lectures and seminar discussion on the business aspects of contemporary specialty dental practice, with emphasis on entry into practice, associateship contracts, financing arrangements, risk management and employee relations.
DENS 580 Biostatistics and Research Design in Dentistry
30 seminar hours. 2 credits. Must be taken for two consecutive semesters. Provides the advanced education student in dentistry an appreciation for the need for and uses of fundamental biostatistical methods in dental applications. Appropriate research designs for answering research questions of importance in dentistry will be examined. An array of biostatistical methods that are commonly used in the dental literature and by agencies such as the FDA to evaluate new dental products and methodologies are discussed.
DENS 700 Basic Sciences & Graduate Dentistry
48 hours. 3 credits. Advanced level survey of topic areas related to the principles and practices of dentistry including oral pathology, biochemistry and physiology, infection and immunity, pharmacology, biomaterials and genetics.
DENS 660 Interdisciplinary Care Conference
1-hour seminar. 0.5 credit. Must be taken every year of the program. Provides a forum for formal presentation and group discussion of the diagnosis, treatment planning, delivery and prognosis of interdisciplinary dental care. Designed for continuing enrollment for two academic semesters; graded CO in the fall and a final grade of Pass or Fail in the spring.
DENS 630 Orthodontics-Periodontics-Prosthodontics Conference
1-hour seminar. 0.5 credit. Must be taken every year of the program. Provides a forum for formal presentation and group discussion of the diagnosis, treatment planning, delivery and prognosis of interdisciplinary dental care.
DENS 699 Thesis Guidance
Two credits. Must be taken every semester of the program in the first and second years of the program. The graduate student selects a research project topic, conducts the necessary background literature review, develops a protocol, obtains the necessary materials, instruments and human/animal use approvals as necessary, collects and analyzes the data, presents the findings in the form of a master's thesis, and prepares a manuscript for publication.
DENS 680 Clinical Core
4 Credits. 16 Clinic hours. Enrollment is restricted to students enrolled in the M.S.D. program. This course provides supervised experiences in advanced clinical skills. Students will enhance their skills in diagnosis and treatment planning, patient communication, professional and ethical care, and collaboration with other healthcare providers Sections of the course will address specialty specific treatments. Graded Pass/Fail.
ORPT 750 Advanced Oral Diagnostic Sciences
1 Credit. 18 lecture hours, 1 exam, 4 optional sessions. This course provides advanced education in the fields of oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, orofacial pain, and oral medicine. It’s designed for dental residents in disciplines outside of the oral diagnostic sciences. It contains an overview of the fundamentals as well as building blocks to assist learners in navigating challenging diagnostic situations.
Concentration in Prosthodontics Course Descriptions
PROS 503 Prosthodontic Principles
Seminars, laboratory exercises and clinical exercises. 7 credit. This course is taken at the beginning of the first year of the program. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. The course emphasizes the principles of prosthodontic therapy including all basic aspects of prosthodontics, including complete denture prosthodontics, removable partial denture prosthodontics, fixed prosthodontics, implant prosthodontics, occlusion, esthetics, as well as prosthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning, and program orientation. This course will emphasize the clinical applications of different theoretical principles in prosthodontics. Graded as pass/fail.
PROS 500 Advanced Biomaterials in Prosthodontics
1 hour. 1 credit. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. Students will learn basic material science and clinical applications of contemporary biomaterials used in prosthodontic therapy. The course will include physical properties of non-elastomeric and elastomeric materials, polymethylmethacrylate and related polymers, composite resins and other operative materials, cements and luting materials, metal alloys in dentistry, materials used in CAD/CAM dentistry, and dental implant materials, as well as current literature in prosthodontic biomaterials research. Graded as pass/fail.
PROS 600 Advanced Prosthodontics Literature Review
1 hour seminar. 1 credit. Must be taken for every semester of the program. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. This course covers the advanced applications of prosthodontic therapy including the principle of full-mouth rehabilitation, diagnosis and treatment for temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain, evidence-based prosthodontic therapy, removable prosthodontics, implant therapy, occlusion and digital dentistry. The course will emphasize the clinical applications of advanced clinical prosthodontics. Graded as pass/fail.
PROS 601 Surgical and Prosthodontic Principles of Implant Therapy
1 hour seminar. 1 credit. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. Students will learn the surgical and prosthodontic principles of implant therapy. The seminar will include wound healing, infection control, anatomy and physiology related to prosthodontic and implant therapy, diagnostic imaging and cone-beam computed tomography technology, diagnosis and treatment planning for implant therapy, common hard and soft tissue augmentation procedures in implant dentistry, guided implant surgery, and management of complications in implant dentistry. Graded as pass/fail.
PROS 501 Diagnosis, Treatment Planning and Case Presentation
2 hour seminar. 2 credit, must be taken every semester of the program. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. Residents will present their case to residents and faculty. The case presentation will include pre-operative conditions, diagnosis and treatment planning process using evidence-based principles, treatment sequences, as well as prognosis and post-treatment assessment. At the conclusion of the course, residents will be required to present a case as a mock board exam. Graded as pass/fail.
PROS 699 Thesis Guidance
Two credits. Must be taken fall and spring of the third year of the program. The graduate student selects a research project topic, conducts the necessary background literature review, develops a protocol, obtains the necessary materials, instruments and human/animal use approvals as necessary, collects and analyzes the data, presents the findings in the form of a master's thesis, and prepares a manuscript for publication.
PROS 630 Principles of Maxillofacial Prosthetics
Semester course, 8 seminar sessions. This course focuses on advanced interdisciplinary care for patients with developmental or acquired oral-maxillofacial defects, including those resulting from radiation and requiring pre-radiation and pre-resection dental examinations and treatments. Through this course, residents will gain expertise in the interdisciplinary treatment procedures involving chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and jaw reconstruction, specifically focusing on providing prosthetic rehabilitations like maxillary obturators, mandibular resection appliances, speech appliances, and implant-assisted maxillofacial prostheses.
PROS 680 Clinical Prosthodontics
1 Credit. 4 hours in year 1 and 2, 8 hours in year 3. Enrollment is restricted to students in the prosthodontic concentration of the M.S.D. program. The clinical course is intended for all prosthodontic residents. The clinical experience will include but not be limited to complex fixed and removable prosthodontics, complete denture prosthodontics, implant prosthodontics and maxillofacial prosthodontics. The course is designed to provide residents with a wide range of cases and patient care with state-of-the-art technology. The residents will provide prosthodontic care together with other dental specialties in an interdisciplinary manner. A daily case presentation and faculty feedback will be given to individual residents. Graded as pass/fail.