Curriculum Second Year

This course combines an introduction to the general principles of anatomy, histology, and physiology of the human cardiovascular, pulmonary and renal systems, with an extensive study of the pathology and therapeutics of these systems, with an explicit emphasis on their relationship to dental practice. Principles of laboratory medicine will be reinforced throughout the course.

This is a course that will apply what students have already learned in Foundation Sciences and Biologic Systems courses to the study, interpretation and diagnosis of oral disease. It is an essential link between the basic and clinical sciences concerned with the mechanisms of disease (e.g., inflammation, genetic disease, neoplasia, immunopathology) and the disease processes that students will encounter during their careers in dentistry. The emphasis will be on oral soft and hard tissue pathology, including oral manifestations of systemic diseases that may impact on the health of patients.

Lectures, seminars and standardized patient sessions provide students with the knowledge and skills to communicate with and manage appropriately a diverse group of clinical patients at Penn Dental Medicine. Topics include discussion of patients’ perception of dentists and dental care, patient adherence and motivational interviewing, health disparities, management of diverse patients with psychiatric disorders, patients with fear, anxiety, phobias and pain, as well as review of the dentist’s role in identifying and managing patients experiencing abuse (child abuse and intimate partner violence) and addiction disorders. This course also provides the foundation for students to understand knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to develop as professional dental care providers for success in dental practice.

The Department of Endodontics trains pre-doctoral students to become competent in basic endodontic procedures. This includes instruction in the foundational core of Endodontics, including pulp biology, primary non-surgical root canal treatment. Students are further trained in advanced endodontic procedures. This includes instruction in trauma, resorption, retreatment, endodontic surgery, bleaching, etc. Our ultimate goal is to implement that treatment/education in a caring, respectful, and responsible manner.

The pre-clinical endodontic laboratory course is designed to introduce endodontic concepts and techniques to a student under simulated conditions using extracted teeth.

This course combines an introduction to the general principles of anatomy, histology, and physiology of the human gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and endocrine systems, with an extensive study of the pathology and therapeutics of these systems, with an explicit emphasis on their relationship to dental practice.

The purpose of this course is to give student doctors a foundation for understanding physical diagnosis, medical work-ups, medical consultations and medical conditions which directly affect the medical management of the dental patient. Clinical Case of the Day examples are reviewed/discussed.

This course combines an introduction to the general principles of anatomy, histology, and physiology of the central nervous system and behavioral health with an extensive study of the pathology and therapeutics of these systems, and with an explicit emphasis on their relationship to dental practice. This course will give the students a better understanding of medications, interpreting complicated drug/medical histories, and understanding drug reactions.

This course provides students with the knowledge of growth and development, concentrating on child somatic, craniofacial, and dental growth and development. The students build a solid foundation along the lines of diagnosing problems and understanding the etiology of malocclusion and space maintenance.

This lecture and laboratory course introduces students to the concepts and techniques of pediatric dentistry. It provides the basis for beginning clinical experiences with pediatric patients. This course provides the concepts, techniques, and psychomotor skills necessary to provide comprehensive dental care to pediatric patients.

This course will be focused on non-surgical periodontal therapy. The macroscopic and microscopic effects of this modality of treatment will be discussed. Different forms of periodontal diseases and non-surgical therapeutic tools will also be presented as well as information on the prognosis of the periodontal therapy and the relevance of maintenance.

The curriculum of the Fixed Prosthodontics Course deals with the building of knowledge, thought processes and understanding the procedures required in the restoration of missing and/or badly broken-down teeth by the fabrication of non-removable prostheses. Students will learn diagnosis, treatment

planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth using biocompatible substitutes. These restorations must provide an improved state of oral health, function and esthetics for patients.

The curriculum of Fixed Prosthodontics Laboratory deals with the building of knowledge, thought processes, skills and understanding the procedures required in the restoration of missing and/or badly broken-down teeth by the fabrication of non-removable prostheses. Students will gain hands-on experience in the clinical and technical aspects of fixed prosthodontics.

The curriculum of the Fixed Prosthodontics Course deals with the building of knowledge, thought processes and understanding the procedures required in the restoration of missing and/or badly broken-down teeth by the fabrication of non-removable prostheses. Students will learn diagnosis, treatment

planning, rehabilitation and maintenance of oral function, comfort, appearance and health of patients with clinical conditions associated with missing or deficient teeth using biocompatible substitutes. These restorations must provide an improved state of oral health, function and esthetics for patients.

The curriculum of Fixed Prosthodontics Laboratory deals with the building of knowledge, thought processes, skills and understanding the procedures required in the restoration of missing and/or badly broken-down teeth by the fabrication of non-removable prostheses. Students will gain hands-on experience in the clinical and technical aspects of fixed prosthodontics.

This course will give a continuation of the D1 course dealing with the whole patient and the surgical and non-surgical treatment of the dental hard tissues. It builds on the foundation knowledge and experience from 1, exposing students to more complex cases. Both the classical and contemporary preparations of restorative dentistry are presented. Student will prepare for the patient care program by reviewing updates in cardiology, caries diagnosis; caries risk assessment, CAD/CAM and homecare procedures being reinforced in a simulated patient setting. All laboratory procedures will be “cased based” using a patient scenario. This training will take place in a simulation environment that develops good “clinical” habits and integrates “patient” data into the daily treatment. The course will also introduce the D2 student to the clinic Electronic Health Record (HER) using these same patient scenarios. The course finally transitions students to active patients care in the clinic.

A combination of lectures, seminars and laboratory exercises provide the dental student with a fundamental understanding of the partially edentulous condition. Topics covered include classification, diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment of partially edentulous patients with RPDs. This course is designed to provide students with the terminology, concepts and principles necessary for case selection, design, construction of, and patient therapy with conventional RPDs. Upon completion of this course students will have the necessary didactic knowledge to successfully understand and treat removable partial denture cases in conjunction with the clinical faculty during their third and fourth years.

The goal of this course is to provide students with the foundation knowledge needed to diagnose and treat edentulous patients. Upon completion of this course, the students should have an in-depth understanding of the need for therapy in and restoration of the edentulous arch with complete prostheses, the significance of avoiding the edentulous condition in a patient wherever possible, the dental materials that are used at the different stages of complete dentures therapy, the concept and techniques of the clinical steps involved in the treatment of the edentulous patient.

This course presented primarily in the clinic is designed to provide an orientation and transition for second year students who have demonstrated their competency in performing procedures on a simulator to utilizing these skills and knowledge for direct patient care. Prior to beginning direct patient care each student will complete necessary pre-requisites such as how to read and complete a patient chart, OSHA training, and CPR. This course is intended to help with the transition from the simulation environment to the clinical environment.

In this course, the student moves from assisting to primary practitioner care. The students will begin their development as dental practitioners. They’ll be assigned their own roster of patients and participate in the evaluation and admission of new patients.

This course provides students with foundational knowledge and skills for evidence-informed clinical decision-making, critical thinking, and health literacy. The course presents a variety of clinical scenarios that guide the exploration of forms of evidence from primary and secondary research and their utilization to inform daily clinical and policy decision-making. The course provides the necessary skills for the students to become independent thinkers, efficiently navigate sources of evidence to inform practice, identify strengths and limitations of a variety of research study designs, master results interpretation, and apply study results and clinical practice guideline recommendations to patient care. In addition, the students will learn about the principles of health literacy and acquire the skills to contribute to their patients’ ability to make health decisions informed by evidence. Students attend weekly interactive lectures, seminars and need to pass a final exam.

The goal of this second-year course is to provide the dental students with the technical knowledge and skills needed to perform all the laboratory procedures used in the construction of complete dentures and apply the foundation knowledge learned in the lectures. Students should be knowledgeable and skilled in the following: performing all laboratory procedures used in construction of complete dentures, demonstrating the function and the usage of Hanau face bow and articulator in the construction of complete dentures, and communicating with the laboratory technicians via properly written work authorizations.

This is a preclinical laboratory course which consists of preclinical laboratory sessions and short presentations which include demonstrating and performing restorative and prosthetic procedures in simulated environment (manikin and typodonts).

The Professionalism, Ethics and Healthcare Communities is comprised of ten Modules asynchronous online material designed to introduce incoming graduate and dental students to a range of concepts, theories and skills aimed at increasing their awareness issues of racism and oppression to promote inclusive and affirming classrooms and learning communities. The course material is delivered through a series of short videos and readings. Modules covers such topics as implicit bias, microaggressions conflict resolution and bystander intervention; free speech and inclusion, social media usage; racism and other forms of oppression; gender and gender identity; equity and access in healthcare; understanding and owning whiteness and racial literacy; and restorative justice. Students also attend 1 -in-person seminar titled “Restorative Practices, Conflict Skills and Responding to Harm” conducted by representatives from the Office of Restorative Practices and Student Conduct.

The Selectives Program expands the dimensions of the predoctoral curriculum by allowing students to individualize their education to reflect some of their professional and personal interests and study areas that fall outside the core curriculum. The Selectives Program includes didactic, clinical, community dental health service, and research opportunities, many of which occur in small group seminars or individualized settings that promote close student-faculty interactions.