Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Program

Our educational program offers numerous formal courses, seminars and literature reviews to supplement our clinical experience and provide residents exposure to all aspects of dentistry. Staff specialists and outside consultants lead these valuable conferences held a least once a week. Residents are also required to provide educational experiences to their classmates and mentors to include: patient care conferences held 12 times/year, dental materials lecture, special needs patient presentation, and literature reviews. Residents will also demonstrate competency in researching and reviewing literature as well as presenting a table clinic at the Great Lakes Dental Society in the spring.

Required Seminar topics include:

• Ethics and Professionalism
• Dental Emergencies
• Medical Emergencies
• Multidisciplinary Comprehensive Treatment Planning
• Operative Dentistry
• Restoration of the Edentulous Space/Implants
• Periodontics
• Endodontics
• Oral Surgery
• Pain and Anxiety Control
• Oral Pathology
• Orofacial Pain and Temporomandibular Disorders
• History and Physical
• Management of Special Needs Patients
• Practice Management

Optional:

• Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support

In addition to didactic and clinical dental experiences, military residency offers additional military experiences required to be a dental Officer in the United States Navy. These may include but are not limited to:

• Basic Medical Department Officer Course (BMDOC)
• Emergency Preparedness Response Course (EPRC)
• Incident Command System (ICS 100)
• Combat Casualty Care Course (C4)
• Operational Forces Management Seminar

The AEGD clinic is located in the Fisher Medical and Dental Clinic, Bldg. 237, on Naval Station Great Lakes. This is home to the AEGD program and main work center/office space for AEGD residents. General Dentistry is the core of the AEGD program and comprehensive treatment plans are developed and carried out in the 237 Dental Clinic. Multidisciplinary care is provided under the guidance of our experienced mentors in Comprehensive Dentistry, Endodontics, Oral Surgery, Periodontics, Prosthodontics (Fixed, Removable and Implants), Oral Diagnosis, Orofacial Pain and Operative Dentistry. Rotation length is throughout the year when not on otherwise noted rotation below.

The purpose of the Oral Diagnosis rotation is to help you learn to function as a skilled and knowledgeable general dentist in a primary care setting, providing periodic (T-2), and problem-focused (T-3) exams. This rotation is designed to help develop your diagnostic skills, improve your clinical skills and efficiency, and prepare you to serve as a highly competent provider in a busy and dynamic primary care setting. You will also be expected to coordinate the delivery of comprehensive oral health care as appropriate. The OD portion of your rotation will allow you to become very familiar with the Navy dental record and system for examination and dental classification. In addition, performing multiple dental exams on our active duty members will expose you to the wide variety of oral health concerns that present to our clinics, and further hone your diagnostic abilities. Your sick call rotation will allow you to evaluate and treat a variety of acute conditions, further developing your diagnostic and patient management skills. Objectives of the sick call rotation are to provide problem-focused (T-3) exams to patients presenting with pain, infection, trauma, and other acute conditions, provide emergency treatment for the relief of such conditions and coordinate definitive treatment and follow-up as necessary.

AEGD residents will complete their endodontics rotation in the endodontics division at the USS Osborne Recruit Dental Facility, Bldg. 1017, located on Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. Each resident will complete a 2-week “Mini-Endo” rotation. This will occur during the summer or fall. The primary objective is to prepare new dental officers for standing duty. By the end of the rotation, each officer should be able to perform an endodontic evaluation and decide if endodontic treatment is needed. Each resident will subsequently complete a 1-month endodontics rotation. The primary goal is to ensure officers can competently perform quality endodontic treatment on a variety of teeth. Each officer should understand the fundamental principles of endodontic instrumentation and obturation and when referral to an endodontist is appropriate.

AEGD residents will complete their oral surgery rotation in the oral surgery division at the USS Osborne Recruit Dental Facility, Bldg. 1017, located on Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. Each resident will complete a 1-month rotation. The purpose of the rotation is to ensure officers can competently diagnose, treatment plan and perform surgical and non-surgical extractions of erupted and partially erupted third molars, perform post-surgical follow-up including diagnosis and treatment of post-operative complications, and become familiar with soft tissue biopsies and suturing.

AEGD residents will complete their operative rotation in the operative division at the USS Osborne Recruit Dental Facility, Bldg. 1017, located on Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. Each resident will complete a 1-month rotation. The purpose of the rotation is to ensure officers can competently diagnose, treatment plan and restore dentition with a variety of treatment options which may include: inlay, onlay, partial and full coverage AMR, MCR and ACR, vital and non-vital bleaching, microabrasion, enameloplasty, direct composite veneers, porcelain veneers, restoration of the endodontically treated tooth with direct and indirect restorations, custom cast and prefabricated posts and cores.

AEGD residents will complete their CAD/CAM rotation in the prosthodontic division at the USS Osborne Recruit Dental Facility, Bldg. 1017, located on Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. Each resident will complete a 2-week rotation exclusively in CAD/CAM and then on cases treatment planned throughout the year. The purpose of the rotation is to ensure officers are competent in proper case selection, treatment planning, preparing, scanning, designing, milling, all required lab work (firing/polishing/etching), and delivering of CAD/CAM restorations in a variety of available dental materials.

AEGD residents will complete their periodontics rotation in the periodontics division the Fisher Medical and Dental Clinic, Bldg. 237, on Naval Station Great Lakes and at the FHCC hospital dental clinic, Bldg 133, North Chicago. Each resident will complete a 1-month rotation. The purpose of the rotation is to ensure officers can competently diagnose, treatment plan and perform surgical and non-surgical periodontal therapy, evaluate the results of periodontal therapy and establish/monitor a periodontal maintenance program. At the hospital clinic, emphasis is placed on managing the Veteran dental patient with special needs (medical, physical, psychological or social).

AEGD residents will complete their periodontics rotation in the periodontics division the Fisher Medical and Dental Clinic, Bldg. 237, on Naval Station Great Lakes. Each resident will complete a 1-month rotation. The purpose of the rotation is to ensure officers can competently diagnose, treatment plan and perform a wide variety of prosthodontic procedures including restoring the edentulous space with implants, fixed, or removable, understand and treat occlusal disorders and implant complications. Emphasis is also placed on communicating with our in-house full service prosthodontic laboratory.

1. Coordinate, manage and deliver patient-focused oral health care; perform comprehensive dental examination and treatment planning of multidisciplinary patient care, including taking, recording, and interpreting a complete medical and dental history, clinical and radiographic examination, photographs, articulated diagnostic casts, and diagnostic wax-ups as appropriate.
2. Manage the patient with special needs (medical, physical, psychological or social), including appropriate assessment of health status and incorporation of modifications to dental treatment.
3. Use multiple diagnostic modalities to appropriately assess and coordinate treatment for patients who present with various dental emergencies including pain, infection and trauma.
4. Obtain proper informed consent for treatment plans and dental procedures, and understand the indications for obtaining written informed consent.
5. Function effectively within interdisciplinary health care teams, including consultation and/or referrals.
6. Direct health promotion and disease prevention activities; develop individualized prevention programs including but not limited to caries risk management, periodontal risk management, and oral cancer risk management.
7. Appropriately utilize current dental treatment modalities (e.g. CAD/CAM, rotary endodontics and advanced obturation techniques, complex surgical periodontal therapy, etc.).
8. Be familiar with the recognition, diagnosis and management of medical emergencies that may be encountered in the dental office.
9. Understand the proper clinical and radiographic evaluation and management of patients who present with oral hard and soft tissue lesions, including oral mucosal diseases.
10. Understand the indications of and interpretations of laboratory studies and other techniques used in the diagnosis of oral and systemic diseases.
11. Understand the relationship between oral health care and systemic disease.
12. Interpret the physical evaluation performed by a physician with an understanding of how it impacts on proposed dental treatment.

1. Diagnose, treatment plan and restore teeth with complex restorative needs (e.g. full or partial coverage complex amalgam restorations, posterior resin composite restorations, restorations using auxiliary retention features, subgingival restorations, etc.) using direct restorative materials (amalgam, resin composite, glass ionomer, resin-modified glass ionomer). Understand the indications and contraindications for each dental material and technique employed.
2. Diagnose, treatment plan and restore teeth with a variety of treatment options which may include: inlay, onlay, partial and full coverage all-metal (AMR), metal-ceramic (MCR), and all-ceramic restorations (ACR).
3. Diagnose, treatment plan, and treat patients with esthetic needs using conservative modalities which may include: vital and non-vital bleaching, microabrasion, enameloplasty. Understand the indications / contraindications for conservative esthetic solutions.
4. Diagnose, treatment plan, and treat patients with esthetic needs using restorative modalities which may include: resin composite, direct composite veneers, porcelain veneers. Understand the indications / contraindications for restorative esthetic solutions.
5. Restore endodontically treated teeth with direct (amalgam or composite) core restorations (with prefabricated posts as necessary), and with custom cast post & core restorations. Understand the indications and procedures for intraradicular prefabricated posts vs. cast post & cores.

1. Diagnose, treatment plan, and manage patients with missing teeth to restore the edentulous space (fixed, removable, or implant prosthodontics) using clinical, radiographic and laboratory data. Understand the ACP classification systems as they relate to prosthodontic treatment planning, treatment and referral.
2. Understand the role of occlusion in providing prosthodontic care, including occlusal assessment, the proper use of various articulators, selection of occlusal schemes, diagnostic wax-ups and static and functional occlusal records.
3. Diagnose and manage occlusal disorders / abnormalities using various modalities (e.g. diagnostic wax-ups, restorative dentistry, referral for orthodontic treatment, limited occlusal adjustment, occlusal splints, etc.).
4. Communicate the prosthodontic case design to the dental laboratory and critically evaluate the resultant prosthesis.

1. Diagnose various periodontal diseases using the AAP classification system and treatment plan periodontal therapy, including implementation of the Navy’s periodontal disease risk management guidelines.
2. Treat periodontal disease using non-surgical procedures (e.g. scaling/root planing, chemotherapeutics, etc.).
3. Understand the periodontal / restorative interface including diagnosis of biologic width violation, and incorporate functional and/or esthetic crown lengthening procedures into a comprehensive treatment plan.
4. Understand the indications for various surgical interventions in the treatment of periodontal disease; perform and/or observe localized periodontal surgery (e.g. flap for debridement, gingivectomy, distal wedge procedures, etc.).
5. Evaluate the results of periodontal therapy, and establish/monitor a periodontal maintenance program.

1. Perform thorough endodontic evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment planning, properly employing various clinical and radiographic diagnostic modalities and using current AAE diagnostic terminology.
2. Perform non-surgical root canal therapy on anterior teeth.
3. Perform non-surgical root canal therapy on posterior teeth.
4. Perform vital pulp therapy procedures including direct/indirect pulp capping and pulpotomy, and understand the indications/contraindications and techniques for vital pulp therapy.
5. Understand the proper diagnosis and treatment of non-traumatic and traumatic endodontic emergencies.
6. Be familiar with the prevention, identification and management of endodontic complications and misadventures.

1. Perform a thorough pre-operative assessment including appropriate consultations, medical risk assessment, pre-medication, and incorporating various modifications to treatment as necessary.
2. Diagnose, treatment plan and perform extraction of fully erupted teeth and partially encapsulated third molars not requiring sectioning or bone removal.
3. Understand the indications, contraindications and procedures for surgical extraction of erupted, partially and fully impacted third molars.
4. Perform post-surgical follow-up including diagnosis and treatment of post-operative complications (e.g. alveolar osteitis, infection).
5. Understand the indications and procedures for soft tissue incisional and excisional biopsy, and incorporate findings into a comprehensive treatment plan.
6. Become familiar with basic suturing indications, materials and techniques.

1. Understand and use various behavioral management techniques to treat patients with dental anxiety.
2. Understand how to manage and control dental pain and anxiety using various pharmacologic modalities.

1. Understand the critical restorative and surgical aspects of treatment planning and treatment of patients with dental implants.
2. Be familiar with the assessment and diagnosis of patients who present with implant complications, and know how to appropriately manage such cases through treatment or referral.

1. Develop an understanding of the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment planning and management of patients who present with temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain.
2. Fabricate and maintain an occlusal splint (for treatment of orofacial pain or for protection of the dentition from parafunctional habits).

1. Understand management of allied dental professionals and other office personnel and principles of peer management.
2. Understand principles of quality management, electronic patient reporting system (ePERs), and Lean Six Sigma.
3. Understand principles of practice management and practice development.
4. Understand principles of professional ethics, jurisprudence and risk management.
5. Develop an understanding of information technology, information security, and HIPPA.