A message from:
Brian Silverman, DMD, Program Director
The benefits of participation in a general practice residency in dentistry have never been more compelling than they are now. Dentists are practicing in an environment that has seen more developments in materials, methodology and technology in the last several years than in the preceding four or five decades, yet training in dental schools has changed in only very modest ways.
The reality is that modern dentists require competence in clinical practices that receive cursory attention or are omitted altogether from dental school programs due to the various constraints of training, time, opportunities, finances and priorities. This is not unique to any particular dental school, but rather ubiquitous throughout dental education.
Unlike our colleagues in medical practice, who spend years refining their skills in residencies after they complete their degree training, most dentists graduate without the opportunity to refine their skills, and have no clinical acquaintance with other skills that fall within the purview of general practice but outside the curricula of dental schools. Addressing these concerns has made post-doctoral dental training an extremely valuable experience.
The General Practice Residency in Dentistry at Overlook Medical Center provides several important opportunities and experiences:
- A supervised educational setting with allowances for much greater autonomy than permitted in pre-doctoral training.
- A clinical setting modeled after private practice. Residents provide comprehensive treatment planning and care of patients.
- Special financial concessions allow patients to accept more complex treatment plans without being prohibitively expensive.
- Special emphasis on root canal therapy, crown and bridge, implant and cosmetic dentistry, in addition to significant clinical and didactic experiences in all disciplines in dentistry: restorative dentistry, periodontics, pediatric dentistry, prosthodontics, orthodontics, endodontics, and oral surgery.
- Four-handed dentistry with chair-side assistants.
- Dental hygienists on staff to manage recall/prophylaxis visits.
- A faculty of more than 40 dentists in general practice and every specialty discipline, representing some of the most accomplished and respected members of the professional community.
