Upon completion of the program, the resident receives a Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry and meets eligibility requirements for the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. All residents attend regularly scheduled lecture series presented by leading practitioners and researchers on basic and applied topics such as prevention, epidemiology, cariology, scientific foundations of pediatric dentistry, and growth and development. Specialty courses include behavior management, pediatric pharmacology, interceptive orthodontic techniques, speech, minor oral surgery, pulp therapy, traumatic injuries, dental care for people with developmental disabilities and the medically compromised, and pediatric physical diagnosis. Lectures and seminars on other areas of dentistry and science are offered along with specialty courses in child psychology, management of child behavior, premedication and analgesia, pediatric advanced life support, hospital dentistry, cariology, biostatistics, epidemiology, and pediatric medicine. Other areas include occlusal guidance, operative and prosthetic procedures for primary and mixed dentitions, minor oral surgery, dental health education, and scientific research methods.
Seminars are an important part of the pediatric dentistry program.
Residents are expected to prepare seminars and present lectures to the department as part of the teaching experience. Rotations in anesthesia, pediatrics, and emergency medicine are provided for all residents. All residents must prepare and present a research project with application to pediatric dentistry to achieve certification. Those interested in graduate studies may be allowed to expand these projects and combine them with course work at the University of Rochester leading to an advanced academic degree after one or more additional years of study. Students are also eligible to apply for positions as Fellows in the UR Cariology Training and Dentist Scientist Programs.