Urgent Care Dentistry

Catalog description

This course is designed to provide D4 students with the didactic knowledge in the delivery of proper dental care within a general dentistry practice. The needs of the urgent care patient will be addressed to include but not limited to orofacial pain, traumatic dental injury, painful and non-painful mucosal lesions, acute dento-alveolar abscesses, swelling, dislodged crowns, lost restorations, and what constitutes an urgent issue in the realm of general practice dentistry. The goal of this course is to present the student with the diagnostic rationale, and the optimal clinical interventions that will successfully resolve the patient's chief complaint. The objective is to create a welcoming environment where the patient will return for comprehensive treatment. The student will be presented with lecture material to underscore that urgent care treatment is comprised of the establishment of a concise chief complaint, triage, intraoral and extraoral evaluation, review of the current medical history and all current medications, proper choice of radiographs and objective diagnostic tests, differential diagnosis, definitive diagnosis, and the correct treatment of the urgent care need. Appropriate postoperative instructions as well as a firm comprehensive care appointment in the student’s general clinic are also components of the student’s clinical responsibility and will be addressed as such. The lecture material will allow the students to complete this course with the level of knowledge to successfully challenge the midterm exam, final exam and a simulated course competency. Knowledge of pain and anxiety management, determination of antibiotic use, and prescription writing will be expected. This course is open only to students in the Doctor of Dental Surgery program. Core curriculum.