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Dental Medicine (General Practice Dentistry) Residency

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The General Practice Residency Program is a one-year post-doctoral program leading to a certificate in Hospital Dentistry. The program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Currently, the program accepts six residents each year. Each resident spends approximately six months in general dentistry based in the Oral Health Center of Loyola University Medical Center. Residents also spend four months at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital; separate rotations in geriatric dentistry and oral surgery are completed. During the remaining months, residents complete scheduled rotations in anesthesia, internal medicine, emergency room at Loyola University Medical Center. The program accepts applications from the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS). Complete information about the program and application process can be found in the Admissions/Application section.

Program Goals and Objectives

Goals:

  • Assess, diagnose, and formulate a treatment plan for each assigned patient
  • Provide emergency and multidisciplinary patient-focused, comprehensive oral health care in a safe and efficient manner for a wide variety of patients, including those with complex medical needs and other special needs
  • Direct health promotion and disease prevention activities
  • Provide oral health care in the Operating Room setting
  • Function effectively with interdisciplinary health care team, including nurses and physicians, including in the OR
  • Become familiar with the basics of anesthesia, including monitoring

Objectives:

  • Restore single teeth in the primary and permanent dentition with a wide variety of materials and methods
  • Treat patients with missing teeth requiring removable restorations and fixed restorations, including crowns, bridges, and implant restorations
  • Diagnose and treat periodontal and oral mucosal disease using surgical and/or non-surgical procedures
  • Diagnose and treat pain of pulpal origin and follow through with appropriate endodontic therapy on anterior and posterior teeth in the permanent dentition and pediatric pulpal therapy
  • Evaluate and manage a patient with maxillofacial trauma, including trauma to dentoalveolar structures and acute oral and maxillofacial conditions in both the clinic and emergency department
  • Perform simple and surgical extractions
  • Diagnose, treatment plan and manage the concept of restoratively-driven implant placement
  • Evaluate and manage a patient with TMD/oro-facial pain, utilizing appropriate imaging, diagnostic procedures and pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment
  • Accurately prescribe analgesics, antibiotics, and antifungals as they relate to dental disease
  • Obtain informed consent for dental treatment by discussing with the patients/parents/guardians risks and benefits, alternatives and possible consequences of refusing the proposed diagnostic or treatment plan

Clinical Experience

The General Practice Residency Program is intended to combine comprehensive and episodic dental care by residents, attending staff and dental auxiliaries with the educational process of the program. When assigned to the general dentistry service, residents work in Loyola University Medical Center's Oral Health Center where they are exposed to the practice of general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, endodontics, prosthodontics, and special care dentistry.

Our clinic treats a large number of patients with special needs and many of these patients require treatment in the operating room setting under general anesthesia. Our GPR residents will finish our program with a great OR dentistry experience as they treat dental cases in the OR setting at least once per week. Residents interact with an auxiliary staff composed of chair-side assistants and dental hygienists to treat patients in a group setting, working hand-in-hand with our oral surgery department every day, as well. The Oral Health Center has a business office which manages billing, collections, patient scheduling, arrival and departure. The center also employs an office manager to promote the clinics efficiency and productivity. The residents also provide bedside care to hospital patients who require dental clearance for a wide variety of surgeries and procedures, consultation from different services regarding oral diagnostic findings, or emergency dental treatment.

At the beginning of the residency, Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support certifications are completed by all new house-staff. Residents also complete a two month Physical Diagnosis (H&P) class to learn how to document history and physical examinations and write hospital consultations. The GPR residents take twenty-four hour emergency call for the hospital as well. During call shifts, residents serve as a consultant for the emergency room and also the various inpatient services. As a first responder, residents work closely with the oral surgery residents during facial trauma call.

Contact the Program

Jessica Castaneda

Residency Education Coordinator
jessica.castaneda@lumc.edu

 

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