Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

SDM 243 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

In this course, students enhance their skills in acquiring a complete patient history and learn to perform an accurate oral examination and dental evaluation. Building on their knowledge of preclinical dental science and pathophysiology, students acquire a sound knowledge of principles of dental and oral diagnosis and disease prevention. Students are introduced to the techniques and protocol used for documentation of patient care, including impressions, study models, radiographs, charting, intraoral photography and record keeping. Students are oriented to their treatment team and become familiarized with clinical protocol, infection control procedures, patient records, and information systems management. The role of health-related behaviors as risk factors for dental and oral disease is examined and students learn oral hygiene and disease prevention strategies. In addition, consideration is given to medical conditions that may complicate the delivery of dental care, as well as dental and medical management of patients with these conditions. In the dental laboratory, students learn the structure of teeth and their parts as necessary for planning restorations. In addition, considerable attention is given to anatomical, physiological and biomechanical relationships of the masticatory system, and the restoration of the occlusal relationship to proper function. An understanding of the instrumentation and techniques required to reproduce these relationships during restoration of the dentition is achieved. Students learn how to assemble casts on the articulator to perform occlusal diagnosis and treatment. Motor skills derived from technical training are applied by students to more complicated procedures, such as carving wax patterns to using additive and subtractive drop-wax techniques. In addition, students are required to wax-up occlusal morphology to specific determinants of occlusion.