Oral Surgery

The aim of this course is to introduce the pre-clinical dental student to basic concepts associated with oral and maxillofacial surgery. Primarily the focus will be placed on local anesthesia and exodontia. This course will expose the sophomore dental student to material he/she should become familiar with prior to managing patients presenting to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic, as well as other clinical disciplines where the use of local anesthesia is employed in patient management. It is expected that the student should be able to correlate the knowledge obtained from the basic sciences with the clinical practice of local anesthesia and oral surgery. The student is strongly advised to review material from their basic sciences courses, as necessary. It is anticipated that the student will develop a strong foundation in local anesthesia and basic exodontia which will prepare him/her to perform in other clinical activities, as well as in more advanced oral surgery courses given in the third and fourth years of the dental curriculum.

This course is designed to afford the dental student with a comprehensive review of the anatomy of the head and neck as it relates to dental surgical procedures. The course is designed to present an intensive orderly approach to cranial anatomy with special reference to those regions which provide a background for the various aspects of practical dentistry. Further, the course is designed as a review and as an advanced presentation, with the presumption that the students have some knowledge of basic anatomy and physiology along with related terminology. The regions anterior to the vertebral-column and from the orbits to the hyoid bone will be covered in detail. The ear, larynx and neck viscera will not be treated in detail. Certain cranial and cervical relationships beyond the region of intensive study, however, will be reviewed as the course proceeds. Almost the entire course in head and neck anatomy is presented in terms of compartments or surgical spaces. Since most available American and English Texts do not organize the material in this way, this document will contain surgical spaces and compartments with their boundaries and contents in order to afford the student a better understanding of compartmental or relationship anatomy. During the course and review sessions visual aids of laboratory dissections of the various spaces and compartments of the head and neck will be presented and will be available to the students for individual study. Detailed lectures will not be given on the osteology of the skull and facial bone complex. However, the students will be held responsible for their individual study and 2 review of the osteology of the skull including the cranial cavity as this will also be included in the examinations for the evaluation of the student's progress in this course. It should be emphasized that the aim of this course is to provide an opportunity for the dental student to acquire a sound, well-organized and usable body of information on the anatomy of the head and neck regions.

This course is sequential to the second year Anesthesiology and Minor Oral Surgery I lecture course. At this point in the third- year student's clinical and didactic experience, he/she should have developed an appreciation for the basic concepts and techniques of local anesthetic administration. An understanding of simple exodontia is also expected. The student is strongly advised to review material from the prerequisite and concomitant courses, as necessary. Throughout this course, it is anticipated that the student will strengthen an already firm foundation in proper evaluation of the surgical patient, including medical issues as well as efforts to avoid surgical complications. Various methods of pain control will also be introduced thus preparing the student for more advanced subsequent surgical instruction.

This course is designed to introduce the fourth year (D4) dental students to the principles of Major Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. This dental specialty requires an understanding of establishment of the diagnosis, surgical and adjunctive treatment of oro-facial diseases, injury, and defects, that include not only the functional but also the aesthetic aspect of both the hard and soft tissues of the oral regions. Fundamental concepts learned through the Anesthesiology and Minor Oral Surgery aspects of the curriculum will be expanded on in the treatment of patients in the Oral Surgery Clinic. In order to accomplish this phase, history taking, patient evaluation, patient oro-facial examination, radiographic interpretation, head and neck anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and basic surgical instrumentation and documentation will be addressed. The student will use their knowledge of local anesthetics, including dosages, complications, mode of action, contraindications, and the techniques of administration (landmarks etc.) learned from previous courses in pharmacology and minor oral surgery. The student must have knowledge of the minimum armamentarium necessary to carry out the indicated surgical procedure. See note on page 577 related to courses with a range of credit hours.

The purpose of this course is to expose the senior dental student to the surgical procedures included in the specialty of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, while at the same time reinforcing the principles and techniques covered in the courses entitled "Pain Control and Minor Oral Surgery I & II". Through the usage of seminars, lectures, visual aids and demonstrations the enrolled students will be exposed to all the important theories and techniques. The students will not be expected to completely manage the majority of conditions or perform most of the procedures presented in this course, they will, however, have a good basic understanding of the subject matter that should increase their overall proficiency in diagnosing, treatment planning and comprehensive patient management. They will also be able to correlate their knowledge of the basic sciences with the clinical practice that includes local anesthetics, types of medications and oral surgical procedures.