ChristianaCare has been a top-rated academic medical center for more than a century. Our residents and fellows experience a rigorous and rewarding combination of academic training and hands-on experience.
ChristianaCare’s General Practice Dentistry residents gain a broad base of experience during their year-long program year. Our program will prepare dentists for all aspects of general private practice dentistry, as well as the complex issues of hospital dentistry. During the year, residents rotate through an array of disciplines.
Residents spend 75 percent of their time in lectures and training in:
Oncology
Working in the Head and Neck Cancer Multidisciplinary Center at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, residents treat patients with cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and others that impact dental needs.
Cancer treatments can have enormous repercussions on patients’ dental health. This rotation includes experience in pre-treatment, dental intervention and active dental treatment to lessen cancer treatment side effects.
Orthodontics
Residents work closely with orthodontic specialists to identify, diagnose and plan to treat basic orthodontic problems.
You also will have the opportunity for hands-on care, including treatment with clear Invisalign braces.
Periodontics
This program prepares residents to identify and create treatment plans for diseases that affect the gums and supporting structures of the teeth. You will gain a background in the practical application of periodontal therapy in a general dental setting, and have clinical experience treating patients.
Caring for special-needs patients
Residents work on a health care team consisting of multiple specialists working together to treat patients with complex medical, behavioral and anatomical problems.
You will learn to develop treatment plans for special-needs patients and treat them in the operating room under direct supervision of faculty.
Advanced restorative dentistry
Residents learn how to organize and prepare complex multi-appointment treatment plans for patients in need of advanced restorative dentistry. We encourage all residents to treat patients who need advanced dental work during their residencies, as it provides excellent preparation for private practice.
Endodontics
Working under the supervision of an endodontic specialist residents learn to correctly diagnose pulpal and periapical diseases, identify the source and proper treatment for pain and use advanced dental tools, including rotary file systems, digital radiography, surgical operating microscopes and heated obturation systems.
Pediatric dentistry
Working with a pediatric dentist attending residents work weekly in pediatric dental clinics. You will improve your proficiency in treatment planning and preventive dentistry, restorative, exodontic and endodontic treatments. You will also learn how to manage young patients’ behavior, using both pharmacological and non-pharmacological techniques, to make their treatment more comfortable.
Implant dentistry
One afternoon a week, residents work with attending staff to diagnose and treat implant cases. The Section of Implant Dentistry treats patients whose needs range from single crowns to extensive hybrid or ceramo-metal prostheses.
Residents participate in the entire prosthetic process, from making implant-level impressions to final insertion, using a variety of prosthetic designs to maximize the clinical experience.
The remainder of the residency is devoted to rotations outside the dental clinic:
Anesthesia Department rotation
A two-week rotation in ChristianaCare’s Anesthesia Department teaches you to evaluate and treat patients who are under the care of an anesthesiologist.
Emergency Medical Department rotation
A two-week rotation in ChristianaCare’s Emergency Department provides the opportunity to interact with physicians while treating patients with oral and medical emergencies.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Consultation rotation
This rotation makes you a member of a medical treatment team working on inpatient and outpatient cases. The main objective is to teach you to evaluate dental and oral manifestations of disease and other significant findings.
Department of Family & Community Medicine
The Department of Family & Community Medicine presents a 13-session program on physical diagnosis, along with a series of lectures on TMD and facial pain, and pathology.