The Department of Restorative Dentistry and Comprehensive Care contributes to the academic, service and research missions of the SDM by providing didactic and clinical education to First Professional students and Residents in the Advanced Education in General Dentistry and Endodontic programs.

Teaching Activities:
The Department of Restorative Dentistry and Comprehensive Care provides pre clinical, clinical and didactic instruction to First Professional students. Didactic and clinical course offerings are presented to students in the First Professional Program. The department also offers selective course offerings to third and fourth year students during the fall, spring and summer terms.

In August, 2002 construction was completed on a $2.7M project to convert the pre-clinic teaching laboratory into a Simulation Clinic. The Simulation Clinic area is comprised of two simulation labs with 80 total workstations and additional 40 stations that are available for laboratory technique procedures. This format offers the potential of presenting simultaneously three separate courses. In addition to the standard dental equipment, each station is equipped with a patient simulator that has a removable jaw with lifelike movements and can be approached from either the right- or left-hand side. Dental students can learn to approach their patients from above and behind because the mannequin can be positioned like a patient reclining in a dental chair. Each station is equipped with a flat screen monitor for viewing instruction and demonstrations. Instructional aids include DVD, VCR, two slide digitizers, intraoral and document cameras. Each station is wired with Inter- and Intranet connections to provide for distance and/or non-direct learning. The Simulation Clinic format is a significant component of the school's comprehensive uniform teaching philosophy, which permits students to more efficiently integrate clinical skills with scientific knowledge. This format increases available time for students to expand their knowledge base and research experience in the ever increasing body of biomedical sciences.

To assure uniformity of instruction, steps have been taken to vertically integrate teaching in the simulation clinic with clinic/patient care instruction activities. This philosophy is maintained from three perspectives. First, a Director of the Simulation Clinic is responsible for ensuring that instruction philosophies and dental materials used in the Simulation Clinic are consistent with that taught in the Comprehensive Care Program (CCP), thereby assuring continuity and uniformity in clinical education over the four years of the First Professional program. Second, supportive and enthusiastic CCP faculty routinely are encouraged to increase their time commitment to the School of Dental Medicine (SDM) in addition to maintaining active faculty recruits as needed; and third, CCP faculty who currently supervise patient care activities are assigned to teach in the simulation clinic to strengthen the integration of clinical and preclinical instruction. This provides autonomy of philosophy and dental materials from the first and second year simulation curriculum to the third and fourth year clinical (actual) curriculum. It is the intention that this repetition of theory will allow for an accelerated path towards clinical experience leading to proficiency. All third and fourth year level First Professional students are enrolled in a course entitled "Clinical Responsibility." This course emphasizes professionalism, ethics, preparation for patient care, patient care activity, patient scheduling, patient assignment, business office compliance and quality assurance procedures.

AEGD
Endodontics

Chair
Dr. Marnie Oakley
University of Pittsburgh
School of Dental Medicine
3023 Salk Hall
3501 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Phone: (412) 648-8651