Fourth Year
The fourth-year concentration program allows students to pursue their career interests in dentistry or to begin to focus on a specialty area that may or may not be pursued after graduation. Fourth-year students can select courses from a wide range of clinical, basic, and behavioral sciences, based on their individual interests.
ON THIS PAGE:
- D4 students spend a lot of time in the clinic. The fourth year also consists of externships and remote area medical clinical service trips.
- Students will also have the opportunity to pursue concentrations during the fourth year, as well as taking elective courses.
- The year concludes with students applying to residency, taking their regional state licensing exams, and finally, graduation!
Click below to view our fourth year slide show!
- The concentration program is an option that allows fourth-year students to focus their course selections and gain additional clinical experience in specific areas of individual interest.
- Current concentrations include endodontics, esthetic dentistry, oral biology, oral diagnostic sciences, pediatric dentistry, periodontics and prosthodontics. Students admitted to one of these concentrations take a set program of clinical and didactic courses and work more closely with the faculty of a particular department. Interested students apply to participating departments at the end of the third year.
- In the fourth year, the time devoted to clinical patient care is expanded. Fourth-year students spend five full days in the clinic each week, with classes and labs scheduled before clinic at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. or after clinic at 4:00 p.m.
- Students remain in the operatories assigned for their use at the end of the second year. Fourth-year students provide all phases of dental care to between twenty-two and twenty-six patients. At this level, students take on the major responsibility for determining and meeting their patients’ treatment needs, and learn to examine, diagnose, and develop treatment plans; they also schedule care for their patients in an efficient and productive manner.
- The objective of this fourth-year clinical experience is to simulate private practice and facilitate the transition to the responsibilities of a licensed practitioner.
- Continued rotations through local hospital dental clinics provide additional clinical experience.
- In the fourth year, the hospital experience is broadened and students have the opportunity to participate in rounds and clinical conferences.
- Take a look at the tables below to view the curriculum for both fall and spring of the fourth year at UB Dental.
- Click the links below to view full course descriptions for each semester as well!
Fall Semester
| CLD 805 | Oral Health Inequities (Early Fall) | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 3 | ||
| CLD 841 | Comprehensive Care Clinic III | |
| Comprehensive care is defined as the diagnosis, prevention and treatment needed to restore optimal oral health, function and appearance. The School’s pre-doctoral students manage their patients comprehensively. This includes referral of their patients to the School’s advanced education programs when indicated, while always maintaining oversight of the patient’s overall care. Clinic Courses Included in the Comprehensive Care Clinic Sequence Early Fall Session: starting point for CLD831. Third Year (D3): CLD831, Fall Semester – 3.0 credit hours Early Fall Session (D4 students) follows the Third Year (D3): This clinical session enables students to provide continued patient care and to gain additional clinical experience. For D3 students who have satisfied all qualitative and quantitative requirements, the Early Fall Session marks the beginning of the Fourth Year. For D3 students who have not satisfied all qualitative and/or quantitative requirements, the Early Fall may provide an opportunity to make up performance deficiencies. If a student does not satisfy all qualitative and/or quantitative requirements of each discipline course they will be assigned an extended clinical session, dates to be determined by Group Director and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, to complete assigned requirements. If the student has not satisfied all qualitative and/or quantitative requirements after the extended session they will not be promoted to the D4 year. The determination of whether a student repeats one or both semesters of D3 versus assignment of an extended clinical session will be made by the Executive Council based on the recommendation of the Student Progress and Promotions Committee. Early Fall carries no credit hour designation. Clinical treatment that is completed during Early Fall sessions is credited to the students overall clinical requirements. Fourth Year (D4): CLD841, Fall Semester – 3.0 credit hours CLD842, Spring Semester – 3.0 credit hours Credits: 3 | ||
| CLD 845 | Treatment Planning & Cases III | |
| The course will be based on team-based learning. The purpose of the course is to facilitate student learning through group activities focusing on evidence based literature, observing D4 case presentations and participating in class discussion. D3 students are divided into presentation groups. Each group will present an evidence-based published article one time during the academic year in either the Fall or Spring semester. Credits: 3 | ||
| ODS 840 | Develop Patient Assessment Management | |
| This case-based course involves group presentations that allow students to apply information obtained in other courses to a simulated clinical situation. The focus of the presentations is on development of management strategies based on specific medical and oral health circumstances. Credits: 2 | ||
| OSU 843 | Oral Surgery Clinic III | |
| The students will function in the various clinical environments with responsibilities including performance of patient assessment and dentoalveolar surgery, assisting/observation of complex dentoalveolar surgery and observation of conscious sedation administration Credits: 3 | ||
| ORT 843 | Oral Surgery I | |
| Each Fall rotation will entail a presentation by an orthodontic faculty member on the topics of Orthodontic Records, Cephalometric Tracing, and Study Model Analysis. The remainder of the session will be allocated to a rotation through the orthodontic postgraduate clinic. At this time, each senior dental student should observe various orthodontic procedures performed by senior orthodontic residents. This will constitute the clinical requirement for this course. Credits: 4 | ||
| PDO 843 | Pediatric Dentistry Clinic III | |
| PDO 843 is a half-year clinical course designed to continue the educational experiences of the D4 students to pediatric dental procedures in the clinical setting. Credits: 4 | ||
| PER 838 | Endodontics Clinic III | |
| This course is part of the combined third and fourth year integrated clinical program, specifically addressing the Endodontic needs of the patients of the School of Dental Medicine. Credits: 4 | ||
| PER 839 | Endodontics Clinic IV | |
| This course is part of the combined third and fourth year integrated clinical program, specifically addressing the endodontic needs of the patients of the School of Dental Medicine. Credits: 4 | ||
| PER 843 | Periodontology Clinic III | |
| This clinical course is designed to increase your knowledge and improve your technical expertise in the delivery of periodontal therapy and its role in maintaining oral health. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 841 | Health Care Practice Management | |
| This course will help prepare the soon to be graduating clinician with the next phase of their career by teaching them about oral healthcare models and provide them with an understanding of what is needed to establish and manage a dental practice. The course will include participating faculty who bring practice professional experience and knowledge to help prepare students for managing and working in a practice. The student is responsible for all the material presented in the course, including participating faculty presentations. It should be noted that PowerPoint presentations in class are considered to be a discussion/presentation guide and are not a comprehensive representation of everything presented or discussed in class. As such, the student is fully responsible for the material covered in class regardless of whether it appears in the PowerPoint slides, reading or handout. Students will strategically plan and draft personal and professional mission statements, an associateship and practice purchase portfolio, a marketing analysis, analyze terms of an employment agreement, develop a personal financial statement and budget; and complete key elements of a Business Plan, Office Operations Manual and Office Employee Manual. This Course will strengthen the clinicians’ practice management competencies necessary to apply basic practice management principles and philosophies, understand models of oral health care delivery, function successfully as the leader of an oral health care team, and build upon the foundational knowledge learned in the second year course, RDN821, to be competent in applying legal and regulatory concepts related to the provision and/or support of oral healthcare services in an ethical and professionally responsible manner. NOTE: Malpractice Insurance Premium Reduction The Law, Jurisprudence and Risk Management curriculum of UB School of Dental Medicine has been approved by the Fortress and Medical Liability Mutual Insurance (MLMIC) Companies as a certified risk management program. Students who have an acceptable attendance record and achieve a passing final course grade in this course and RDN821 Law and Ethics in Practice Management will be entitled to a ten percent (10%) premium reduction on their first year professional liability insurance premium. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 843 | Case-Based Dental Biomaterials | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 847 | Indirect Clinic Restorations III | |
| The course entails those same clinical procedures which are initiated with: a) review and recording of medical and dental history; b) recognition and recording of individual’s chief concern (complaint); c) data gathering and recording during a clinical patient examination and radiographic survey; d) followed by definition of a problem list with associated treatment options; e) then definition of a patient-specific plan of treatment. This is followed by a series of treatment procedures that are attendant to fixed restorative dentistry including: a) foundation restorations; b) tooth preparation, shade selection; c) tooth provisional stabilization; d) tissue displacement and tooth impression; e) laboratory preparation of working casts mounted on a semi adjustable articulator; f) completion of laboratory work authorization; and g) culminated with refinement and definitive placement of an indirectly fabricated restoration. Included throughout this treatment sequence are an ongoing assessment of patient compliance and education in oral hygiene procedures and review of patient responsibilities once active treatment is complete. This approach to patient treatment is repeated with multiple patients across the third clinical year with a minimum of treatments required to satisfy the course criteria. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 848 | Direct Restorations Clinic | |
| Operative Dentistry is the art and science of Dentistry which deals with the prevention and diagnosis of caries, its management based on risk assessment, the restoration of individual teeth to proper occlusal function and to a form which is in harmony with surrounding hard and soft tissues. This 4th year patientcentered clinical experience in Operative Dentistry puts into practice what was learned in the 2nd year Operative Preclinical course series (RDN809/810), 3rd year Operative didactic course (RDN835), clinical experiences in D3 year, and serves as the foundation for comprehensive patient treatment in the 4th year. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 849 | Removable Prosth. Clinic III | |
| This course is part of the combined third-and fourth-year integrated clinical program. The overall goals, objectives and methods of evaluation are consistent with those of forth-year Comprehensive Care Clinic courses CLD841-842. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 850 | Implant Dentistry Clinic II | |
| This clinical course series provides basic clinical experience in the replacement of missing teeth with dental implants. Credits: 4 | ||
Spring Semester
| CLD 842 | Comprehensive Care Clinic IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 3 | ||
| CLD 841 | Comprehensive Care Clinic III | |
| Comprehensive care is defined as the diagnosis, prevention and treatment needed to restore optimal oral health, function and appearance. The School’s pre-doctoral students manage their patients comprehensively. This includes referral of their patients to the School’s advanced education programs when indicated, while always maintaining oversight of the patient’s overall care. Credits: 3 | ||
| CLD 853 | Treatment Planning & Cases IV | |
| The course will be based on team-based learning. The purpose of the course is to facilitate student learning through group activities focusing on evidence based literature, observing D4 case presentations and participating in class discussion. D3 students are divided into presentation groups. Each group will present an evidence-based published article one time during the academic year in either the Fall or Spring semester. Credits: 3 | ||
| ODS 848 | Clinical Diagnosis IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 2 | ||
| ORT 844 | Orthodontics Seminar/Clinic II | |
| Diagnosis and treatment planning of orthodontic cases is emphasized, as well as when to refer a patient to a specialist. Credits: 3 | ||
| OSU 844 | Oral Surgery Clinic IV | |
| The students will function in the various clinical environments with responsibilities including performance of patient assessment and triage, plus dentoalveolar surgery, assisting/observation of complex dentoalveolar surgery and observation of conscious sedation administration. The urgent care portion includes diagnosis of any dental or dentally related conditions, temporization and referral to appropriate specialists when indicated. Credits: 4 | ||
| PDO 843 | Pediatric Dentistry Clinic IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| PDO 845 | Behavioral Medicine & Clinical Practice | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| PER 839 | Endodontics Clinic IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| PER 844 | Periodontology IV | |
| PDO844 is a half-year clinical course designed to continue the educational experiences of the D4 students to pediatric dental procedures in the clinical setting. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 844 | Indirect Clinic Restorations IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 846 | Direct Restorations Clinic | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 851 | Implant Dentistry Clinic | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
| RDN 857 | Removable Prosthodontic IV | |
| Coming soon.. Credits: 4 | ||
Phone: 716-829-6925
Fax: 716-829-2731
Email: sdmadmit@buffalo.edu
Hours:
8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., M-F
DDS Admissions
School of Dental Medicine
315 Squire Hall
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14214