In the third year, study of most clinical subjects continues, with courses in oral pathology and radiology, pharmacology, oral medicine, and anesthesia. Lecture courses lessen in quantity, and the clinical practice of dentistry begins to take precedence in time and effort. Third-year students spend three full days (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) in the clinic each week, with the remaining two days spent in classes and labs.
In year 3, students experience a heavy load of didactic courses. They also continue their clinical experience, with rotations in: Pediatrics and OR, Urgent Care, Oral Surgery, and the Mobile Unit Dental Van. Students also begin board exam preparations during the third year as well.
Third-year students also continue in the practice groups assigned during their second year. Each practice group—composed of approximately twenty third-year students, twenty fourth-year students, a director, and a group of faculty—functions like a large group practice. Each group works together to provide care to the patients assigned to the practice group. Two practice groups are located on the first-floor clinic; the other two practice groups occupy the second-floor clinic. Each student is assigned an operatory for his/her exclusive use for the third- and fourth-year clinical experience.
Clinical skills are developed as third-year students provide comprehensive care to between fourteen and eighteen patients and are directly involved in each major discipline of clinical dentistry, including operative dentistry, periodontics, endodontics, orthodontics and pediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and fixed and removable prosthodontics. Third-year students perform patient care in all phases of clinical dentistry, gaining the same scope of experience as fourth-year students but taking a little longer and performing less sophisticated procedures. While third-year students still require significant faculty supervision, by the end of the third year they have gained sufficient clinical experience to provide treatment to patients with more demanding and comprehensive treatment needs.
Click below to view our third year slideshow!
Rotations to Buffalo’s major hospitals complement the clinical experience gained in Squire Hall. Third- and fourth-year students are assigned one week out of every four to the dental clinics in a number of Buffalo-area hospitals. This provides an opportunity to treat a larger group of patients with a wide variety of dental-treatment needs and other medical complications. Students treat patients and assist postgraduate students and attending dentists as they care for patients. Students spend time at Erie County Medical Center; Kaleida Health’s Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, Buffalo General Hospital, and Millard Fillmore Hospitals; the VA Western New York Healthcare System; and Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In these settings, students become familiar with dental care provided in a hospital environment and are given the opportunity to gain operating-room experience, provide restorative care to medically compromised patients, and receive training in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Take a look at the tables below to view the curriculum for both fall and spring of the third year at UB Dental. Click the links below to view full course descriptions for each semester as well!
CLD 831 | Comprehensive Care Clinic I |
CLD 835 | Treatment Planning & Cases I |
ODS 832 | Oral Radiology Clinic |
ODS 836 | Oral Pathology II |
ODS 837 | Clinic Diagnosis I |
OSU 831 | Oral Surgery I |
OSU 833 | Oral Surgery Clinic I |
OSU 837 | Oral Surgery Boot Camp |
PDO 831 | Pediatric Dentistry & Clinical Practice I |
PER 831 | Non-Surgical Periodontology Therapy |
PER 833 | Periodontology Clinic I |
PER 835 | Endodontics II |
PER 836 | Endodontics Clinic I |
PMY 831 | Principles of Pharmacology |
RDN 828 | Implant Dentistry I |
RDN 831 | Implant Dentistry II |
RDN 833 | Fixed Prosthodontics I |
RDN 834 | Indirect Restorations Clinic I |
RDN 835 | Cariology & Direct Restorations I |
RDN 836 | Direct Restorations Clinic I |
RDN 837 | Removable Prosth. III |
RDN 839 | Removable Prosth. Clinic I |
CLD 832 | Comprehensive Care Clinic II |
CLD 838 | Treatment Planning & Cases II |
CLD 847 | Advancement into the Dental Profession |
ODS 831 | Management of the Medically Complex Patient |
ODS 832 | Oral Radiology Clinic III |
ODS 834 | TMD and Orofacial Pain |
ODS 838 | Clinical Diagnosis II |
ODS 846 | Geriatric Dentistry |
ODS 842 | Dental Management of Patients with Special Needs |
OSU 832 | Oral Surgery II |
OSU 834 | Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic II |
OSU 836 | Anesthesia/Pain Control |
ORT 832 | Orthodontics and Orthodontics Technique |
PDO 832 | Pediatric Dentistry II |
PER 832 | Surgical Perio. Therapy |
PER 834 | Periodontics Clinic II |
PER 837 | Endodontics Clinic II |
RDN 833 | Fixed Prosthodontics II |
RDN 834 | Fixed Prosthodontics Clinic II |
RDN 835 | Cariology and Direct Rest. IV |
RDN 836 | Operative Clinic II |
RDN 838 | Removable Prosthodontics IV |
RDN 839 | Removable Prosthodontics Clinic II |
RDN 845 | Implant Dentistry Clinic I |
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