Pediatric Oral Health and Clinical Practice

You will develop skills in behavior guidance and learn to work effectively with children, parents, and patients with special health care needs. You will gain a deeper understanding of child oral development and pediatric treatment techniques while providing care for a wide range of pediatric dental conditions and procedures.

This micro-credential is available for fourth-year dental students (DDS and IDP) interested in pursuing a career in pediatric dentistry, with a 3.0 GPA or better, in good clinical standing and with passing grades in PDO 831 and PDO 832.

Successful completion of three courses:

• PDO 855: Pediatric Dental Procedures
• PDO 860: American Board of Pediatric Dentistry Reference Manual Review
• One of PDO 840: Elective Pediatric Dental Procedures or PDO 863: Advanced Pediatric Dentistry, and 
• Successful completion of a one-hour lecture presented on an approved pediatric dentistry topic with accompanying slide deck.

PDO 831

PDO 832

PDO 855: Pediatric Dental Procedures (4 credit hours): This course consists of 10 half-days of rotation throughout the pediatric clinics. This will expose the students to additional operative/hygiene procedures, operating room and sedation cases, special needs and specialty clinics, and outreach events. This course is offered in both fall and spring semesters.

PDO 860: American Board of Pediatric Dentistry Reference Manual Review (1 credit hour): The purpose of the course is to introduce students to current pediatric dental literature topics while exploring the AAPD Reference Manual (oral health policies, clinical guidelines and resources) and the AAPD Core Reading List journal articles. The course will require students to create presentations to their peers as an educational component and allow students to engage in discussion of the topics assigned. The students will be required to give a self-assessment of their presentation and critiques of their classmates’ presentations. This course is offered in both fall and spring semesters.

PDO 840: Elective Pediatric Dental Procedures (2 credit hours): This course consists of an additional 10 half days of rotation through the clinics, allowing the students to increase competency in the areas of restorative dentistry, behavior management, clinical diagnosis and treatment planning. This course is offered in both fall and spring semesters.

PDO 863: Advanced Pediatric Dentistry (1 credit hour): The purpose of the course is to further expose the students to multiple areas of pediatric dentistry, including basic dental procedures, trauma, space maintenance, interceptive orthodontics, early childhood caries, behavior management and hospital dentistry. This is done in both the classroom and in the laboratory/clinical environment. This course is offered in both fall and spring semesters.

Lecture to peers from the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry Reference Manual, topic assigned by pediatric dental micro-credential advisor.

To apply, ensure you meet all eligibility requirements and send your letter of interest to Andee Wik (andeewik@buffalo.edu) by June 1 of your third year of dental school.

To learn more about micro-credentials and digital badges, visit the Office of Micro-Credentials website.