Prosthodontics

Program Chair and Director: Carlo Ercoli, DDS

The University of Rochester Eastman Department of Dentistry combines education, patient care, and research exclusively at the postdoctoral level. All who come to study following graduation from dental school, work with faculty who are committed to the advanced training program.


Compared to a dental school, the combined programs have a relatively small number of residents, yet EDD is one of the largest dental graduate training centers in the country. This relatively small size affords the opportunity not only for individual attention, but for the individuals to pursue various areas of interest more intently, if desired. The opportunity for interdisciplinary activity is readily available. This includes consultations, joint seminars, lectures, informal activities, and discussions among other specialty students from periodontics, orthodontics, and pediatric dentistry. There also is the opportunity at the advanced level, particularly for residents with an interest in dental research or academics.

Many of the alumni from the UR and the former Eastman Dental Center training programs have become department chairs and deans in dental institutions throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world.

The prosthodontics clinical training program offers a three-year advanced training program, which meets the requirements of the Commission on Dental Accreditation and the American Board of Prosthodontics. All phases of prosthodontics are taught in the program, including dental implants, with emphasis placed on the practical application of various types of treatment. Approximately one-third of the time is for lectures, seminars, and research; the remainder is for clinical treatment and laboratory procedures.

Didactic Courses and Lectures
Residents attend courses in basic sciences and oral disease. After completing all required courses, residents may select, with faculty approval, the courses most appropriate to their needs. Lecture and seminar sessions cover fixed and removable prosthodontics, occlusion, TMJ dysfunction, maxillofacial prosthetics and cleft palate prostheses, implants, and implantology. This portion of the program includes an extensive review of the literature related to prosthodontics.

Students lead many seminars and are provided opportunities to present lectures on various aspects of prosthodontics, providing valuable teaching experience. Combined seminars with other disciplines are offered, including periodontics, orthodontics, and oral surgery.

Courses

Clinical Activities
Through clinical instruction, residents have an opportunity to complete procedures in all phases of fixed and removable prosthodontics including complete oral reconstruction utilizing various methods and techniques. In the second year, clinical supervision of general dentistry residents adds to the teacher training experience.

Research

One of the program's goals is for the resident to gain the ability to critically evaluate research information and determine its potential application to clinical procedures. Residents in the Prosthodontic Program conduct a research project under faculty supervision.

Residents accepted into graduate academic programs at the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry must complete a major research project and submit a thesis reporting on their investigation. Their area of research will be carried out under faculty guidance at the University of Rochester.

Educational Opportunities
Residents may apply to the University of Rochester's School of Medicine and Dentistry or other local universities or colleges to combine course work and research requirements toward a Masters or Ph.D. degree while pursuing their program in prosthodontics at Eastman Dental Center.

Application Process

Stipend
First Year:      $21,726
Second Year: $22,539
Third Year:     $23,791

Tuition for International Students:
1st Year:  $16,000

Member of the American College of Prosthodontists.