Dental courses for MD's?

[lil miss dr]

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I will be graduating from medical school this May. I am interested in traveling to third world countries with medical teams to provide care, and I believe that it would be helpful for me to have some kind of dental training in the case that there are no dentists on our team. I would like to take some basic dental courses (something more helpful than dental hygiene), but I don't know if these types of courses are available for medical professionals who are not dentists. Can anyone help me? Thanks. 🙂

 

[GTFOOMICT]

I will be graduating from medical school this May. I am interested in traveling to third world countries with medical teams to provide care, and I believe that it would be helpful for me to have some kind of dental training in the case that there are no dentists on our team. I would like to take some basic dental courses (something more helpful than dental hygiene), but I don't know if these types of courses are available for medical professionals who are not dentists. Can anyone help me? Thanks. 🙂

Not really sure why you'd want to do this. You'll eventually have a medical specialty and that's how you'll make your impact in these countries. Not by being a hobby dentist.

BUT, if you're dead set on learning some basic dental procedures, I am sure you could tag along on some medical mission trips that bring along dentists. They could realistically teach you basic local anesthesia and extractions. But again, why would you? If you feel a location needs dental services, recruit a dentist to go with you. You focus on what you can provide, the dds focuses on what they can provide. Just because this is a 3rd world country, doesn't mean they deserve anything less than a well trained dentist.

 

[mike3kgt]

Not really sure why you'd want to do this. You'll eventually have a medical specialty and that's how you'll make your impact in these countries. Not by being a hobby dentist.

BUT, if you're dead set on learning some basic dental procedures, I am sure you could tag along on some medical mission trips that bring along dentists. They could realistically teach you basic local anesthesia and extractions. But again, why would you? If you feel a location needs dental services, recruit a dentist to go with you. You focus on what you can provide, the dds focuses on what they can provide. Just because this is a 3rd world country, doesn't mean they deserve anything less than a well trained dentist.

Tell you what... I'd rather an MD coming at me with a 150/151 rather than a dental student or certainly more than a pre-dental student (as one on this forum asked if he/she could do). It goes without saying that I'd rather have an MD extract a tooth on me than an expanded function assistant or hygienist.

I think it's commendable that this future MD would wish to learn more about dentistry to provide services to those who certainly would go without. Does your med school have a dental school or GPR? If so, go hang out there and talk to the attending and see if you can watch.

If I can teach my sister (an internist) to give every intra-oral block for the purposes of botox/restalyne/minor facial surgery, than any dentist or resident can teach a highly educated professional like an MD to do the same. Even if he/she can find a dentist to go along with him/her, being able to do dentistry and have the other dentist bail him/her out on a tough extraction case could lead to a lot of dental needs met in impoverished countries.

I, however, wouldn't want that same MD to come back to the USA and think they could extract teeth in their own office or even in the emergency room. I certainly believe a highly educated person like a physician can handle minor dental procedures. Don't come across elitist and say something like "being a hobby dentist" would hurt people overseas.

Yes yes, I know first hand that there is nothing as a "simple" extraction. Yes I know the serious consequences, etc. Again, this is not a third level provider we are talking about, but a physician wanting to be fully equipped to handle all medical situations.

Good luck future doc!

 

[Michael Scarn]

Not really sure why you'd want to do this. You'll eventually have a medical specialty and that's how you'll make your impact in these countries. Not by being a hobby dentist.

BUT, if you're dead set on learning some basic dental procedures, I am sure you could tag along on some medical mission trips that bring along dentists. They could realistically teach you basic local anesthesia and extractions. But again, why would you? If you feel a location needs dental services, recruit a dentist to go with you. You focus on what you can provide, the dds focuses on what they can provide. Just because this is a 3rd world country, doesn't mean they deserve anything less than a well trained dentist.

This👍

 

[GTFOOMICT]

I think you are misinterpreting what I have said and you are underestimating our dental education.

I presented the idea the MD should tag along on a medical care mission that has dentists to learn all the basics. Removing teeth is technically easy and straightforward. And as you suggest, a physician is an educated individual and can handle it. A solid couple of hours and they'd be reasonably ok.

Doesn't change the fact that it makes no sense to do so. You're a PHYSICIAN and have many things to offer the patients. Medical missions are composed of TEAMS. MD, DDS, RN, social workers, layman, etc. Everyone has a purpose in delivering the care to as many people as possible. Maybe on my next mission trip I'll dick around all day on some random skin disease that someone has rather than efficiently delivering basic dental care to a TON of people. Doesn't make sense.

These patients have access to professional care very rarely. They are going to point to 3 teeth that 'hurt' or are bombed out and any idiot can recognize that they need to come out. What about the other 1 or 2 that right now are fine, but a dental education gives you the tools to say they are NOT going to be fine by the time the next medical mission rolls through town. These patients deserve this.

I stand by my statement. Don't be a hobby dentist. Be a physician and make an impact. Recruit a dentist to come along with you to teach you stuff when a patient has no other options. Recruit an RN. Recruit your church members to help teach basic health topics.

 

[The Dawgfather]

Tell you what... I'd rather an MD coming at me with a 150/151 rather than a dental student

Really??? Do you think dental school is that much of a joke? As a 4th yr dental student hoping to go into OS, I find it highly disappointing that you think that the past year and a half of my dental school was so trivial that an MD innately already knows how to do this with no training. What does the MD do when he breaks the crown sub crestally in a third world country? Does he just whip out his hand piece and remove bone? Does he send him over to radiology to see how much root is left?

 

[Saddleshoes]

I will be graduating from medical school this May. I am interested in traveling to third world countries with medical teams to provide care, and I believe that it would be helpful for me to have some kind of dental training in the case that there are no dentists on our team. I would like to take some basic dental courses (something more helpful than dental hygiene), but I don't know if these types of courses are available for medical professionals who are not dentists. Can anyone help me? Thanks. 🙂

I think I can help a little. I am a veteran of 17 medical missions to the 3rd world in Haiti, Honduras, and Paraguay. I understand your desire to get some basic dental training.

I know of no standardized training/course work like you are asking about. However, there is a book (printed in the 80's) that may be of some help.

----Where There Is No Dentist by Murry Dickson---

I have no idea as to if it is still in print or not. It was written for "village heath care workers" and is very good in addressing the basic dental problems one encounters in the developing world. I got my many years ago from The Hesperian Foundation, PO box 1692, Palo Alto, CA 94302

 

[mike3kgt]

Really??? Do you think dental school is that much of a joke? As a 4th yr dental student hoping to go into OS, I find it highly disappointing that you think that the past year and a half of my dental school was so trivial that an MD innately already knows how to do this with no training. What does the MD do when he breaks the crown sub crestally in a third world country? Does he just whip out his hand piece and remove bone? Does he send him over to radiology to see how much root is left?

You are missing what I'm saying. I am not indicating that a fresh medical student has some 'innante' knowledge of medicine that allows him/her to do 'drive-by dentistry.' I am saying that if a dentist is not present without you in an extremely remote section of the world and you are principally acting as a physician/internist to the entire village you are visiting and a person walks up with an abscessed root that needs to come out, what are you going to do? Give them an antibiotic and a referral to the local dental clinic?

I most certainly believe that a properly trained physician would be better equipped to handle any potential emergencies that would develop given a serious complication from attempting to remove a tooth than would an unsupervised dental student, pre-dent, or mid-level provider. Given equals, I would much rather have a recent dental grad extracting teeth than a recent medical grad... by far, without question.

You are still a dental student, you have barely begun to touch the iceberg of how to properly extract teeth. I know you are going into oral surgery and feel compelled to be passionate about surgery, but many surgeons feel that you need 4 years of residency to learn how to properly extract teeth, which is simply not true. If many dental schools deem 'competency' by having 2-4 weeks of oral surgery rotation in 2 years of overall clinical training and thus are supported by state dental boards, who says a physician couldn't do the same?

Given a remote, third world area that probably could only see a health care provider one day out of the whole year, who's to say it would be a bad thing to get a physician involved in learning some basic dentistry?

 

[schmack]

After having been on internal medicine and other rotations, honestly I'd rather have my carpenter "come at me with a 150/151" than some of these non-surgeon MD's.....carpenters at least have some degree of hand skills....Have you ever seen them try and suture in a central line??? yikes.

 

[CanuckDDS]

You are missing what I'm saying. I am not indicating that a fresh medical student has some 'innante' knowledge of medicine that allows him/her to do 'drive-by dentistry.' I am saying that if a dentist is not present without you in an extremely remote section of the world and you are principally acting as a physician/internist to the entire village you are visiting and a person walks up with an abscessed root that needs to come out, what are you going to do? Give them an antibiotic and a referral to the local dental clinic?

I most certainly believe that a properly trained physician would be better equipped to handle any potential emergencies that would develop given a serious complication from attempting to remove a tooth than would an unsupervised dental student, pre-dent, or mid-level provider. Given equals, I would much rather have a recent dental grad extracting teeth than a recent medical grad... by far, without question.

You are still a dental student, you have barely begun to touch the iceberg of how to properly extract teeth. I know you are going into oral surgery and feel compelled to be passionate about surgery, but many surgeons feel that you need 4 years of residency to learn how to properly extract teeth, which is simply not true. If many dental schools deem 'competency' by having 2-4 weeks of oral surgery rotation in 2 years of overall clinical training and thus are supported by state dental boards, who says a physician couldn't do the same?

Given a remote, third world area that probably could only see a health care provider one day out of the whole year, who's to say it would be a bad thing to get a physician involved in learning some basic dentistry?

Nope. You need four years of residency to learn how to manage the tooth that gets pushed into the infratemporal fossa...👍

 

[DocJL]

Nope. You need four years of residency to learn how to manage the tooth that gets pushed into the infratemporal fossa...👍

ditto this.

AND to learn how to do orthognathic surgery.

do you think an OS residency simply prepares one to extract teeth? there are 1 year exodontia ACP's (advanced clinical programs) in the military that train already licensed, degreed and experienced dentitsts to handle the most complex of extractions.

and even for a graduate of dental school, exodontia is far from simple. it is a learned skill, that takes experience to master. as I've told others about my time in military dentistry, where I was able to perform a couple of thousand extractions in 4 years: the first year I screwed up alot and got bailed out by guys with more experience. the second year I really learned what I was doing. the third and fourth year I was the "go to" guy who was bailing out the recent grads.

the specialty of oral and maxillofacial surgery encompasses much more. perhaps you should ask to sit in on a BSSO (bilateral sagittal split osteotomy) where they are advancing a pts mandible. or piecing together somebody's shattered jaw and midface after a car accident while on trauma rotation.

a physician (with the possible exception of an ENT) would have a very difficult time even performing a mandibular block successfully, much less removing any teeth that were not severely periodontally involved.

quite frankly and with all due respect, physicians are taught woefully little about diagnosing and treating the mouth. I still remember being paged down to the ER during my GPR residency and having the attending ER physician whisper to me that he thought the pt in the next curtained area might have oral cancer. turned out to be a simple abscess. this in no way means I look down on any other health care provider, I certainly saw plenty that I didn't have a clue about during my rotation in the ER.

but I agree totally with the first reply offered. as an MD your training as an MD is much more valuable on any medical mission. you may inadvertantly misdiagnose or make a dental problem worse with improper treatment.

like the foreign sailor I treated during my GPR, he had a toothache and while drunk had one of his buddies try to extract an impacted lower third molar with a swiss army knife and ALOT of force. what he got was a fractured 3rd molar, a chewed up bleeding mess in his mouth, and a fracture of the body of his mandible, which required a trip to the OR for reduction and fixation.😉

 

[mike3kgt]

quite frankly and with all due respect, physicians are taught woefully little about diagnosing and treating the mouth. I still remember being paged down to the ER during my GPR residency and having the attending ER physician whisper to me that he thought the pt in the next curtained area might have oral cancer. turned out to be a simple abscess. this in no way means I look down on any other health care provider, I certainly saw plenty that I didn't have a clue about during my rotation in the ER.

Agree 100%. My sister sent me a referral for "oral cancer eval" and patient had bilateral mandibular tori. She has been practicing internal medicine for 20+ years.

I am well aware of what a oral surgery residency prepares you for and it's way beyond just extractions. There is a lot to that you need 4 years to learn, including management of emergencies, orthognathics, thirds and titanium.

The problem with pre-doctoral oral surgery training in dental school is that they scare you to not do anything at all and to refer everything to the oral surgeon. #19 with endo, a crown, and divergent roots? 151 forceps only please, no cowhorn or ImpactAir, dental students shouldn't learn that because you could fracture the mandible or the patient could develop an air emphysema . Extract 22-27 and remove bilateral mandibular tori? Better send that one out or else you might result in unstoppable bleeding in the floor of the mouth. #14 root tip with close sinus proximity? Yup, refer just in case its pushed into the sinus, where the surgeon is properly trained to perform a Caldwell-Luc just in case. Too many people are scared to do straight-forward surgical procedures, but that's the intention right?

Yes, and my sister is capable of administering a mandibular block with a dental syringe. She also now can visualize the difference between a torus or dental abscess now without thinking it's cancer. It's about recognition of disease/health and knowledge of how to treat, which is what medical training is all about. I bet you with 2 weeks of hanging out with an oral surgeon, she'd be able to take out 50% of teeth without a problem.

The topic of this thread was "can a physician learn some basic dentistry to serve people in a remote part of the world" and not to open up down the road from the local oral surgeon or dentist here in the USA.

 

[DocJL]

Agree 100%. My sister sent me a referral for "oral cancer eval" and patient had bilateral mandibular tori. She has been practicing internal medicine for 20+ years.

I am well aware of what a oral surgery residency prepares you for and it's way beyond just extractions. There is a lot to that you need 4 years to learn, including management of emergencies, orthognathics, thirds and titanium.

The problem with pre-doctoral oral surgery training in dental school is that they scare you to not do anything at all and to refer everything to the oral surgeon. #19 with endo, a crown, and divergent roots? 151 forceps only please, no cowhorn or ImpactAir, dental students shouldn't learn that because you could fracture the mandible or the patient could develop an air emphysema . Extract 22-27 and remove bilateral mandibular tori? Better send that one out or else you might result in unstoppable bleeding in the floor of the mouth. #14 root tip with close sinus proximity? Yup, refer just in case its pushed into the sinus, where the surgeon is properly trained to perform a Caldwell-Luc just in case. Too many people are scared to do straight-forward surgical procedures, but that's the intention right?

Yes, and my sister is capable of administering a mandibular block with a dental syringe. She also now can visualize the difference between a torus or dental abscess now without thinking it's cancer. It's about recognition of disease/health and knowledge of how to treat, which is what medical training is all about. I bet you with 2 weeks of hanging out with an oral surgeon, she'd be able to take out 50% of teeth without a problem.

The topic of this thread was "can a physician learn some basic dentistry to serve people in a remote part of the world" and not to open up down the road from the local oral surgeon or dentist here in the USA.

mike,

good reply. thankfully OS in my school was run by ex-miltary surgeons, and they were big on letting you get your feet wet. my very first extraction 3rd year was #5 gross caries which of course I fractured when I grabbed it, was told to get a Stryker, flap it like we had learned in "pig lab", remove some bone and get the damn tooth out. after an hour of sweating and fumbling I got it out and did a sloppy suture job.

by the end of 3rd year I did a mand full arch (periodontally involved) with removal of huge bilateral lingual tori, used the Stryker and surgeon instructor showed me how to use a chisel, undergrad OS rocked at my school!

now ortho on the other hand......

at my school on just about every ortho exam, the correct answer to any question describing an orthodontic problem and asking about the best treatment was ALWAYS answer D.

answer D was D) refer the pt to an orthodontist.

if after you showing her how to give a block your sister is able to get profound anesthesia more than half the time on the first carp, she is doing better than most newly graduated dentists based on what I've seen (and I include myself here) Any dentist who tells you they NEVER miss a mandibular block is FOS. I STILL miss blocks a couple of times a week, and have to follow up with a second or even third carpule in some cases. And I spent half my career in military or group practice, so I've been around other docs and we ALL miss.

Again, informative post and I agree with just about everything you said - except the part about your sister being able to extract 50% of teeth if she had 2 weeks of hanging out with an oral surgeon...

maybe 25%.....

(of the ones that are periodontally involved.....😉

 

[MDMD11]

Tell you what... I'd rather an MD coming at me with a 150/151 rather than a dental student or certainly more than a pre-dental student (as one on this forum asked if he/she could do). It goes without saying that I'd rather have an MD extract a tooth on me than an expanded function assistant or hygienist.

Good luck future doc!

Really?? Maybe then doctors should do restorative and prosthodontic dentsitry too if they can do OS??
A dental course for an MD = A DMD degree, even though we learn about lots of medical conditions and managements and treatments in dental school doesnt mean we can go prescribe digoxin and anticoagulants and etc. They should not be pulling out teeth/doing dentistry if they are not trained! I dont think they should go extract teeth and certainly not in a third world country.
Anyone maybe able to do fillings if they watch 20 fillings being done but then there is the whole process of diagnosing and managing complications that comes with 4 years of dental training! if you can do it doesnt mean you should unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences.

 

[CanuckDDS]

Agree 100%. My sister sent me a referral for "oral cancer eval" and patient had bilateral mandibular tori. She has been practicing internal medicine for 20+ years.

I am well aware of what a oral surgery residency prepares you for and it's way beyond just extractions.There is a lot to that you need 4 years to learn, including management of emergencies, orthognathics, thirds and titanium.

The problem with pre-doctoral oral surgery training in dental school is that they scare you to not do anything at all and to refer everything to the oral surgeon. #19 with endo, a crown, and divergent roots? 151 forceps only please, no cowhorn or ImpactAir, dental students shouldn't learn that because you could fracture the mandible or the patient could develop an air emphysema . Extract 22-27 and remove bilateral mandibular tori? Better send that one out or else you might result in unstoppable bleeding in the floor of the mouth. #14 root tip with close sinus proximity? Yup, refer just in case its pushed into the sinus, where the surgeon is properly trained to perform a Caldwell-Luc just in case. Too many people are scared to do straight-forward surgical procedures, but that's the intention right?

Yes, and my sister is capable of administering a mandibular block with a dental syringe. She also now can visualize the difference between a torus or dental abscess now without thinking it's cancer. It's about recognition of disease/health and knowledge of how to treat, which is what medical training is all about. I bet you with 2 weeks of hanging out with an oral surgeon, she'd be able to take out 50% of teeth without a problem.

The topic of this thread was "can a physician learn some basic dentistry to serve people in a remote part of the world" and not to open up down the road from the local oral surgeon or dentist here in the USA.

...and cleft surgery, and facial cosmetics, and oncology, and poly-trauma, and, and TMJ surgery, and reconstructive surgery, and pathology, and cardiology, and anesthesia, and respirology, and hematology, and pharmacology, and general surgery, and and and....

Mike, don't underestimate your dental training man! 👍 You have developed touch and fine motor skills that MD's couldn't even dream of having (including some MD surgeons who when they operate look like they are having a seizure when they try to pass a suture with the needle drivers- "get me the stapler stat!"). You should go to the OR one day and watch an ENT try to extract a tooth- it is a **** show. After looking at teeth for 4 straight years, you get a feeling on how things look under the gingiva and are supposed to happen- that you can't just pick up quickly.

Too bad that your OS experience in DS sucked cause ours was opposite. And I am trying to convey knowledge and confidence to the dental students that I teach in OS clinics (within reason). They should know how/when to take out teeth and should have the confidence to give'er.

Maybe your sis should've been a surgeon though, sounds like she may have been really good!

Completely off topic....

Although, if the OP completely f's up an exo and has some redonk complication you know that somehow it'll be the "dentist" who f'd up again! (with no mention of them NOT being a DDS). Those damn dentists....😀

 

[GTFOOMICT]

As I try and find a way of downloading Modern Family, I thought about this.

I think the op may be underestimating the practice of 3rd world medicine. I think it's pretty easy for a dentist to take their dental knowledge and apply it to 3rd world. Take our 2 most common pathologies: Caries, perio. In the US, we have a plethora of treatment options. On most mission trips, extractions are the cure of choice.

As an outsider, it would seem that many systemic diseases can not be approached like that in the 3rd world clinics. Can't solve problems with expensive surgery, meds, intensive care nursing care, etc. I bet it takes a lot of prep work and a re-tooling of the procedures and modalities for our US physicians to go oversees. Probably similar physical exam, basic tests, and differential diagnosis, but then treatment options must be based upon available resources. Then to tack on dentistry??

Just a thought.

 

[The Dawgfather]

I truly do have a hard time believing that the OP cannot find a dentist who would be willing to go on any given mission trip.

 

[HupHolland]

Agree 100%. My sister sent me a referral for "oral cancer eval" and patient had bilateral mandibular tori. She has been practicing internal medicine for 20+ years.

I am well aware of what a oral surgery residency prepares you for and it's way beyond just extractions. There is a lot to that you need 4 years to learn, including management of emergencies, orthognathics, thirds and titanium.

The problem with pre-doctoral oral surgery training in dental school is that they scare you to not do anything at all and to refer everything to the oral surgeon. #19 with endo, a crown, and divergent roots? 151 forceps only please, no cowhorn or ImpactAir, dental students shouldn't learn that because you could fracture the mandible or the patient could develop an air emphysema . Extract 22-27 and remove bilateral mandibular tori? Better send that one out or else you might result in unstoppable bleeding in the floor of the mouth. #14 root tip with close sinus proximity? Yup, refer just in case its pushed into the sinus, where the surgeon is properly trained to perform a Caldwell-Luc just in case. Too many people are scared to do straight-forward surgical procedures, but that's the intention right?

Yes, and my sister is capable of administering a mandibular block with a dental syringe. She also now can visualize the difference between a torus or dental abscess now without thinking it's cancer. It's about recognition of disease/health and knowledge of how to treat, which is what medical training is all about. I bet you with 2 weeks of hanging out with an oral surgeon, she'd be able to take out 50% of teeth without a problem.

The topic of this thread was "can a physician learn some basic dentistry to serve people in a remote part of the world" and not to open up down the road from the local oral surgeon or dentist here in the USA.

I beg to differ. My OS training at the predoctoral level has consisted of over 200 extractions, about 1/2 of which were surgical, some full bony. I have tx dry socket, intraoral I&D, alveoplasty, bilateral tuberosity reduction. I will place implants and have done site preservation/augmentation.

I am by no means an expert and will admit that any MD will be better able to handle a medical emergency better than myself; but, for a dentist (and a GP at that) to label dental students as incapable of doing oral surgery well is dissapointing.

Hup

 

[CanuckDDS]

I beg to differ. My OS training at the predoctoral level has consisted of over 200 extractions, about 1/2 of which were surgical, some full bony. I have tx dry socket, intraoral I&D, alveoplasty, bilateral tuberosity reduction. I will place implants and have done site preservation/augmentation.

I am by no means an expert and will admit that any MD will be better able to handle a medical emergency better than myself; but, for a dentist (and a GP at that) to label dental students as incapable of doing oral surgery well is dissapointing.

Hup

NICE! 👍

 

[L8DYV]

I beg to differ. My OS training at the predoctoral level has consisted of over 200 extractions, about 1/2 of which were surgical, some full bony. I have tx dry socket, intraoral I&D, alveoplasty, bilateral tuberosity reduction. I will place implants and have done site preservation/augmentation.

I am by no means an expert and will admit that any MD will be better able to handle a medical emergency better than myself; but, for a dentist (and a GP at that) to label dental students as incapable of doing oral surgery well is dissapointing.

Hup

What dental school do you go?

 

[armorshell]

I beg to differ. My OS training at the predoctoral level has consisted of over 200 extractions, about 1/2 of which were surgical, some full bony. I have tx dry socket, intraoral I&D, alveoplasty, bilateral tuberosity reduction. I will place implants and have done site preservation/augmentation.

I am by no means an expert and will admit that any MD will be better able to handle a medical emergency better than myself; but, for a dentist (and a GP at that) to label dental students as incapable of doing oral surgery well is dissapointing.

Sounds similar to my dental school OS experience, even if you don't count externships. Never did any site preservation/augmentation though (some did however) and I wouldn't consider the implant placement I did in dental school any more than dipping a toe in the pool to see if the water was warm. But I got a great experience in exodontia.

 

[S Files]

I will be graduating from medical school this May. I am interested in traveling to third world countries with medical teams to provide care, and I believe that it would be helpful for me to have some kind of dental training in the case that there are no dentists on our team. I would like to take some basic dental courses (something more helpful than dental hygiene), but I don't know if these types of courses are available for medical professionals who are not dentists. Can anyone help me? Thanks. 🙂

i applaud your intentions but ignorance is bliss. the course you are looking for would be 2 yrs of dental school. otherwise you probably would do more harm than good.
find a dentist to go with you. do a quick search on google most missions are multidisciplinary (nurses, MD, DDS, students, residents , etc).

 

[HupHolland]

What dental school do you go?

Maryland. This is not everyone's experience. It's up to you..you can spend as much or as little time in the OS clinic as you want. Your 4th year you can do a "clerkship" in OS, spending 10+ hours a week in the OMFS clinic, attend weekly lectures and place your patient's implants (within reason: max pres, man molars).

Hup

 

[HupHolland]

Sounds similar to my dental school OS experience, even if you don't count externships. Never did any site preservation/augmentation though (some did however) and I wouldn't consider the implant placement I did in dental school any more than dipping a toe in the pool to see if the water was warm. But I got a great experience in exodontia.

Agreed! 👍

 

[BingDent]

I will be graduating from medical school this May. I am interested in traveling to third world countries with medical teams to provide care, and I believe that it would be helpful for me to have some kind of dental training in the case that there are no dentists on our team. I would like to take some basic dental courses (something more helpful than dental hygiene), but I don't know if these types of courses are available for medical professionals who are not dentists. Can anyone help me? Thanks. 🙂

My suggestion is to you is to teach the locals how to do proper oral hygiene..eg. brush and floss. I don't think you will learn to fix cavities or pulling teeth. Both require intense surgical skills. Imagine trying to pull a tooth and the tooth broke off and you don't have the training to take it out...😱

 

[Archie01]

.I suggest give a try to short-term dental courses. These courses being affordable are worth a try as that may help you to get dental field exposure. If you have plans of working in third world countries then I think you should give it a try as that may give you a lot of experience. These countries are in need of dental care and they cannot afford the expensive regular checkups and procedures for their oral health..

 

[deleted6669]

many em conferences have dental procedure labs which teach one basic dental skills such as blocks,etc
I would start with one of those.

 

[ObviousGuy]

My dental school was likewise very busy in the realm of OS and we were able to do many procedures. 300+ exodontia, tori removal, alveoloplasty, impacted teeth, implants, etc.

Now as a resident and a veteran of one trip to a third world country I can say that I would rather the MD recruit a dentist to go with them. I still (rare) get my butt kicked by a deeply impacted third molar, and yes sometimes one of those retained roots wants to travel anywhere but extraorally...

MD's managing medical problems? I think this also depends on knowledge and 'cool under the gun' nerves. During my medicine rotation I saw a few people that could not handle 'code blue'. The pt would turn out to be having a seizure and it was complete hysteria from some - for no reason - and others would provide directed and proper management of the given scenario.

Nurses in the SICU are the same way. Most of them can handle a medical emergency, but sometimes you need to push them out of the way and give the pt proper CPR.

ER docs rotate in our clinic to learn intraoral nerve blocks. Some of them are awesome and some of them suck.

I am not sure what the OP wants to get out of a couple of weekend courses or a read in a good book about dental care, but hopefully they will learn what they should and should not do to make sure the human they are treating is ethically and safely well served.