Professional certificate: operative dentistry
Faculty: https://dentistry.uiowa.edu/directory
Website: https://dentistry.uiowa.edu/departments/operative-dentistry
The Department of Operative Dentistry teaches the foundational concepts of dentistry to predoctoral dental students in caries management (diagnosis, prevention, repair, and restorative techniques) and dental materials. The primary departmental focus is to provide the knowledge, technical skills, critical thinking, and judgment for the diagnosis, prevention, and management of dental caries, non-caries dental defects (attrition, abrasion, erosion, abfraction, developmental abnormalities, discoloration, and trauma), and elective aesthetic smile enhancements. It also serves an equally important position to provide national leadership in dental research and advanced restorative technology in its collective faculty efforts and through the professional Certificate in Operative Dentistry.
DDS Student Training
Coursework and clinical experiences in operative dentistry are fundamental to the overall education of Doctor of Dental Surgery students. Operative dentistry coursework covers roughly one-quarter of curriculum time during the first three years of dental school as students progress toward competency in operative dentistry. The department's primary goal is to educate dental students, using the best evidence available and the latest proven technological approaches, to achieve and maintain optimal patient oral comfort, function, and aesthetics through risk-based diagnosis, prevention, and minimally invasive treatment of caries and noncarious lesions of the teeth.