Professional certificate: orthodontics
Graduate degree: MS in orthodontics
Faculty: https://dentistry.uiowa.edu/directory
Website: https://dentistry.uiowa.edu/departments/orthodontics
The Department of Orthodontics educates predoctoral, professional, and resident/graduate students for careers as practicing dentists, orthodontists, researchers, and teachers. The department also conducts major research programs and receives significant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It delivers state-of-the-art treatment to patients—adults, children, and adolescents—with a range of orthodontic, craniofacial, and related issues.
The goal of the resident/graduate program in orthodontics is to educate competent individuals to initially practice orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics. Additional goals include providing clinical services for citizens of Iowa and educating students in methods of scientific inquiry. The programs' objectives are to provide students with an in-depth education in biological and biomechanical principles related to orthodontics; to teach students to diagnose, plan, and deliver comprehensive orthodontic health care service; and to develop students' research and service skills.
Opportunities are available for research and independent study in the department, and there are special facilities for research in biomechanics and craniofacial growth. Interaction with other departments provides learning and research opportunities in surgical orthodontics, cleft lip and palate treatment, speech pathology, animal experimentation, and human growth.
DDS Student Training
The Department of Orthodontics prepares Doctor of Dental Surgery students to competently recognize malocclusions of teeth in preparation for decision-making regarding treatment or referral. The lecture course guides DDS students in learning concepts of dental development and facial growth to maturity, as well as treatment-oriented subject matter ranging from limited, interceptive treatment through possible comprehensive treatment options. In a laboratory course, case-based material is utilized to give students experience with evaluating diagnostic casts, radiographs, and clinical findings for space management decision-making purposes. Experience also is included in the basics of fabricating a limited range of orthodontic appliances.