Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program is approved by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

As part of an integrated healthcare system, residents get the unique experience of practicing as a member of a team of healthcare professions dedicated to improving and maintaining the health and wellbeing of the populations we treat. Dentists utilize the same electronic health record (EPIC) as all of the other medical specialties in the HealthPartners system. This allows our providers to be true partners with our medical colleagues in addressing the needs of our patients.

Additionally, HealthPartners Dental Group (HPDG) has a long history of providing evidence based, guideline driven care. Our residents can monitor their ability to deliver optimal care by accessing up to date personal data about their practice patterns. Our goal is to provide the training for dentists to practice not only in the healthcare environment that currently exists, but more importantly, in the environment that will exist in decades to come.

Resident Selection

Applications Deadline: December 15

Application Requirements

All applicants are required to submit an application through the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS). HealthPartners accepts the standard PASS Application format.

Other Requirements

• U.S. or Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status.
• DDS or DMD from a Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) or Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC) accredited dental school, with graduation prior to residency start date (July 1).
• Passing score in Part 1 of National Boards.
• Eligibility for a resident license in Minnesota (regional board exams are not required).

Process

Applications should be submitted through ADEA PASS. HealthPartners participates in the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program.

Each application is evaluated using board scores, GPA and Non Academic Factors in a weighted fashion to generate a score for each applicant. HealthPartners uses a ‘holistic’ evaluation methodology as we understand that standardized exams and class ranking may not necessarily determine future potential. All applicants who have an interest in postdoctoral general dentistry training are encouraged to apply regardless of their GPA and class rank.

Our resident selection committee will review application and invite candidates for interview. Interviews are held in mid to late fall.

Applicants who are interested in matching to our program should submit a rank list to the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program. Results of the match are typically available at the end of January. Candidates who are successfully matched to our program will be notified shortly after the match results are reported.

Educational Experience

Residents receive advanced clinical training in all aspects of general dentistry under the guidance of both specialty trained and general dentists. Comprehensive general dental care is provided in a modern, fully equipped clinic. General dentists supervise residents in the provision of complex multidisciplinary care, assisted by the supervision of specialists.

Additionally, residents will have multiple rotations where they can learn advanced techniques under specialty supervision. All of our care is guided by the best evidence available.

Evidence based practice guidelines are the backbone of our practice and metrics have been developed to determine compliance with these guidelines. Our residents have access to individual dashboards that provide them with data on such items as their success in doing risk assessments, interventions based on those assessments and a variety of other metrics including their productivity.

Program Goals and Objectives

At the conclusion of the residency training program, the graduates will be prepared to:

1. Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients. This includes: providing emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care; providing patient focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner; and directing health promotion and disease prevention activities.
2. Plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients including patients with special needs.
3. Manage the delivery of oral health care by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic health care environment.
4. Function effectively and efficiently in multiple health care environments within interdisciplinary health care teams.
5. Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care. This includes using critical thinking, evidence or outcomes-based clinical decision-making, and technology-based information retrieval systems.
6. Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.
7. Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community service.

Program Director

Todd Thierer, DDS

Competencies for Resident Training

Provide emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care

• Integrate multiple disciplines into a person centered, comprehensive, sequenced treatment plan using diagnostic, risk assessment and prognostic information.
• Develop and carry out dental treatment plans for special needs patients in a manner that considers and integrates those patients’ medical, psychological and social needs.
• Treat patients with a broad variety of acute and chronic systemic disorders and social difficulties, including patients with special needs.

Obtain informed consent

• Explain and discuss with patients, parents or guardians of patients, who lack decisional capacity, findings, diagnoses, treatment options, realistic treatment expectations, patient responsibilities, time requirements, sequence of treatment, estimated fees and payment responsibilities, in order to establish therapeutic alliance between the patient and/or parent or guardian, and care provider.
• Function effectively within interdisciplinary health care teams, including consultation and referral.
• Identify needs and make referrals to appropriate health care providers for the treatment of psychological and social problems presented by dental patients.
• Perform dental consultations and request medical consultations for patients.
• Diagnose and manage oral manifestations of systemic disease.
• Obtain and interpret appropriate laboratory and radiographic data and obtain additional diagnostic information through consultation with other health care providers.

Provide patient-focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner

• Make appropriate referrals for treatment to other members of the dental team while continuing to coordinate the patient’s overall oral health care.
• Provide dental treatment for patients with complex medical histories in conjunction and consultation with the patient’s medical providers.
• Provide patient focused oral health care as part of an oral health care team that is coordinated by the general practitioner.

Direct health promotion and disease prevention activities

• Use evidence based prevention strategies such as caries, periodontal and oral cancer risk assessments, nutritional education, and pharmacologic intervention to help patients maintain and improve their oral and systemic health.
• Use appropriate interventions based on the results of risk assessment analysis.

Restoration of teeth (Operative Dentistry)

• Restore single teeth using a functionally acceptable range of materials and methods taking into account risk management and individual needs.
• Place restorations and perform techniques to enhance facial esthetics.
• Restore intra and extra-oral coronal defects.
• Restore endodontically treated teeth.

Restoration of the edentulous space

• Treat patients with missing teeth requiring removable prosthetics.
• Treat patients with missing teeth requiring single and/or short span fixed restorations.
• Understand the indications, evaluate, and treat patients with missing teeth using uncomplicated dental implant restorations.
• Communicate care design with laboratory technicians and evaluate the resultant prostheses.

Periodontal therapy

• Diagnose periodontal disease based on the periodontal examination and utilizing radiographs.
• Treat and manage mild and moderate periodontal disease.
• Evaluate the results of periodontal treatment and establish and monitor a periodontal maintenance program.
• Diagnose and manage advanced periodontal disease.
• Recognize and manage periodontal emergencies and complications of periodontal treatment.

Pulpal therapy

• Diagnose and treat pain of pulpal origin, to include performing uncomplicated, non-surgical endodontic therapy.
• Recognize and manage endodontic emergencies.
• Diagnose and manage complex endodontic therapy, including retreatment and apicoectomies, and their complications.

Oral and maxillofacial surgery

• Perform surgical and nonsurgical extraction of erupted teeth.
• Perform biopsies of oral tissues.
• Recognize and manage surgical emergencies and complications of intraoral surgical treatment.
• Extract uncomplicated impacted wisdom teeth.
• Diagnose and manage common oral pathological abnormalities.
• Manage intraoral soft tissue lesions of non-traumatic origin.

Evaluation and treatment of dental emergencies

• Diagnose and manage dental emergencies, performing uncomplicated or reversible techniques where indicated.
• Treat intraoral hard and soft tissue lesions of traumatic origin.

Pediatric dentistry

• Perform pediatric pulpal therapy.
• Restore intra and extra-coronal defects in the primary dentition.
• Perform uncomplicated surgical procedures on pediatric patients.
• Use pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic behavior management skills with the pediatric patient.

Pain and anxiety control

• Evaluate the need for use of behavioral and/or pharmacologic modalities in management of pain and anxiety based upon psychosocial factors and anticipated clinical procedures.
• Provide control of pain and anxiety in the conscious patient through the use of psychological interventions, behavior management techniques, local anesthesia, and oral and nitrous oxide conscious sedation techniques.
• Understand the control of pain and anxiety in the conscious patient through the use of parenteral conscious sedation techniques.
• Prevent, recognize and manage complications related to the use and interactions of pharmacologic agents used to sedate patients and control pain and anxiety.

Medical emergencies

• Anticipate, diagnose and provide initial treatment and follow-up management for medical emergencies that may occur during dental treatment.
• Temporomandibular Disorders and Orofacial Pain.
• Evaluate, diagnose and manage patients with orofacial pain.
• Diagnose and non-surgically treat uncomplicated temporomandibular disorders.

Oral pathology

• Correlate basic pathologic changes with clinical findings, changes and symptomatology.
• Use a methodological approach to clinical diagnosis of orofacial abnormalities in the formulation of differential diagnoses.

Occlusal disorders

• Evaluate a patient’s occlusion and perform appropriate adjustments in uncomplicated cases.
• Diagnose major occlusal disorders and understand management strategies.
• Patient assessment and diagnosis.
• Obtain and interpret a patient’s chief complaint, history of present illness, medical, dental, family and cultural background, social histories, and review of systems.
• Perform a history, head and neck and oral examination and collect other data to establish a risk assessment for use in the development of a dental treatment plan.
• Establish diagnosis and risk assessment incorporating historical, laboratory, radiographic and clinical findings.
• Select and use assessment techniques to arrive at a differential, provisional and definitive diagnoses for people with complex needs.

Practice management

• Treat patients efficiently in a dental practice setting.
• Use and implement accepted sterilization disinfection, universal precautions and occupational hazard prevention procedures in the practice of dentistry.
• Practice and promote the principles of jurisprudence and ethics in the practice of dentistry and in relationships with patients, personnel and colleagues.
• Provide patient care by working effectively with allied dental personnel including performing sit down, four handed dentistry.
• Function as the leader of an oral health care provider team.
• Understand the process of becoming an associate in a dental practice.
• Understand the business aspects of running a dental practice.

Hospital dentistry

• Provide dental treatment in an operating room.
• Provide consultation and/or dental evaluation for patients pre surgery, pre chemo and pre radiation treatment.

Physical diagnosis

• Take, record, and interpret a complete medical history.
• Understand the indications of and interpretations of laboratory studies and other techniques used in the diagnosis of oral and systemic diseases.
• Understand the relationship between oral health care and systemic diseases.
• Interpret the physical evaluation performed by a physician with an understanding of how it impacts on proposed dental treatment.

Documentation, information management and quality improvement

• Evaluate scientific literature and use information in the literature in making professional decisions.
• Work with a patient record system that facilitates the retrieval and analysis of the process and outcomes of patient treatment.
• Modify the treatment plan, if indicated, based on therapeutic outcomes, unexpected circumstances or the patient’s individual needs.
• Understand how to initiate and maintain a quality improvement process with measurable outcomes and apply the results to improving patient care.

Clinical Rotations

Midway Clinic

All residents, when not on outside rotations, are assigned to the HealthPartners Midway Dental Clinic. During this time the residents provide comprehensive care to those patients so scheduled. Members of the attending staff are present at all times. Specialist supervision is provided on scheduled days.

Hours of operation vary from an 8:30 or 9:00 am start time and a 4:00 or 5:00 pm end time although care may extend past 5:00 pm if emergencies or unforeseen circumstances arise.

Patients come from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds and present with a wide range of medical and dental problems.

Orofacial Pain/TMD – Como Clinic

All residents will rotate at the HealthPartners Como Dental Clinic for two months two days/week. During that rotation they will participate in the care of complex orofacial pain/tmd patients under the supervision of Dr. Darrell Boychuk.

Hope Dental Clinic

All residents will rotate at Hope Dental Clinic (HDC) for two months, one day per week. HDC provides free care to an underserved community. Residents will work under supervision of HealthPartners staff. This experience is part of our efforts to expose residents to treating underserved patients in community setting so that they will become comfortable in that environment and continue to provide care to the underserved after graduation.

Delivering Care in the Operating Room

General and Pediatric Dentistry

Residents will be assigned to assist members of the attending staff who admit patients for treatment in the operating room under general anesthesia. The resident, under the supervision of the attending staff, will assist in the history taking and physical evaluation, participate in writing orders, progress notes, operative notes discharge summaries and provide treatment in the operating room.

After Hours Emergency Care

Each resident will also take after hours emergency dental call for the HealthPartners Dental Group (HPDG).

There will always be a supervising general dentist and oral and maxillofacial surgeon for consultation on call.

All after hours calls are triaged by the HealthPartners Nurse Careline. Residents are only called for issues beyond the ability of the nurses to handle over the phone.

Residents will also be called to assist the Emergency Room physicians with managing patient who have had facial trauma and/or other medical issues with oral health implications that necessitate evaluation and/or treatment in the Emergency Room.

Non-scheduled (Emergency) Patients During Regular Clinic Hours

Emergency patients presenting to the Midway clinic without appointments will have their dental emergencies addressed before the end of the day. Each day a resident will have assignments on an Emergency Patient rotation.

Consultations

The resident is exposed to patients with a broad range of medical and emotional problems on the consultation service and works closely with other health professionals.

One resident who is assigned to the rotation for emergency patient care is also assigned to be responsible for evaluating and treating consults. An attending is also assigned on a daily basis. Consults can come from a variety of sources but will be brought to the resident’s attention either by an attending or business office staff. Residents are expected to follow through in the evaluation of those in-patients at Regions Hospital for whom dental consultations are requested.

Performance Improvement/Quality Assurance

Residents will participate in the department performance improvement/quality assurance program by attending Care Innovations and Quality Committe meetings for the HealthPartners Dental Division.