Principles of Specialty 1

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

Varies from 4 to 8 hours of non-contact private study per week depending on the specialty.

The subject may be undertaken in the following specialties: Endodontics, Oral Medicine, Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, Prosthodontics, Special Needs Dentistry. Further details are below:

ENDODONTICS: Students participate in a weekly seminar/tutorial program (3-5 hours per week), which addresses basic and advanced topics in clinical endodontics and related biology, with a strong emphasis on current literature. Students present two seminars per semester, based on critical reviews of literature on assigned topics. Weekly reviews of current literature are also conducted.

ORAL MEDICINE: The subject covers basic clinical sciences in particular, oral pathology, oral medicine, oral radiology and relevant aspects of general and forensic pathology and general and forensic medicine. This includes participation in tutorials, presentation of seminars and participation in review meetings at various venues, including the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

ORTHODONTICS: A series of seminars, assigned readings and student-prepared assignments on the basic and applied sciences that form the basis of the specialty.

PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY: This subject covers the basic areas of Pediatric Dentistry: behaviour guidance, growth and development, interceptive orthodontics, diagnosis and treatment planning, prevention, trauma, restorative dentistry, pulp therapy, anaesthesia and sedation, oral surgery, and care of the medically compromised child. The curriculum incorporates lectures, seminars and case presentations given weekly and supplemented by the presentation of student assignments. A journal club, when students review the latest issues of several journals in the field, is held weekly.

PERIODONTICS: Students attend seminars each week in Periodontics which cover basic and clinical topics and include reviews of current literature. The biology of the periodontal tissues, the biological basis of periodontal diseases, their treatment, control and prevention and the inter-relationship between Periodontics and other areas of dentistry are covered at an advanced level. Oral implantology and aesthetic dentistry, as these relate to periodontal care, form a component of the curriculum.

PROSTHODONTICS:Seminars and student prepared assignments in the basic and applied sciences that form the basis of the specialty.

SPECIAL NEEDS DENTISTRY: The subject focuses on the oral health care of Special Needs patients: relationships between general health and oral health, chronic medical conditions, medical emergencies, oral manifestations of medical conditions, pharmacology and therapeutics, communication and behaviour management, oro-motor dysfunction, salivary dysfunction, rational dental treatment planning, preventive dentistry, advanced clinical dentistry techniques, sedation and general anaesthesia, portable dentistry, ethics, dental public health, and oral epidemiology. The curriculum will be covered by lectures, seminars, and assignments. A weekly journal club will involve students reviewing key Special Needs Dentistry journal articles and literature.

An overall pass mark must be achieved. This may be a combination of assessed student seminar presentations, written assignments and/or written examinations.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.