Electives

senior electivesPredoctoral Electives – Special Topics Courses

Third- and fourth-year dental students are provided the opportunity to register for elective courses which cover a wide range of topics. Electives are offered during the fall and spring terms. Courses are held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (see course descriptions below for session details).  Each elective course consists of an 8-hour commitment for 0.50 credits or a 15-hour commitment for 1.00 credit. Please read the course descriptions below which include the time commitment and number of credits.

Policies & Eligibility

Third-year dental students may register for no more than one (1) elective per term. This limitation is inclusive of the third-year Research with Mentor course (ODSC 599).

Fourth-year dental students may register for no more than two (2) electives per term, which is exclusive of any clerkship course or the Research with Mentor course (ODSC 599).

Any student wishing to enroll in an elective course must be in good academic standing.

Grading

All elective courses are graded as pass/fail. Instructors may assign exercises and assessments at their discretion; however, at minimum, attendance is required at all course meetings dates in order to achieve a passing grade. Please see course descriptions for additional grading criteria.

Students who do not request to have an elective course dropped from their schedule prior to the first meeting date will receive a “W” on their transcript to indicate withdrawal from the course.

Upon successful completion of the elective course(s), credit will be given under the special topics course, DNTS 548, and it will appear on your official transcript.

Registration

When choosing your elective(s), please carefully check your schedule to ensure you are available to attend all sessions, and for D4 students also make certain that multiple elective courses do not have overlapping session dates.

Please use this link to register for the electives:  www.surveymonkey.com/r/TYJCWBR 

If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Ellen Seed at eseed@umaryland.edu 

OFFERINGS FOR SPRING 2025

Mindfully Navigating Conflict Resolution in the Practice of Dentistry  

Instructor:  Dr. Douglas Drewyer  

Credits:  0.5 

Course Capacity:  16 

Dates: All sessions will take place from 5-7 pm in room 9105 on Monday 1/6, 1/13, 1/27 and 2/24.    

Course Description: Please join me for a conversational course where we address Conflict Resolution through the power of being present without judgement, strengthened through behavioral practices allowing clarification of our mutual feelings and needs.  Effectively learn to develop ways to make life more ONE-DERFUL for all our partnerships, personally and professionally.  Learn how to make requests that transform “Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Now what?” to a more peaceful, mutually rewarding co-existence.  

Grading Requirements: Grading is pass/fail, based on attendance (100% is expected).  Specific Criteria: Some written assignments to develop our skills and enrich our classroom exchanges.  

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Aesthetic Dentistry, an Inter-Disciplinary Approach 

Instructor:  Dr. David Mazza 

Credits: 0.5 

Course capacity: 40 

Dates:  Wednesday, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5 from 5-7 pm and 2/19 from 5-6 pm with a hands-on lab session on 2/19 from 6-7 pm in lab C.  All lectures will take place in G307.   

Course Description:  Lectures on:   

  • Anatomy of an esthetic smile 
  • How to personalize smiles 
  • Tooth whitening protocol 
  • Gingival esthetic principles 
  • Diastemas closure, achieving natural looking results 
  • Composite laminate veneers 
  • Porcelain laminate veneers 
  • Principles of color in dentistry, shade selection and matching protocol 
  • Troubleshooting common problems with esthetic dentistry 
  • Reviewing several clinical cases and walking the students through actual cases from start to finish 
  • One hour “hands-on” instruction 

Grading Requirements: Attendance to all sessions of the elective and completion of the handout after every session. 

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Clear Aligners for General Practitioners 

This elective has a prerequisite of passing ORTH 538.  This elective is only available for D4 students. 

Instructor(s):  Dr. Flavio Copello 

Credits:  0.5 

Course Capacity:  40 students (D4 students only) 

Dates: Monday, 1/13, Wednesday, 1/15, Wednesday, 1/22 and Monday, 1/27.  All sessions will take place in room G310 from 5-7 pm. PLEASE NOTE – For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th sessions, students are required to bring their personal laptops.   

Course Description: The course will consist of five lectures on clear aligners to general dentists.  The main objective of the course is to describe how these devices work, how they should be planned and what type of patients the general practitioner should select to treat.  Topics such as concepts of orthodontic aligners, basic fundamentals of biomechanics with aligners, digital workflow, laboratory and clinical procedures, and a specific class on case selection will be addressed.  In addition, a final exam will be taken with multiple choice and free answer questions. 

Grading Requirements: Attendance to all session of this elective is required for a passing grade.  The course director may have additional specific requirements that need to be met.   

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CIPP 650 Climate Change, Health and Society – Interprofessional Elective Course 

NOTE:  available to D3 students only due to course schedule 

Instructor:  Dr. S. DasSarma (sdassarma@som.umaryland.edu) 

Credits: 2 credits  

Dates: The course starts on January 22 and ends on May 7, 2025.  It is offered as an online/asynchronous course (Section 2) 

Course Description: CIPP 650 examines the causes and impacts of climate change, emphasizing human health and society in Maryland, including the scientific basis for climate change, health equity and governmental policies. Case studies are high-lighted, and students work in teams to develop innovative solutions to climate change-driving environmental challenges.  The course addresses issues such as extreme heat, infectious disease, air pollution, saltwater inundation and environmental justice.   

Learning Objectives:  

  • Build foundational knowledge in the science of climate change, including how greenhouse gas emissions promote warming of the land, oceans and polar regions, with consequences for human health and society. 
  • Communicate how climate change can contribute to human diseases and societal stressors, with disproportionate impacts on economically-disadvantaged, vulnerable people, communities and countries. 
  • Develop familiarity with environmental laws and policies at the local, state, national and international levels that are aimed at mitigation and adaptation to climate change. 
  • Embrace interprofessional teamwork for responding to climate change with a consortium of faculty from the Graduate School and professional School of Medicine, Nursing, Law and Social Work. 
  • Successfully partner with stakeholders and representatives at the local, state and national levels to conduct meaningful actions for addressing challenges from climate change. 

More information can be found at:  https://medschool.umaryland.edu/climate -change/cipp650-course/  

If interested, please complete the survey monkey for the electives, we will need to add you to the course.   

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DNTS 548 – Advanced Topics in Special Care Dentistry 

Instructor(s): Dr. Sydnee Chavis 

Credits: 0.5  

Course Capacity:  20 students 

Dates: Wednesday, 2/19, 2/26, 3/5, 3/26, 4/2 and 4/9.  All sessions will take place in room G313 from 5-7 pm.   

Course Description: Patients with special health care needs and medical complexities, especially adult patients, face significant disparities in access to dental care and oral healthcare outcomes compared to the general population.  This course will take a deeper dive into considerations for care of adults with special healthcare needs and explore methods of patient management and treatment.  It will also review topics such as obtaining and presenting a medical history, collaborating with physicians and other members of the healthcare team, communicating with patients and their families with clarity and empathy and triaging and making appropriate patient referrals for comprehensive care.  This course will support students’ abilities, skills and comfort in managing and treating patients with special needs, as well as understanding medical contexts of dental care, and collaborations with the medical team to support patient care.   

Students will have the option to participate in up to 4 clinic sessions as part of this elective course, with the goal of following a patient with special needs that modifies their dental treatment throughout the semester.  There will be a goal of participating in at least 2 optional clinic sessions in the Special Care and Geriatrics Clinic during the course of the semester.   

Note: This course will be recommended especially for D3 students who are interested in the Special Care and Geriatrics Clerkship. 

Grading Requirements: Grading will be based on student attendance, participation and completion of a presentation to the faculty and class in a pass/fail manner.  Students will not meet the passing requirement if they do not actively participate, do not present to their peers and faculty within the elective, or if they miss more than one lecture unexcused.   

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Dental Implants: Diagnosis, Treatment Planning with Clinical Cases 

Instructor:  Dr. David Mazza 

Credits:  0.5 

Course Capacity: 40 

Dates: Wednesday, 3/5, 3/19, 4/2 from 5-7 pm and 4/16 from 5-6 pm in room G307 with a hands-on lab on 4/16 from 6-7 pm in lab C. 

Course Description: This course is designed to familiarize the dental student with principles of implant treatments, treatment planning and review of actual clinical cases from start to finish.  

Discussion Items:  

  • Introduction to implants and its biological considerations. 
  • Treatment planning of implant cases utilizing CT scan, Simplant software 
  • Case selection (medical, masticatory musculature dynamics), prosthetic work-ups for implant cases 
  • Single unit implant, implant bridges and full arch, full mouth reconstruction plus implant supported over-denture protocols 
  • Implant protected occlusion 
  • Progressive load of dental implants 
  • Troubleshooting of common dental implant problems 
  • Reviewing several clinical cases and discussion of actual cases from start to finish 

Grading Requirements: Attendance to all sessions of the elective and completion of the handout after every session. 

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Direct Veneer and Diastema Closure 

Instructors:  Dr. Guilherme Arossi  

Credits: 0.5  

Capacity: 30 students 

Dates:  Monday, 3/3, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. room G307 (Lecture on Veneer Prep); Wednesday, 3/5, from 5:00-6:45 p.m. in Lab C; Monday, 3/17, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in room G307 (Lecture on Composite Layering), Wednesday, 3/19, from 5:00-6:45 p.m. in Lab C; Monday, 3/24, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in room G307 (Lecture on Finishing and Polishing) and Wednesday, 3/26, from 5:00-6:45 p.m. in Lab C. 

Re-establishing a patient’s lost dental esthetic appearance is one of the most important topics for contemporary dentistry. New treatment materials and methods have been coming on the scene, day by day, in order to achieve such an aim. As the dental curriculum has shifted to a more conservative philosophy, composite resin restorations are becoming the favored restorative material. This didactic/hands-on course aims to focus on the simulated clinical protocol where we will teach up-to-date, step-by-step direct veneer restorations aiming to provide students with the skills necessary to gain confidence to perform these procedures. This may be a treatment option for patients with the esthetic problems of anterior teeth; patients that students are dealing with in the daily clinical sessions. The students will perform: (1) facial preparation design, (2) composite placement for facial veneer and diastema closures using polychromatic stratification technique and (3) simplified, effective finishing and polishing procedures.  

Grading Requirements: Attendance to all sessions of this elective is required for a passing grade.