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ADVANCED EDUCATION IN GENERAL DENTISTRY (AEGD)

One-Year and Optional Second-Year Certificate Program

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Program is a one-year, broad-based clinical and didactic experience in comprehensive general dentistry. This program is based at University Dental Center (UDC) in the University of Texas Professional Building at 6410 Fannin St. in Houston. The program currently accepts seven residents per year. Each resident spends 12 months in the AEGD clinic, a modern well-equipped area with 13 operatories shared with the General Practice Residency (GPR) program. Residents work directly with chairside assistants, a dental hygienist, insurance specialists and secretaries/receptionists. The facilities and staff support all clinical, educational and research activities of the program.

Clinical and didactic instruction covers a wide range of dental disciplines, emphasizing comprehensive care, practice management and care for dentally complex patients. The program is considered a group practice where, in addition to continuing education, residents are expected to meet modest production goals to help them transition to the private practice. The resident may pursue special interests in dentistry, such as specific clinical disciplines and additional research during the year.

Our clinic uses modern technology, including Planmeca CBCT, E4D/Planmeca CAD/CAM systems, Trios 3Shape, Simplant virtual implant-planning software, dental lasers, six different implant surgical and prosthetic systems, digital endodontics, endodontic microscopes, Avadent digital denture, AxiUm and MiPACs, plus state-of-the-art, evidence-based dental materials.

Our residents receive excellent training under dedicated faculty members. The AEGD-trained program director is a board-certified prosthodontist and maxillofacial prosthodontist. The teaching faculty includes nine general dentists (two board-certified and two Academy of General Dentistry Masters), plus five specialists (prosthodontists, an endodontist, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, and a periodontist/orthodontist). The pool of dentally complex patients available for our residency program is substantial. The resident-to-assistant ratio is approximately 1:1, with six front desk and insurance staff members.

Second-Year Residency

The program also offers one position in the optional second-year program to a finishing first-year resident. The second-year program is different from the first and includes advanced instruction in various dental disciplines and complex dental treatments, such as full mouth rehabilitation and implant dentistry (under prosthodontic faculty); advanced periodontic, surgical, and endodontic procedures, etc.

The second-year resident will have an opportunity to focus on areas of interest customized for the individual, such as clinical teaching at the undergraduate level, rotation to the maxillofacial prosthetic and dental oncology clinic at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, etc. In addition, the individual resident can identify major areas of interest, such as specific clinical disciplines, teaching and/or research.

Residents who successfully complete two years of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program may apply to take the American Board of General Dentistry written and/or oral examinations, in accordance with requirements of the Board.

Upon satisfactory completion of the program, residents receive a certificate in general dentistry from the School of Dentistry.

Applications are accepted through ADEA PASS and the National Matching Service.

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Program History

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program was established in 1995 as a one-year program fully accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). An optional second year is also available.

On July 1, 1995, AEGD opened with four residents, a dental hygienist, and four front desk staff and dental assistants. Since then, we have received three Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII Residency Training Grants for improvement and expansion of the program. Our latest grant (2010-2015) of nearly $1.3 million made it possible for our residents to rotate through off-site clinics to care for underserved populations while gaining cultural competency.

HRSA Title VII Residency Training Programs 

2010-2015      $1,265,463 (PIs: Dr. Sheila H. Koh and Dr. Sudarat Kiat-amnuay)
2001-2004      $349,679 (PI: Dr. Sheila H. Koh and Co-PIs: Dr. Richard B. Bebermeyer and Dr. Cleverick D. Johnson)
1996-1999      $191,657 (PI: Dr. Richard B. Bebermeyer and Co-PI: Dr. Sheila H. Koh)

Program Directors

2012-Present:    Dr. Sudarat Kiat-amnuay
2007-2012:        Dr. Raymond Simmons (interim) / Dr. Sudarat Kiat-amnuay (clinic director)
2004-2007:        Dr. Robert Mayhew
2003-2004:        Dr. Pamela Minke / Dr. Sheila H. Koh (interim)
1999-2003:        Dr. Sheila H. Koh
1995-1999:        Dr. Richard D. Bebermeyer

Curriculum

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry curriculum is heavily centered on clinical protocols and experiences, supplemented with relevant didactic seminars or seminar series. Frequently, seminars are integrated with other dental specialties, especially with the General Practice Residency (GPR) program.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Anesthesia, Pain Control, and Pharmacology
  • Asepsis, Infection and Hazard Control
  • Clinical Dentistry
    • Endodontics
    • Implant Dentistry
    • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
    • Oral Pathology/Oral Medicine
    • Periodontics
    • Preventive Dentistry
    • Prosthodontics (including full mouth rehabilitation and cosmetic dentistry)
    • Restorative Dentistry
  • Dental Photography
  • Medically Compromised Patients
  • Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Planning Conferences (2-4 hrs/week)
  • Practice Management
    • Dental Clinic Design
    • Associateships
  • TMJ/Myofacial Disorders
  • Technologies in Clinical Dentistry

Curriculum Sample

Goals and Objectives

The overall objectives of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program are:

  • Advanced training in general dentistry practice at the postdoctoral level;
  • Clinical experiences in comprehensive oral health care for a wide range of patients: the dentally complex and those with medically, physically and mentally compromising conditions, including age and socioeconomic status;
  • Extensive clinical and didactic opportunities for interdisciplinary interaction between the resident and other healthcare providers;
  • Promotion and guidance of critical thinking for advanced treatment planning to provide a wide range of diagnosis and treatment needs for patients;
  • Up-to-date, evidence-based dentistry review, and use of technologies in dentistry;
  • Didactic information and clinical guidance in communication, behavioral management and practice-management skills, and the opportunity to apply them to the practice of dentistry;
  • An appropriate environment for critical review and presentation of literature and the pursuit of individual research interests and career goals.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand Scholarship Positions
Under the International Scholarship Training Program (ISTP)

One to two residents per year may be recruited from candidates who obtain scholarships through the Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and/or Thailand undersigned official Agreement of Cooperation and Program Agreement between The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and the Kuwait Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission, or Thailand Office of Educational Affairs

Residencies of one or two years are offered. Second-year residencies are predicated on performance and success in the first year. Residents may apply for admission to other UTHealth Houston schools or programs, such as the master’s degree in public health (MPH) at the School of Public Health, or the Joint Certificate in Dental Informatics program offered by the School of Dentistry with the School of Biomedical Informatics, subject to the available capacity at UTHealth Houston and in accordance with standard admissions criteria for applications, policies, procedures and laws to which UTHealth Houston and its academic programs are subject. Residents who successfully complete two years of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program may apply to take the American Board of General Dentistry written and/or oral examinations, in accordance with requirements of the board.

A pre-residency program of six to 12 months may be required of some candidates before entering AEGD. For more information, contact Program Director Sudarat Kiat-amnuay, DDS, MS, ISTP Faculty Leader, or Coordinator I , Educational Programs Aniqua DeClouette.

Admission from Non-ADA Accredited Schools

Graduates of schools not accredited by the American Dental Association are encouraged to complete UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry's minimum six-month preceptorship in general dentistry before applying for the AEGD program. Visit Go.uth.edu/Preceptorships for information about current availabilities at the School of Dentistry, or contact AEGD Program Director Sudarat Kiat-amnuay, DDS, or Continuing Education Coordinator Kassie Broussard. Completion of a preceptorship does not guarantee admission to the graduate general dentistry programs.

Program Facilities

University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston

The University of Texas School of Dentistry is a public professional school founded in 1905 as the first dental school in Texas. It became part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) in 1972. 

In 2012, the School of Dentistry moved into a new, 300,000 square-foot building at 7500 Cambridge St. The six-floor facility has state-of-the-art technology and spacious design to accommodate programs in dentistry, dental hygiene, endodontics, dental informatics, oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthodontics, and two general practice residencies (AEGD and GPR).

The Denton A. Cooley, MD, and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, University Life Center (a conference facility), and the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences Building (a research facility) are attached to the dental school, which also owns and operates four off-site clinics in the Houston area.

Texas Medical Center

The Texas Medical Center, today the largest medical city in the world, started with a dream to create a place where people from all walks of life could have access to the best health care anywhere, whether rich, poor, famous, alone, young, or old. Since that dream originated in the 1940s, it has been realized many times over. The Texas Medical Center today has nearly 50 member institutions, each existing to serve all of mankind.

All TMC member institutions are not-for-profit and are dedicated to the highest standards of patient and preventive care, research, education, and local, national, and international community well-being. These institutions include several renowned hospitals and specialty institutions, medical schools, nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and virtually all health-related careers. It is where one of the first, and still the largest, air emergency service was created; a very successful inter-institutional transplant program was developed; and more heart surgeries are performed than anywhere else in the world.

UT Professional Building 

The multi-story UT Professional Building at 6410 Fannin Street is home to University Dental Center (UDC) in Suite 310. UDC is a 13-operatory clinic serving both the Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) and General Practice Residency (GPR) programs with appropriate supporting staff. The building is connected by enclosed skywalk to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center across the street. 

DENTAL INFORMATICS

One-Year Joint Certificate Program

Man holding electronic device

UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry and its sister institution, UTHealth Houston School of Biomedical Informatics (SBMI), now offer a joint certificate in dental informatics. The one-year program focuses on the opportunities and challenges in integrating technology in modern oral health care. It is designed to introduce students to basic and practical solutions for developing health information solutions in dentistry. The certificate involves both online and in-person courses, including a spring-semester practicum at the School of Dentistry.  

For information, contact Dr. Sudarat Kiat-amnuay, Aniqua DeClouette or the School of Dentistry's Office of Student and Academic Affairs

Endodontics

26-Month Degree or Certificate Program

endodontics.jpg

The Advanced Education in Endodontics Program offers an opportunity to earn both a certificate in endodontics and a master of science in dentistry (MSD) degree following 26 months of full-time academic endeavor. The degree program will be accepting up to five students each year. The program is designed to prepare participants for the American Board of Endodontics specialty examination. Every resident will have his/her desk and computer in addition to an operatory with a video-equipped microscope, digital radiography, and all equipment available for modern endodontics.

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GENERAL PRACTICE RESIDENCY (GPR)

One-Year and Optional Second-Year Certificate Program

The General Practice Residency (GPR) Program is a one-year experience in hospital dentistry based in the university's affiliate hospital, Memorial Hermann. Each resident spends approximately nine months at the University Dental Center in the UT Professional Building, 6410 Fannin St., in Houston. This state-of-the-art facility supports all clinical and didactic activities of the GPR Program. Clinical and didactic instructions cover a full range of disciplines, including comprehensive care to the medically comprised and special needs patients, inpatient care, history and physicals, conscious sedation, general anesthesia, diagnosis and treatment planning, restorative dentistry, (fixed and removal prosthodontics, including implant restoration) and medical management. The program also requires rotations scheduled over a three-month period in the following: anesthesiology and pain control, otolaryngology and oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology

36-Month Certificate Program

oral pathologists


This three-year Graduate Education Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology (OMFP) provides the required educational background for candidates to take the certification examination of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. The OMFP Residency Program is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation. The Certificate in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology is awarded by the UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. Students in a clinical residency program can pursue a MS in Biomedical Sciences awarded through The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Candidates seeking MS degree in combination with Certificate in OMFP must be accepted by both the specialty program and the  MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School. The certificate program in OMFP includes extensive didactic instruction and training in surgical and clinical OMFP as a foundation for other aspects of the curriculum. A firm foundation in diagnostic gross and microscopic pathology is provided through the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Section at the School of Dentistry and Anatomic Pathology Division of McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. In addition to the didactic curriculum, residents are involved in the Clinical Oral Pathology and Diagnostic Oral and Maxillofacial Imaging practices of the UTHealth School of Dentistry.

The School of Dentistry has a robust biopsy service, state-of-the art equipment, new facilities, and an ideal location in the world-renowned Texas Medical Center — factors that contribute to providing the broad experience required for excellence in oral pathology. Residents will be based primarily at the School of Dentistry, with rotations at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and McGovern Medical School.

Number of Students accepted each year: One

ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY

Four-Year and Six-Year Integrated OMS/MD Certificate Programs

Four-year and six-year Advanced Education Programs in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery are offered. Special provisions are also available for individuals to pursue an MS or PhD throughout either track. Each program prepares practitioners to treat diseases, injuries and defects involving both the functional and aesthetic aspects of the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. The basic prerequisite for both four- and six-year programs is a DDS or DMD degree from an ADA-accredited dental school. See below for additional requirements for the integrated OMS/MD program. Applicants will be required to submit their Comprehensive Basic Science Examination scores with their application.

Both four- and six-year certificate programs are designed to integrate the fields of medicine and dentistry. The program provides extensive surgical experience and exposure in areas such as oral and maxillofacial pathology, oral and maxillofacial oncology, maxillofacial trauma, reconstruction (including microvascular reconstruction), cleft palate, orthognathic, dentoalveolar surgery, implants, TMJ and aesthetic surgery as well as outpatient anesthesia.

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Looking Back: A History of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Training Program at The University of Texas-Houston 1949-1999 and "Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston, 2000-2015," both by Robert R. Debes, DDS, with Donald P. Butler, DDS, are now available in PDF format. 


In May 1948, Edward C. Hinds, MD, DDS, a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine and Texas A&M College of Dentistry, became the first chair of the Department of Oral Surgery at The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston (formerly known as the "Dental Branch"). Launched July 1, 1949, the department offered the first formal oral surgery training program in Texas.

Since then, the length of the residency has evolved from a single track, two-year program to twin programs lasting four or six years. The six-year program enables the resident to earn a medical degree from the McGovern Medical School, and both tracks award graduates a certificate of training from a fully accredited program. A special program allows qualified residents to earn a PhD during residency.

The residents rotate through the School of Dentistry and different hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, including Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Ben Taub General Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital and the Shriners Hospital. 

The department also enjoys a close research affiliation with Rice University, and several of the department’s faculty members hold adjunct appointments with the Department of Bioengineering. Current research activities focus on tissue regeneration, cancer immunobiology and management of head and neck infections. The Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery receives funding from a variety of sources, including the NIH and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The training program at UTHealth is the largest and one of the most highly ranked in the United States. Currently, six residents are selected from an applicant pool of 150-200 candidates. A highly motivated alumni organization, the Edward C. Hinds Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, strongly supports the department’s educational, service and research activities through a separate foundation, the Hinds Foundation.

Since the program’s founding in 1948, the department has had three chairs:

NameYear
Edward C. Hinds 1948-1983
John C. Helfrick 1984-2000
Mark E. K. Wong 2000-present

The Program Directors since 1949, responsible for residency training, are as follows:

NameYear
Edward C. Hinds 1949-1963
John E. Pleasants 1963-1975
Hubert W. Woodward 1976-1977
John C. Adams 1977-1981
Jose Lomba 1981-1982
David Shelton 1982-1983
John F. Helfrick 1984-1988
Terry D. Taylor 1988-1993
James V. Johnson 1993-1994
Michael G. Donovan 1994-1996
Mark E. K. Wong 1996-present

The department’s members and alumni have been active in various national and international associations representing the specialty. The Association of American Society of Oral Surgeons was founded in 1918 and later became the Association of American Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Two alumni have served as president:

NameYear
Edmund I Parnes ('65) 1996
Mark W. Tucker ('72) 2007

The American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the certifying agency for the specialty, was founded in 1946 and two of our alumni have served as President:

NameYear
John N. Kent ('69) 1989
Robert Dean White ('74) 2000

The current department chair, Mark E. K. Wong, BDS, is a past president of the ABOMS.

Residents who have completed the program are in practice throughout Texas and the U.S., and a few practice in foreign countries, including Taiwan, Thailand, Italy, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Canada and Switzerland. The success of our graduates in their communities has strengthened the reputation of the department and helped make Houston's one of the most sought-after residency programs for oral and maxillofacial training in the world.

Four-Year OMS Certificate Program Outline

YearActivityDuration
PGY 1 OMS 12 months
PGY 2 Internal Medicine
(Baylor College of Medicine)
3 months
PGY 2 Anesthesia
(Baylor College of Medicine–Ben Taub)
4 months
PGY 2 Neurosurgery
(Memorial Hermann Hospital)
1 month
PGY 2 OMS 4 months
PGY 3 OMS 7 months
PGY 3 General Surgery 4 months
PGY 3 Pediatric Anesthesia (Shriners Hospital) 1 month
PGY 4 OMS Chief Residency 12 months

Six-Year Integrated OMS/MD Program Outline

YearActivityDuration
PGY 1 OMS 12 months
PGY 2 OMS 1 month
PGY 2 MS II (USMLE Step 1) 11 months
PGY 3 MS III 12 months
PGY 4 MS IV (USMLE Step 2) 3 months
PGY 4 Neurosurgery
(Memorial Hermann Hospital)
1 month
PGY 4 Anesthesia 4 months
PGY 4 OMS 4 months
PGY 5 General Surgery Internship
(USMLE Step 3)
4 months
PGY 5 OMS 8 months
PGY 6 OMS Chief Residency 12 months

Program Description

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Externship Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is based at all the affiliated hospitals in the Texas Medical Center (Ben Taub General Hospital, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Houston Methodist Hospital and the Scurlock Tower OMS Faculty Practice). The program is designed to expose participants to the full-scope of the specialty and to assess their interest in applying to our program.  Externs will receive exposure to extensive maxillofacial soft- and hard-tissue trauma, major tumor and reconstructive surgery, airway management, major head and neck infections, dentoalveolar surgery and outpatient anesthesia. A large emphasis will be placed on providing the extern with first-hand experience in exodontia, repair of lacerations, incision and drainage of infections, and trauma. Externs will be expected to participate in all aspects of the residency program, including inpatient and outpatient care, presentations on rounds, writing of notes and participation in all departmental conferences. Externs are also expected to take trauma calls, observe the schedule, avoid scheduling other activities while on rotation, and to display initiative and an active interest in learning.

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Program Description

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Internship Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is based at an outpatient facility in the Texas Medical Center. Interns will perform dentoalveolar surgery in an outpatient setting, and will participate in the call schedule and after-hour care of hospital patients. Additional educational experiences will be provided through the department’s didactic program and other educational programs in the Texas Medical Center.

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Orthodontics

26-Month Certificate Program

The Advanced Education Program in Orthodontics is a 26-month certificate program leading to a certificate and optional master of science degree.

The program currently accepts 7 students per year. The program is clinically-based with approximately 60 percent of the time devoted to clinical treatment, 20 percent to didactic instruction and 20 percent to research and teaching activities.

Pediatric Dentistry

Two-Year Certificate Program

Pediatric Residents and Faculty with Patient

The Advanced Education in Pediatric Dentistry Program is a two-year program leading to a certificate, with an optional master of science in dentistry degree. The program currently accepts eight students per year. The GRE is not required for admission.

Clinical training predominately takes place in our postgraduate pediatric dentistry clinic along with supportive faculty, administrative staff and assistants. Upon satisfactory completion of the program, residents receive a certificate in pediatric dentistry, with an option of completing the Master of Science in Dentistry degree within the two-year period. An MSD is strongly encouraged.

PERIODONTICS

Three-Year Degree Program

The Advanced Education Program in Periodontics is a degree program of three years (36 months) duration leading to both a certificate in Periodontics and a Master of Science degree. Currently, four students are accepted per year. The experience is structured as a comprehensive didactic and clinical program. Didactically, each student receives a broad education in basic sciences, as well as those pertaining specifically to periodontics. Seminar sessions reviewing all the classical and current literature dealing with periodontics, occlusion and implants are given throughout the program. Courses in clinical research design and biostatistics are also required.

The clinical experience expands throughout the three years and includes all aspects of periodontal therapy and implants, covering the range of periodontal procedures and oral regenerative techniques. Students also become proficient in conscious sedation, and a rotation in general anesthesia is included. Special clinical rotations are part of the training to gain experience with special patient populations, and integration with other specialties is promoted. A research project is mandatory as a requirement for the master's degree.

Prosthodontics

Three-Year Degree Program

Image of a man in a lab

The Advanced Education Program in Prosthodontics is a three-year degree program that awards a certificate in Prosthodontics and a Master of Science degree.

The goals of the program are to provide a foundation of knowledge and diverse experiences in all aspects of prosthetic dentistry. The program prepares residents for a career in clinical practice, teaching, and/or research. Residents, on completion of the program, will be proficient in prosthodontics, restorative aspects of implant dentistry, occlusion, and dental materials.

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