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Military Program
Master of Science in Health Sciences: Oral Biology

Program Requirements

                                            Naval Postgraduate Dental School Course Descriptions

Core Courses:

215 Health Law and Policy in Medicine and Dentistry (updated title 2007)
This course for non-law degree candidates focuses on the law and its relationship to the practice of Dentistry in the U.S. health care system in general, and in the Military Health System in particular.  This course has been designed to assist Dental Corps Officers to understand the complex interaction between law, dentistry and health care.  The course examines how the law influences – and in turn is influenced by – the health care system.  Students will focus on legal issues in health and dental care legal entitlements, access and benefits, financing, quality, medical/dental ethics, regulation and compliance, public health powers, and force health protection.

221 Strategic Management for Dentistry
HSMP 221 Strategic Management for Dentistry focuses on the principles of strategic management for healthcare providers and organizations with special emphasis on the practice of dentistry.  The course will be designed to help build strategic management and leadership skills necessary to manage or improve service lines, enhance organizational effectiveness and the overall practice of dentistry.  A case study learning approach will be used in the classroom, in addition to discussion and lectures regarding the theory and application of management science techniques, fundamental business subject matter and the introduction of various business planning and evaluation tools.  The course will emphasize the application of such theory, tools and techniques to the practice of dentistry and dental group relevant situations.

The course will highlight the application of strategic planning within the context of strategic management for healthcare organizations.  Utilizing a variety of references, course instruction will help students identify key healthcare trends, environmental threats and opportunities facing organizations; identify organizational strengths and weaknesses; explore reasoned alternative strategies; and formulate specific and realistic implementation tactics.  The course perspective will focus on individual practitioner concerns as well as enterprise-wide strategic thinking and decision-making.

201 Management of Medical Emergencies
Covers the diagnosis and management of common dental and medical emergencies, with special emphasis on patient evaluation and history taking to prevent such emergencies in the dental office.  The use of emergency equipment is demonstrated as well as CPR.

202 Oral Medicine (name changed to Systemic Disease in Clinical Dentistry in 2007)

1. Comprehensive presentation of the dental management of medically compromised patients. The medical and/or pharmacologic management of systemic disease is discussed, and the basis for modification of dental therapy is highlighted. The resident will acquire knowledge essential for assessing a patient’s ability to undergo dental care based on the recorded medical history and the correlation of significant clinical, laboratory, and radiographic findings. Clinicopathological conferences are designed to review the normal physiology of organ systems, incidence of significant variation, and the pathophysiology of disease states of special interest to the dentist. Emphasis will be directed towards the management of the adult and geriatric patient.

203 Pharmacotherapeutics in Clinical Dentistry
Topics of discussion will include (1) pharmacokinetics, (2) sedative and hypnotic agents, (3) minor tranquilizers/muscle relaxants, (4) analgesics, (5) local anesthetics, (6) antimicrobials, and (7) agents for management of common oral diseases.

204 Research Methodology/Biostatistics
Biostatistical principles with emphasis on planning and analyzing experimental designs.  Descriptive statistics, sources of error and bias in hypothesis testing, parametric and nonparametric testing, and techniques for sample size estimation and quantifying statistical power.

213 Basic Diagnostic Procedures (name changed to Advanced Oral Diagnosis in 2007)
Lectures and clinicopathological conferences designed to examine the skills essential for the collection of diagnostic data in a systematic and logical fashion.

220 Forensic Dentistry
Provides an understanding of mass disaster management and enables the student to perform properly postmortem examinations on human remains for identification by dental means.

236 Specialty Clinic Added 18 April 2000:
Designed to provide extensive clinical experience for students at NPDS.  Emphasis is placed on the application of recent advancements and innovations as well as on the treatment of unusual and challenging cases.

280 Research Project
Under comprehensive faculty supervision and after thorough literature review, the student undertakes an original research project.  An oral presentation of findings is made through a written paper suitable for publication.

Electives:

205 Orofacial Pain Concepts I      4 credits  Pass/Fail
This course consists of a 10-month series of seminars that establish the theoretical basis for contemporary orofacial pain practice.  The seminars closely examine the pathophysiologic mechanisms of pain and present clinically relevant principles of pain evaluation, diagnosis and management.  The unique considerations of pain involving the trigeminal nerve system are emphasized.

206 Orofacial Pain Concepts II      4 credits  Pass/Fail
Continuation of NDSB 205.

209 Advanced Problems in Occlusion
Clinically oriented presentations focus on the application of occlusal concepts, principles of articulation, determinants of mandibular movement, and occlusal assessment.

210 Advanced Topics in Orthodontics
Provides the background information to enable diagnosis and treatment of both interceptive and limited minor tooth movement cases, including root extrusion, molar uprighting, prerestorative esthetic considerations, eruptions, and developmental problems.

211 Advanced Periodontology
Lectures, laboratory exercises, and case presentations covering diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of periodontal disease.  This course will enable the student to diagnose and treat patients with periodontal disease and help prevent disease.

212 Applied Dental Psychology
A variety of human psychological factors are intimately related to oral health and oral health care delivery.  Psychological factors discussed include patient anxiety, dental phobia, hypnodontics, biofeedback, stress in dentistry, pain control, adherence, and practitioner‑patient communications.

214 Case Presentation Seminar I
Multidisciplinary treatment plans are presented and defended before staff, students, and specialty consultants.  Each student presents the diagnosis, proposed treatment plan, and treatment rationale.  Student also provides a summary of the treatment rendered.

216 Complete Dentures
Encompasses all phases of complete denture therapy, involving clinical demonstrations and lectures.  The single denture, over denture and immediate denture are also reviewed.

217  Dental Implantology
Provides the basic current, practical information necessary for periodontists, oral surgeons, prosthodontists, and comprehensive dentists to provide diagnostic and comprehensive care to the patient requiring dental implants.

218  Endodontics
Classroom and laboratory instruction, as well as clinical experience, in all phases of endodontics.  Emphasis on the etiology, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and injuries that affect the pulp and the periradicular tissues.

219  Fixed Prosthodontics
Students are exposed to all phases of patient treatment in fixed prosthodontics from diagnosis and treatment planning to cementation.

222 Operative Dentistry
Reviews the art and science of operative dentistry through lectures and demonstrations.  The goal is to enhance clinical success when restoring carious, developmentally or environmentally defective, or traumatically injured dentition.

224 Oral Pathology
Lectures covering developmental disturbances of the head and neck, inflammatory diseases of the oral mucosa and jaws, epithelial dysplasia, pulp and periapical pathology, benign and malignant neoplasms, and the oral manifestations of certain metabolic diseases. 

225  Oral Surgery Rotation
The second‑year students rotate for 4 weeks under an oral surgeon, performing surgical tooth removal and biopsy procedures.  Management of the medically compromised patient is emphasized.

226 Pediatric Dentistry
An introduction to the background, current principles, philosophies, and treatment strategies unique to the practice of pediatric dentistry.

227 Pediatric Dentistry Rotation
Clinical rotation under pediatric dentist staff to gain experience in diagnosis/treatment planning, behavior management, restorative, pulp therapy, space maintenance and interceptive orthodontics.

228 Removable Partial Dentures
Deals with the clinical and laboratory phases of removable partial dentures from diagnosis to completion.  Basic theories and current concepts will be applied, with an emphasis on a pragmatic approach to providing removable prosthodontic treatment.

229 Seminar, Operative Dentistry
Students prepare abstracts and discuss assigned articles from the operative dentistry literature.

230 Seminar, Oral Medicine
Seminars and clinicopathological conferences are designed to discuss advanced principles in the diagnosis and management of medically compromised patients.

233 Temporomandibular Disorders/Orofacial Pain
Lectures, demonstrations, clinical and laboratory exercises provide practical etiologic, diagnostic, and therapeutic information to aid in the effective nonsurgical management of patients with temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain.

234 Topographical Anatomy
This laboratory and lecture course is directed toward a review of the anatomy most pertinent to the practice of dentistry.  The course will include fresh dissection laboratory sessions. 

235  Biochemistry
Reviews clinically relevant aspects of intermediary metabolism, cell structure and function, and molecular genetics.

237  Clinical Endodontics II
Second year of clinical training in endodontics.  Provides a diversity of surgical and nonsurgical clinical experience, with emphasis on the treatment of challenging and unusual cases.

238  Immunology
Stresses basic and advanced immunologic concepts as they relate to the etiology and host defense of infectious dental disease.  Provides an understanding and rationale for the treatment of oral health and immune‑related diseases.

239  Laboratory, Endodontic Technique
Laboratory course designed to develop proficiency in a variety of endodontic instrumentation and obturation techniques before the student applies these techniques in a clinical setting.

240 Laboratory, Pulp Morphology
Students sharpen their treatment planning competence through the examination of the many anatomical variations found in the pulp chamber and the root canal system of each type of tooth.

241 Laboratory, Surgical Anatomy
A laboratory course in which the student performs endodontic surgery on cadaver specimens.

242 Microbiology
Information is presented on the current status of bacterial physiology, growth and genetics of microor­ganisms, viruses of dental importance, host‑parasite relationships, and sterilization and disinfection. 

243 Seminar, Clinical Oral Pathology
Weekly conference at which clinical color slides are projected.  Students are provided with pertinent clinical and laboratory data on each case, to arrive at a diagnosis.

249 Oral Diagnosis/Oral Medicine Seminars I
Seminars and clinicopathological conferences designed to establish the principles essential for problem‑oriented evaluation of the dental patient and patient‑oriented treatment planning. 

252 Practicum in Dental Diagnostic Sciences
The student teaches the principles of oral diagnosis, oral medicine, treatment planning, and oral and maxillofacial radiology through assigned lecture topics in continuing education courses for general practitioners. The preparation of one or more audiovisual teaching modules is required.

256 Seminar, Surgical Oral Pathology
Weekly microscopic slide seminar at which the student is responsible for the diagnosis of histopathologic slides and for a detailed discussion of the clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of the diseases represented in each slide.

257 Advanced Oral Pathology I
Student functions as an essential member of the Navy Oral Histopathology Service.  Learns microscopic techniques, tissue processing, and staining methods.  Prepares the gross descriptions of assigned cases, which are reviewed by a staff member and discussed with the student.

258 Advanced Oral Pathology II
Continuation of 257

259 Immunopathology
This course presents basic immunology concepts and recent advances in immunology as it relates to the practice of pathology.  The laboratory portion of the course will offer experience in immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase techniques with emphasis on application in the diagnosis of pathologic disease processes.

260 Oral Medicine/Clinical Oral Diagnosis
Clinical practice designed to reinforce diagnostic and patient management skills.  The student gains experience in the dental management of patients with serious and complex medical problems.

262 Rotation in Autopsy Pathology
Rotation and seminars in autopsy examination at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.

263 Rotation in Cyto Pathology
Rotation and seminars in cytology at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.

264 Rotation in Hemato Pathology
Rotation and seminars in hematology at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.

265 Rotation in Surgical Pathology
Rotation and seminars in surgical pathology at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.

266 Seminar, Special Pathology
Special topics in Dermatology, Otorhinolaryngology, and Radiology Services conducted through the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.  Students present case studies on topical issues at the tumor and autopsy boards.

267 Seminar, Advanced Surgical Oral Pathology
Weekly seminars during which difficult surgical cases are reviewed and discussed. Morphologically challenging cases are draw from exchange sets from other oral pathology training programs, from the Registry of Oral Pathology, from personal collections, and from other sources.

268 Advanced Osseointegration
Advanced course covering management of the severely atrophic edentulous arch, the cleft palate defect, and the radiation patient.

269 Hospital Clinic Rotations
Clinical rotation through the hemotology, oncology, otoleryngology, and endocrinology departments of the Naval Hospital, Bethesda.  Emphasis is placed on those branches of medicine that deal with the conditions that may contribute to or help treat periodontal disease.

270 Advanced Complete Dentures
An in depth examination of all advanced techniques for the treatment of the complete denture patient.  Laboratory exercises associated with these techniques are included.  Prerequisite: NDSB 212

271 Advanced Fixed Prosthodontics
This comprehensive course covers advanced theories, design and techniques, as well as associated laboratory procedures.  The student designs, executes, and fabricates a variety of fixed prostheses.

272 Maxillofacial Prosthetics I
Seminars and laboratory exercises for students covering radiotherapy for oncology patients, supportive care for congenital defects and acquired defects of the head and neck.  Students also will be trained in the practical aspects of facial moulage techniques.

290 Topics
Topics of common interest in the area of endodontics, prosthodontics, operative dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics, pediatric dentistry, and temporomandibular disorders are assigned to students, who develop and lead discussions.