Advanced Education in General Dentistry - Certificate

Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) is housed within the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry. It is a 12-month program that provides advanced training in clinical dentistry and applied basic science. The objective of the program is to enhance the student's competence and confidence in the various clinical disciplines that are integral components of dentistry. AEGD graduates will have a broader base of knowledge and experience to facilitate judgments in diagnosis, treatment planning, and decision making during treatment.

Interviews of selected applicants are scheduled from September and November for the class beginning in the summer of the following year.

Program Goals

The AEGD program goals include:

  • Expand the scope and depth of the dentist's clinical skills and didactic knowledge.
  • Teach them the newest technologies in different disciplines - including digital workflow.
  • Enable them to effectively provide comprehensive patient care to a wide range of population groups using the latest dental techniques and technologies.

Accordingly, the program is structured to allow students to exercise increasingly independent judgment beyond that expected in the pre-doctoral curriculum.

The emphasis of the program is on diagnosis and treatment planning, comprehensive restorative dentistry, esthetic and implant dentistry, and digital dentistry and its application in different disciplines of dentistry. The program emphasizes the coordination of clinical care of all patients in a multidisciplinary setting.

Predominantly clinically oriented, it includes a didactic component of approximately twenty percent of scheduled time. Graduates of the AEGD program are awarded a Certificate in Advanced Education in General Dentistry upon completion of all program requirements.

The clinical phase consists of experiences and instruction at a level beyond DDS training in the following areas: esthetic dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, oral surgery, operative, fixed and removable prosthodontics, implants (surgical placement and restoration), rotations in the graduate pediatric dental clinic, community dentistry, treating special needs and medically compromised patients, and limited experience in orthodontics. Educationally qualified specialists in each of these areas participate in instruction and are always available for consultations.

The didactic component of the AEGD program provides the student with a broad academic background from which sound clinical judgments can be made regarding diagnosis, treatment planning, and the selection of the appropriate method of treatment for each individual patient. The didactic phase is scheduled on a regular basis and includes lectures, seminars, literature reviews, treatment planning conferences, clinical oral pathology conferences and special projects. Examples of special projects may include table clinics and preparation of a professional lecture. The following areas of interest are included in didactic sessions: 

  • digital dentistry;
  • esthetic dentistry;
  • oral implantology;
  • fixed and removable prosthodontics;
  • endodontics;
  • oral pathology and oral medicine;
  • physical evaluation and internal medicine;
  • oral diagnosis and treatment planning;
  • preventive, operative, and conservative dentistry;
  • comprehensive control of pain and anxiety in the conscious patient;
  • special care, medically compromised patients, geriatric dentistry;
  • asepsis, infection and hazard control; and
  • evidence-based dentistry and current literature.

Students will gain didactic knowledge in practice management, which will prepare them to deal with acquiring, managing, and coordinating different types of potential practice situations they may encounter upon graduation.

The program is open to applicants with a DDS/DMD (or equivalent). Criteria for student selection includes: academic record; extracurricular achievement, honors, and awards; class rank; professional experience and additional training; references; and the personal interview. The program uses ADEA PASS (American Dental Education Association Postdoctoral Application Support Service). The deadline for application is September 1 each year for a start date late in June of the following year.

For additional information about the AEGD Certificate, visit our website.

All courses within this program are taught face-to-face, on campus at the College of Dentistry in Dallas. This program may require off-campus assignments at local, Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex hospitals or dental clinics.

This program prepares students for the opportunity to pursue an occupational license.  Please refer to the Notification for Students Pursuing an Occupational License in our catalog for additional information.