Patients coming to the School of Dentistry's dental clinic will now be able to receive treatment from periodontology residents thanks to the newly created Periodontology Graduate program.
A first for Alberta, the new program will offer a master's and a postdoctoral stream available for dentists who want to specialize in this field. The first four graduate students will start in September.
"From the patient-care perspective, this is a very important step for the school," said Liran Levin, professor and head of the periodontology division. "Patients will now be able to have specialty-level periodontology treatment right in the dental school clinic."
Using the latest techniques for diagnosing and treating periodontal disease, residents will treat complex and advanced cases, along with specialized training in periodontal (gum) surgeries, the placement and repair of dental implants, and bone-related surgeries.
"Until now a dentist who wanted to specialize in periodontology had to go train somewhere else," said Levin. "This will be a great learning opportunity for our current undergraduate students as well. They will learn how to treat advanced periodontal disease alongside a specialist, as well as shadow complex cases of periodontal surgeries, bone grafting, implant placement, treating peri-implant diseases and more."
Levin looks forward to collaborating and building relationships with community dentists. "Dentists will be able to refer patients to us and our residents will work in collaboration with them on periodontology and dental implant cases," he said.