Department of Restorative Dentistry
UIC College of Dentistry

Scope of Program

The objective of the UIC Advanced Education Program in Prosthodontics is to help highly motivated students with proven clinical and scholastic abilities achieve clinical excellence in prosthodontics. The program leads to Specialty Certification and eligibility for examination by the American Board of Prosthodontics. Students concurrently pursue a Master's Degree. Waiver of tuition and stipends are available for qualified applicants. Specific goals of the Advanced Program in Prosthodontics include acquisition of in-depth knowledge and clinical experience in fixed partial denture prosthodontics, removable partial denture prosthodontics, complete denture prosthodontics, implant prosthodontics, maxillofacial prosthodontics, and occlusion. Limited class size provides an opportunity for students to individualize programs to meet their particular career goals. In addition to the didactic and clinical focus, postdoctoral students pursue study in basic science or clinical research, and participate in teaching predoctoral dental students. The Department of Restorative Dentistry believes that this combined program will prepare specialists of high leadership potential by integrating sound clinical principles with knowledge and skills in a research discipline. Program length is a minimum of three years to allow completion of the clinical, didactic, and research components. Faculty range from prosthodontists in full-time clinical practice to scholars engaged solely in research. The new prosthodontic clinics and laboratories contain state-of-the-art equipment for patient care and research. The urban setting of the University of Illinois at Chicago provides a large and diverse patient population as well as an extensive offering of meetings and conferences for local, national, and international organizations. Students will be prepared for and encouraged to take the American Board of Prosthodontics Certifying Examination. Following successful completion of the program, opportunities exist for further study in basic science or clinical research. The goal is to produce clinical scholars.

Program Directors

Stephen D. Campbell, D.D.S., M.M.Sc.
Professor and Head, Department of Restorative Dentistry
Dr. Campbell completed dental education at the Medical College of Virginia in 1979. He completed prosthodontic training at The Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1982 concurrently with biomaterials study at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught predoctoral and postdoctoral prosthodontics at Harvard, serving as Director of Postgraduate Prosthodontics and Biomaterials Research. He has engaged in private general and prosthodontic specialty practice, and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics. Dr. Campbell has served on numerous committees of national prosthodontic organizations, has held professional consultantships with private dental industry and has lectured nationally. His research has centered on evaluation of existing dental materials and techniques; and on ceramic technology. Other interests include occlusion, computer imaging, manufacturing and simulation. Dr. Campbell has received public and private funding for research.

Kent L. Knoernschild, D.M.D., M.S.
Associate Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry
Dr. Knoernschild completed dental education at Southern Illinois University in 1986. He completed prosthodontic training at the University of Iowa in 1990 and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics. He has engaged in general and prosthodontic specialty practice. Dr. Knoernschild taught predoctoral and postdoctoral prosthodontics courses at the Medical College of Georgia, where he was assistant director of the prosthodontics residency. He has also served on committees of national prosthodontic organizations. His research has focused on prosthodontic material biocompatibility. Specifically, he has investigated the relationship between crevicular bacterial products, fixed prosthodontic materials and periodontal tissue health. Dr. Knoernschild has received public and private funding and has lectured regionally and nationally regarding this research. Other research collaborations have focused upon the influence of denture base resins on cellular responses.

Faculty

Professors
Mahendra S. Bapna, Ph.D.
James W. Buckman, D.D.S.
Stephen D. Campbell, D.D.S., M.M.Sc.
James L. Drummond, D.D.S., Ph.D.

 

Associate Professors
Kent L. Knoernschild, D.M.D., M.S.
James T. Ozimek, D.D.S.

 

Clinical Associate Professors
Glenn W. Bredfeldt, D.D.S.
Kevin C. Kopp, D.D.S.

Facilities

The Advanced Education Program in Prosthodontics is housed in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry. The program has its own clinic, laboratory, study and research facilities immediately adjacent to each other. The newly built clinics and laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for patient care and research. Each student is assigned his/her own clinic operatory, study area and laboratory bench. Also located in the College is the Center for Craniofacial Anomalies, where maxillofacial prosthodontic care is provided. Advanced programs in Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Diagnosis, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry and Periodontics, as well as the General Practice Residency, are also housed in the College.

Research and Educational Support

The Department of Restorative Dentistry
The Department maintains its own research faculty and laboratories for materials science research. Faculty have affiliations with other departments within the university, other universities within and outside of the Chicago area, and private industry. Laboratories have extensive equipment for specimen preparation and testing. The department maintains computer facilities that are connected to the University's main computer system and the Internet. Photographic facilities for research and classroom support are also available within the department.

The College of Dentistry
The Departments of Oral Biology, Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and the Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases maintain facilities for basic biologic research. Facilities include scanning and transmission electron microscopes, an energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer and a Bioquant image analysis system. Collaboration with faculty in these areas is possible.

LibraryFacilities
The library of the University of Illinois at Chicago consists of six facilities including the Library of Health Sciences; the Main Library, which houses the engineering collection; and the Science Library. The University Library features an on-line public access catalog and a statewide circulation and resource-sharing network, which provides access to UIC holdings and volumes held by 40 Illinois libraries. Holdings of other libraries are available through interlibrary loan.

The Library for Health Sciences is located less than one block from the College of Dentistry and is open days, evenings and weekends. The library has over 165,000 text titles and over 5,000 journal subscriptions. There are currently over 2,600 dental texts and over 300 dental periodicals. The library provides for bibliographic searches of the dental literature through many databases including MEDLINE.

The University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago is the largest university campus in the Chicago area with approximately 25,000 students, 5,200 graduate students and 2,200 professional students. The College of Dentistry is located on the west side of campus in the medical center complex which includes University of Illinois, Rush Presbyterian-St.Luke's, Cook County and Veterans Administration Hospitals, as well as the Eye and Ear Infirmary. These hospitals and respective clinics provide clinical training for students enrolled in the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Associated Health Professions, as well as the School of Public Health. The urban setting of the University of Illinois at Chicago provides a large, diverse patient population. Because the American Dental Association headquarters is in Chicago, the city offers an extensive selection of meetings and conferences for local, national and international organizations including annual sessions of the American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics, the American Prosthodontic Society and the American Equilibration Society. Located just west of downtown Chicago, the UIC campus is within minutes of the city's main cultural and entertainment attractions, other major colleges and universities, the lakefront and shopping areas.

Sequence of Courses

Postgraduate Year 1

Additional Experiences

Temporomandibular Disorder Clinical Rotations
A clinical rotation that gives the student experience in diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment of a variety of temporomandibular disorders.

Maxillofacial Clinical Experience
Treatment of patients who require maxillofacial prosthodontic therapy. Students gain experience in diagnosis and treatment planning, surgery observation and prosthodontic treatment of patients with acquired or congenital defects.

Geriatric Dentistry Seminar and Clinical Rotations
A seminar course with associated clinical rotations focusing on the special concerns related to the management of geriatric patients.

Predoctoral Teaching in Prosthodontics
Predoctoral teaching experience is obtained in preclinical and clinical courses related to fixed prosthodontics, removable prosthodontics and occlusion.