Gainesville, FL
This program is designed to educate dentists to become leaders of the orthodontic profession and is committed to developing the following qualities in the students: ethics, integrity, scholarship, open-mindedness, sound judgment, the ability to communicate and to relate to patients, and manual ability to provide treatment.
The program is based on the premise that a specialist in orthodontics must be:
- A competent and ethical dentist with an extensive background in growth and development and oral pharyngeal function.
- An astute diagnostician prepared to interact with professional colleagues in medicine and dentistry in formulating a multidisciplinary treatment plan.
- Mechanically versatile and able to apply biomaterials science to design treatments which reflect patient needs rather than technique limitations.
- Knowledgeable in the development of research programs and critical of scientific conclusions and able to present and defend data to peers.
- Experienced in teaching basic orthodontic diagnosis and treatment skills to non-specialists through continuing education courses, table clinics, or part-or full-time teaching in a pre-doctoral orthodontic program.
- Service- oriented and sensitive to the individual who seeks treatment, as well as to the handicapped person who requires community support.
- A perpetual student: belonging to, supporting, and participating in organized dentistry.
Four residents are accepted each year into the 35-month program. Upon completion of the program, the graduate will receive a Certificate in Orthodontics and a Master of Science in Dental Sciences with specialization in orthodontics.
The didactic curriculum is organized into the following broad courses:
- Growth and development and their abnormalities and manipulation
- Biology of bone, connective tissues and tooth movement
- Diagnosis and treatment planning
- Scientific research method
- Biostatistics
- Biomechanics
- Orthodontic appliances and techniques
- Materials
- Oral function, adaptation, and dysfunction
- Advanced oral biology
- Oral pathology
- Oral medicine
- Radiology
- Facial pain
- Practice management
- Orthodontic treatment
- Craniofacial anomalies
- Orthognathic surgery.
Students critically study orthodontic and related literature and are taught to apply this information in the clinical setting.
A diverse clinical education is provided by four full-time and four part-time clinical faculty members. Each student begins treatment of approximately 50 patients and receives about 40 transfer patients from graduating students. Students begin new cases during all years of the program. The clinical experience includes treating a wide range of malocclusions, craniofacial anomalies, and TMJ problems with state-of-the-art treatment modalities including various fixed and removable functional appliances and orthognathic surgery. Students choose a research topic with the help of the faculty and conduct research under the guidance of a faculty mentor and research committee. The thesis follows the graduate school’s guidelines. Students generally present their research at the annual meetings of the InternationalAssociation for Dental Research or the American Association of Orthodontics, as well as at the state and regional orthodontic meetings, and this research generally is published in an appropriate scientific journal.
Program Director:
Divakar Karanth, BDS, MDS, MS, MOrth RCS
P.O. Box 100444
Gainesville, FL 32610-0444
(352) 273-5700
To receive additional program information, contact:
Office of Admissions
University of Florida College of Dentistry
P.O. Box 100402
Gainesville, FL 32610-0402
Phone: (352) 273-5956
Email: GradAdmissions@dental.ufl.edu
Webpage: admissions.dental.ufl.edu/advanced-graduate-programs/orthodontics/