Training for Dentists and Dental Hygienists

The Pacific AETC offers a variety of education and training programs for dental practitioners through our dental team at USC School of Dentistry. Our oral health education and training is targeted to dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants.

Through our USC site, dental education and training programs are available to be presented at sites as requested throughout the four-state Pacific AETC region: California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii, as well as the U.S.-affiliated Pacific jurisdictions.

Educational programs are available to be presented onsite at dental clinics associated with correctional facilities, Native American, public health, Ryan White, and other federally funded agencies and clinics.

HIV and Dentistry educational programs are also available for dental societies and associations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. We work directly with the organization to design and present programs relative to the need of the group. Length of programs varies, generally ranging from a two-hour presentation to a multi-day training course.

Education and training programs are designed to meet individual, clinic, and agency need. Training is available in a variety of formats, ranging from didactic presentations to standardized patient workshops, clinical training, and clinical consultation training.

Program Goal

The overall goal of the program is to train dental practitioners to recognize early oral signs and symptoms of HIV infection and oral conditions that may herald the onset of AIDS, and to manage all aspects of their patients’ oral health needs, no matter their stage of HIV infection. This is accomplished by increasing practitioner competence in providing quality care to HIV+ patients.

HIV & Dentistry: An Update for Dental Professionals

A one-day HIV and Dentistry Update program is available for oral health professionals. Training can be provided onsite at your dental clinic, or at the USC School of Dentistry.

The following are components of this program:

• Epidemiological Overview of HIV/AIDS
• Medical Update
• HIV/AIDS Dental Management and Oral Lesions
• Dental Office Safety and Infection Control Compliance
• Legal Issues Update
• HIV Risk Assessment and Patient Counseling

Dental Clinical Training

Clinical training for oral health professionals is held at the USC School of Dentistry. Participants have the opportunity to observe care and discuss individual patient cases with PAETC faculty at the School of Dentistry. Participants are encouraged to spend extended time in this clinical rotation, in addition to the one-day training program.

In addition, extended clinical training and flexible options for program length and scheduling are also available, to meet the needs of the practitioner or dental clinic.

Clinical Consultation Training

In addition to regular clinical training courses, special clinical consultation training may be arranged at your dental clinic. Pacific AETC oral health faculty can provide on-site training at your clinic to provide updates on dentistry and HIV care. Faculty will also be available to review dental procedures, including infection control and avoidance of cross contamination, review records and charts of patients with HIV disease, and provide other consultation as requested.

Costs
The majority of training and educational materials are supported through a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Modest fees may be charged to cover food, parking and incidentals for clinical training at USC School of Dentistry.

Credit
Continuing education credit is provided for training at USC School of Dentistry. The University of Southern California School of Dentistry is approved by the California State Board of Dental Examiners to sponsor this continuing education program for dentists and dental hygienists. Hours of Category I credit hours will be based on actual hours of clinical training.

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