Let the Fun Times Roll

There were four residents selected from a pool of seven applicants. Jake, a classmate of mine from dental school; Brandon, that's me; Richard, a 36 year old Major who came from a base in Japan; and Leon, a 37 year old Major who also came from a base in Japan. Obviously, Jake and I were selected right out of dental school, so we spent a good amount of time running around trying to "in-process" for the month of June. We've finally begun the residency. Our time this summer will be split between Lackland (where we work predominantly in our little lab called "the womb," and classes/research at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio. This summer's class is a research methodologies class instructed by the Orthodontic department chair who is a PhD (not even an orthodontist--interesting, eh?)

July 2-3 we had a seminar instructed by Dr. William McHorris who is a renowned gnathologist. He instructed us in gnathological waxings. Gnathological waxings provide a tripodized occlusion, so instead of just one or two points of contact as we were instructed in dental school, in a gnathological waxing of a molar for example, there will be 15 pinpoint contact areas none of which involve the cusp tips. Gnathological restorations don't want cusp tips to contact, so as to avoid wearing the cusp tips down.

Now that we've been instructed in waxings, we've spent roughly 40 hours waxing already. It's not been as easy as I had hoped, but that's a good thing, because it means I'll be improving greatly.

We're reading two texts this summer: Schillingburg's Fundamentals of Fixed Prosthodontics, and Anusavice's Phillip's Science of Dental Materials--obviously as Prosthodontists, we'll be expected to know every material with which we work so as to know how best to restore occlusions.

Every Wednesday we'll have a classic Literature Review as first year residents where we'll discuss generally about 12-15 articles that have significantly impacted the art and science of prosthodontics.

We're expected to present our research proposal to the Committee on Graduate Studies by December, which means we've got a lot of research and literature reviewing to accomplish in order to meet that deadline. My research will be comparing Stewart's pantographic recordings with a Computer and Digital Axiograph (Cadiax); Jake is doing something with resin cements' color stabilization; Richard is trying to do something with retraction cord embedded with a military-developed hemostatic agent (developed for wounds even involving the femoral artery--very effective material); and Leon might do something with sleep apnea. Jake is by far the luckiest as he has already begun data collection and will be done by end of September which means he could present to "COGS" in December and defend his thesis in January--very nice.

Information About the Residency

The US Air Force Prosthodontic Residency is a 3 year residency in San Antonio, TX at the Lackland Air Force Base in the MacKown Dental Clinic which is part of the Wilford Hall Medical Center. The prosthodontic residents work closely with with the periodontic residents who work in the same clinic. Orthodontics and Oral Surgery are located elsewhere on base at the larger Dunn Clinic. The prostho program leads to a MS degree awarded by the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio. As such, there is a research project and thesis required of the residents. It is highly recommended that data gathering and analysis be completed during the first year of the residency as this year is light clinic and heavy didactic. The second and third years are almost exclusively clinic and laboratory requiring long hours in the lab completing prostheses for patient cases. The clinic is equipped with cutting edge technology including digital radiography, stereolithograph, Cone Beam CT, and CEREC machines. Applicants to the program are considered if they:

1) Are ranked in the top half of their class

2) Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher

3) Scored above 85 on NBDE part I

4) Completed the GRE with 1000 or greater


Orientation will begin, for us, 9 Jun 2008. The residency officially begins 1 Jul 2008.