Dental General Practice Residency Program

History, Objective, Accreditation, Dates, Hours

The Dental General Practice Residency Program began in 1967 and has had four residents each year since 1983. It is accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation, a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education.

The Objective is to provide for the resident an advanced education and experience in all phases of dentistry with emphasis on the geriatric and medically compromised patient.

The program has four one-year residents each year. Residents spend approximately 70% of their time in the program treating the oral health needs of ambulatory patients. While in the dental clinic, the resident will rotate through Oral Surgery and Periodontics as well as General Dentistry.

The normal working hours are 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The GPR Program is one year, starts July 1 and finishes June 30.

Facility, Location, Hospital

The Dayton VA Medical Center consists of a general medical, surgical, and psychiatric hospital with 120 beds located in a hospital building dedicated in 1992, a nursing home care unit with 265 beds, and a domiciliary with 115 beds, all combined under one management. It is located on a beautifully landscaped 382 acre tract at the western edge of Dayton.

There are approximately 1500 full time equivalent employees at the Medical Center. Our medical staff includes 71 physicians and 8 staff dentists, in addition to physicians and dentist consultants.

Dental Clinic

The Dental Service provides comprehensive dental treatment to eligible veterans in two clinics: the main clinic located in the new Patient Tower and in the satellite clinic at the Extended Care area and Nursing Home.

The modern dental clinic in the patient tower has: twelve general treatment chairs, plus two examination chairs, two hygiene chairs with a separate hygiene instruction room, two oral surgical suites, digital radiographic capability including Panorex and Cephalometrics, centralized sterilization, conference room, and a large complete dental laboratory.

Staff

Our staff includes seven full time and one part time dentists. We have two Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, a Periodontist and five general dentists.

Paul M. Lambert DDS
D.D.S. University of Missouri at Kansas City 1973
General Practice Residency; VA Medical Center, Topeka, KS 1974
Staff Dentist VA Medical Center, Bay Pines, Fl 1975
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency; VA Medical Center, Brooklyn,
1979 Chief, Dental Service, VA Medical Center, Dayton, OH 1990 - present
Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry
Associate Clinical Professor at Wright State University School of Medicine
Fellow, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Association of Hospital Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the American
College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists
Dr. Lambert's practice concentrates in management of oral cancer and reconstruction of patients following jaw resection and radiation therapy, as he has managed radiation therapy complications for more than 400 patients through a national referral program for hyperbaric medicine established in Dayton in 1985.

Andrew J. Mesaros, Jr. DDS
D.D.S. West Virginia University School of Dentistry 1981
General Practice Residency; USAF Hospital, Barksdale 1982
Advanced Education in General Dentistry; USAF Medical Center, Wilford Hall 1992
US Air Force Retired, Colonel 2003
VA Staff Dentist 2004
Member: American Dental Association, Academy of Operative Dentistry
Master, Academy of General Dentistry; Diplomat, American Board of General Dentistry and Federal Services Board of General Dentistry
Professional Interests: Dental Resident Education, Comprehensive General Dentistry

Erin M. Slattery DDS
B.S. Arizona State University 1997
D.D.S. Creighton University School of Dentistry 2002
General Practice Residency Dayton VAMC 2003
VA Staff Dentist Dayton, Oh 2003 – present
Member: Academy of General Dentistry, American Dental Association
Professional Interests: Fixed and removable prosthodontics, Implant dentistry, conscious sedation, periodontics.

Residents Manual

The Residents Manual contains a complete description of the program.

Certificate

A certificate of training will be awarded to the resident upon completion of all clinical and educational requirements of their Dental General Practice Residency.

On Call

Dental residents will be scheduled for on call duty for seven days, once every four weeks. While on on call duty, the resident does not have to be physically located at the hospital but is required to be available within 30 minutes of the hospital, carry his/her beeper, and have telephone access. If the resident has to be off during his on call duty, he/she is responsible for notifying the hospital of the name and phone number of the resident covering for him/her.

Salary

The salary of a non career general practice resident is established by the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office. First year residents currently receive approximately $47,000 annually, plus health insurance benefit.

PASS Program

We participage in the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) Program.

Physical Examination

New residents entering the GPR Program must pass a Physical Examination to insure the resident is capable of carrying out his/her responsibilities. This may be performed at the nearest VA, and then reviewed by the employee health physician at the Dayton VA. A Questionnaire is given that includes Immunization history. Evidence of Hepatitis B vaccine is required by the State of Ohio in order to receive a one-year limited Residents License to practice at the VA. Universal Precautions are followed for dental treatment.

Professional Liability Coverage

Department of Veterans Affairs employees are covered while on station by the Federal Government, which is self-insured. Residents are also covered by the government while providing treatment at formal off-site rotations.

Leave

Residents will accrue 14 calendar days of annual leave and 15 days of sick leave per year. The leave year begins July 1 and ends June 30

Rotations

1. Anesthesia - 4 weeks
2. Emergency Room - 2 weeks
3. Internal Medicine - 2 weeks
4. Pedodontics - Dayton Children's Hospital - ongoing throughout the year
5. Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service - 3 days
6. IV Conscious Sedation/ Pharmacology - Dr. Becker - ongoing, throughtout the year (includes ACLS)

Dental Patients

Approximately 90% are ambulatory care outpatients and many of them are Medically Compromised in some way. They will generally come under one of the following treatment categories:

1. Outpatient Class I-V

Generally, Service-Connected Veterans eligible for dental because of some particular disability or qualifying factor

2. Outpatient Class VI

Referral from Physician to improve specified medical condition

3. Emergency Treatment

Usually walk-in problems that need extraction(s), and Consults on hospital patients from physicians. Residents are routinely involved in dental emergencies and consultations.

4. Dental Inpatients

Dental Inpatients are Patients admitted to the hospital by Dental Service in order to be treated by and under the supervision of the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, usually in the OR. These include trauma (such as fractures), Cancer, Osteoradionecrosis (with use of Hyperbaric Oxygen), Orthognathic Surgery, and Extractions. Eligibility for Service Connected Outpatients is determined and approval given by Staff Dentists prior to resident examination or treatment.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Under the direct or general supervision of an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, the resident will perform a broad range of clinical and surgical procedures including, but not necessarily limited to, exodontia, alveoplasty, preprosthetic surgery and biopsy. When appropriate, clinical procedures may be performed under the direct supervision of the Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon utilizing intravenous and/or inhalation sedation techniques. Emphasis will be placed on the evaluation of the patient's physical status and the appropriate treatment of the compromised patient.

Periodontics

The patient population presents with a great need for periodontal treatment. Residents will be under the supervision of a Board Certified staff periodontist. Each resident will spend two days a week on a rotating basis working one on one with the periodontist. Emphasis is placed on surgical procedures to facilitate the restorative treatment plan. IV Conscious Sedation is utilized as needed.

Prosthetic Dentistry

The dental residents will have ample opportunity to perform in the area of Prosthetic Dentistry. They are encouraged to try different techniques in the construction of complete and partial dentures. The residents will be provided plenty of opportunity to do crown and bridge prostheses, and will be under the direct supervision of full time staff dentists. Residents will be involved in all areas of Implants.

Clinical Rotation and Requirements

In general, there are no requirements as to the number of procedures to be performed; thus the attention is to detail, precision, and perfection of the various techniques. Quality, not quantity, is stressed. Take your time and do a good job and speed will come through repetition. However, as dental professionals, the Residents are expected to stay busy and contribute a reasonable amount to the productivity of the Dental Service.

Educational Requirements

Inservice Training

During the course of the residency year, the resident is required to attend the Inservice Training Programs and to present a one hour Inservice lecture as part of his/her training. The date and topic of the lecture will be selected in conjuction with input from the Program Director.

Journal Club

The resident is required to attend all meetings of the Dental Journal Club. The Club normally meets every other Monday from 3:30 to 4:30 PM unless otherwise directed. Each resident will be required to present and discuss classic or current articles in the dental literature in order to familiarize himself/herself with relevant dental issues, as well as learning to be comfortable and properly present articles to peers.

Case Review

Twice a month, (alternating with Journal Club), residents will bring current cases to a gathering with attending staff for treatment planning and discussion.

Case Presentation

The resident will be required to formally present four interesting cases for review and evaluation by the dental staff during his/her residency year. This will provide the resident an opportunity to formulate a comprehensive treatment plan for a variety of patients and experience in presenting and defending his/her treatment plan.

Table Clinic

Residents are required to research, develop, and present a Table Clinic on a topic of general dental interest. The presentation will be made twice - once during the annual Ohio Dental Association meeting in late August, and at the early February evening dinner meeting of the Dayton Dental Society. This will provide the resident the opportunity to teach and interact with his/her peers.

Consultants

The Dayton VA Residency Program is enhanced by the quality of its consultants. The lectures cover most of the disciplines of dentistry. Attendance at these lectures is mandatory and is a first priority; it is the personal responsibility of each resident to be in attendance and on time

Contact Us

If you have questions, contact the GPR Program Director by email or phone (937) 262-2102.

Application for Residency Training

It is our hope that if you apply and are selected for the residency program, you will find it a truly rewarding experience. Our goal has been to make ours one of the finest programs in the nation. However, we can only provide an environment for learning, the value received is only as great as the effort invested.

You may download an application for residency training from the U.S. Goverment's official Web portal.

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Reviewed/Updated Date: Wednesday, August 06, 2008