What is prosthodontics?

Prosthodontics is one of the dental specialties recognised by the New Zealand Dental Council. Graduate programs in prosthodontics include classroom lectures and seminars, laboratory and clinical training in esthetics/cosmetics, crowns, bridges, veneers, inlays, complete and removable partial dentures, dental implants, TMD-jaw joint problems, traumatic injuries to the mouth’s structures, congenital or birth anomalies to teeth, snoring, sleep disorders, and oral cancer reconstruction and continuing care. Prosthodontists are masters of complete oral rehabilitation. A prosthodontist is dedicated to the highest standards of care in the restoration and replacement of teeth.

Who is a prosthodontist?

A prosthodontist is a dentist who specialises in the aesthetic restoration and replacement of teeth. Prosthodontists receive three years of additional training after dental school, and restore optimum appearance and function to your smile. Additional training for prosthodontists is earned through a hospital or university-based program accredited by the New Zealand Dental Council. The training includes reviews of the literature, lectures, treatment of patients and laboratory experience in fabricating restorations. A prosthodontist is the skilled architect who can restore optimum function and appearance to your smile.

What is a dental specialty?

A dental specialty is an area of dentistry that has been formally recognised by the New Zealand Dental Council as meeting the requirements for recognition of dental specialists. The New Zealand Dental Council recognizes twelve dental specialties: Public Health Dentistry, Endodontics, Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, Restorative Dental Specialists, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Oral Surgeon), Orthodontics, Paediatric Dentistry, Special Needs Dentistry, Periodontics and Prosthodontics.

What is a dental specialist?

A dental specialist is a dentist who has received additional post-graduate training after dental school. The New Zealand Dental Council recognises twelve dental specialties: Public Health Dentistry, Endodontics, Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, Restorative Dental Specialists, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Oral Surgeon), Orthodontics, Paediatric Dentistry, Special Needs Dentistry, Periodontics and Prosthodontics.

Who is a dental technician?

A dental laboratory technician is a vital component of your oral health care team. In most instances the laboratory technician is the unseen player in the successful restoration of your mouth. All restorative dentistry hinges on the skill and knowledge of this key team member. If you are having a restoration on an implant or a tooth; if you are receiving crowns (caps), bridges, inlays, onlays, partial or complete dentures (plates), night guards or orthodontics appliances, you have been helped by this valuable individual who is dedicated to restoring the beauty and function of your mouth. Combining the artistic skills to fulfill your aesthetic needs, the laboratory technician needs knowledge of the myriad number of dental materials used in the manufacture of your dental restorations. This requires special education and training. The utilization of quality materials, dictated by prescription from your dentist, is paramount in ensuring a long lasting, aesthetic and functional restoration. As with all professions that are responsible for the health of the public, it requires a high level of knowledge, skill and integrity.

Why visit a prosthodontist?

You may want to visit a prosthodontist if you are missing one or more teeth; you are interested in dental implants; you wear dentures or removable partial dentures; or you want to improve the aesthetics of your smile.

What do dental credentials mean?

Upon graduation from dental school a dentist is awarded either a BDS or an equivalent degree. The difference is merely that some people graduate with qualifications of a different name. Generally, one to three or more years of undergraduate university education plus four years of dental school is required to graduate and become a general dentist.   Post-graduate training is required to become a dental specialist consisting of three additional years of training after dental school. Prosthodontists must at least complete an advanced training program leading to a degree in prosthodontics. The degree program satisfies the formal training requirements for eligibility for the registration with the New Zealand Dental Council. Courses of study leading to a Ph.D. are available through basic science departments or through interdisciplinary affiliations.

What is unique about prosthodontists’ education?

Prosthodontists are dental specialists in the restoration and replacement of teeth who have completed dental school plus three additional years of advanced training and education in an ADA-accredited prosthodontic graduate program.

Extensive training and experience provide prosthodontists with a special understanding of the dynamics of a smile, the preservation of a healthy mouth and the creation of tooth replacements. Serving as the architect of a dental treatment plan, a prosthodontist collaborates with general dentists, specialists and other health professionals to develop solutions to dental and oral health concerns.

Prosthodontists provide an extremely high level of care to patients with missing teeth, or having significant damage to their existing teeth. Prosthodontists work with congenital defects as well as problems arising from trauma and neglect.

Prosthodontists are highly trained in state-of-the-art techniques and procedures for treating many diverse and complex dental conditions and restoring optimum function and esthetics. These include: crowns, bridges, complete and removable partial dentures, dental implants, TMD-jaw joint problems, traumatic injuries to the mouth’s structure and/or teeth, snoring or sleep disorders and oral cancer reconstruction and continuing care.

What is evidence-based dentistry?

Evidence-based dentistry is an approach to oral healthcare that requires the careful integration of systematic evaluations of clinically relevant scientific evidence, relating to the person’s oral and medical condition and history, with the dentist’s clinical expertise and the person’s treatment needs and preferences.