Dental Urgent and Emergent Care 2
Course Director: Rolf Christensen & Kevin Chung
Credits: 2
Quarters/Yr of Program: Autumn / 4
Course Overview
This course provides advanced instruction and clinical practice in the diagnosis and management of patients requiring urgent and emergent dental care, as well as patients needing assessment and care in the discipline of oral medicine. The course includes participation in clinical rotations to the Dental Urgent Care Clinic (DUCC), and the oral maxillofacial radiology (OMR) and oral medicine (OMCS) specialty clinics. Students will apply and clinically demonstrate their background in the dental, medical, and basic sciences to/on conditions affecting the head and neck area; they will participate in complex case management.
Learning Objectives
The student who successfully completes this course will be able to do the following:
- Communicate effectively with patients of all ages and stages of life and in a culturally sensitive manner with diverse populations including patients with special healthcare needs.
- Demonstrate effective patient interview skills.
- Complete an accurate medical history including medical and psychosocial problems that impact oral health and the delivery of dental care.
- Identify diseases and conditions that affect oral health and delivery of dental care, through general survey, vital signs, and complete physical examination of the head and neck.
- Develop preliminary and later more definitive working diagnoses that include differential diagnoses appropriate for signs and symptoms identified through the patient history, physical, and radiographic examination.
- Form concise accurate problem lists for the patient that include pertinent health issues and behaviors, pathology of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity and associated structures, urgent and emergent dental care needs, and the patient’s desires for treatment.
- Integrate into planned treatments medical, behavioral, and functional issues relevant to patients’ care.
- Select, prescribe, and interpret appropriate diagnostic tests, including intraoral and extraoral radiographs, CBCT when indicated, pulp vitality testing, microbiologic or laboratory testing, and biopsy referral to establish or confirm diagnoses.
- Identify patients requiring consultation, referral, or co-management with oral medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, primary care providers, medical specialists, or other dental and health professionals, and communicate clinical findings effectively during transitions of care.
- Implement care plans for urgent and emergent dental problems that include sequencing and the delivery of urgent and follow-up therapy.
- Perform patient evaluations and dental care on patients with diverse cultural backgrounds and patients with special healthcare needs.
- Demonstrate the diagnosis and initial management of patients with acute and chronic orofacial pain, mucosal abnormalities, diseases of the salivary glands, and chemosensory disorders.
- Collaborate with UW School of Pharmacy students to develop and execute care plans for patients’ pain, infection, dry mouth, and other patient-specific medication-related needs and side effects.
UWSOD Competencies: C-01, C-10, C-02, C-09, CE-07, C-06, CE-02, CE-03, C-03, CE-06, C-04, C-08, C-15, C-14, C-28, C-12, C-13, C-31, C-16, C-29, C-17, C-05, C-11, C-30, C-18, C-24, C-25, C-26, C-19, C-20, C-21, C-22, C-23, C-27, CE-05
Date last updated: 2026-09-22