Endodontology

Division Overview

Endodontics is the specific study of the dental pulp and tissues surrounding the root of a tooth. Endodontic treatment is needed when the pulp becomes inflamed or infected. An endodontist is a specialized dentist that carefully cleans the canal space and seals it. The endodontic residents treat patients, conduct research and teach undergraduate students.

Academic Program

The UConn School of Dental Medicine has been conducting a degree-granting program and a certificate program in endodontics since 1971. A three-year, full‑time clinical program commences in the beginning of July each year and leads to a Certificate of Proficiency in Endodontics and eligibility for the certification process by the American Board of Endodontics. Students may enroll in a combined program leading to a Master of Dental Science degree (three years), or an interdepartmental program leading to a Certificate of Proficiency in Endodontics and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biomedical Sciences (five years plus).

The three-year clinical program is designed to prepare the student for the practice of endodontics. Enrollment in the Master of Dental Science Degree program is an interdepartmental program leading to the degree of Master of Dental Science. The program offers an opportunity for study and research in dental science, basic life sciences, and the allied health fields.

The intent of the combined Endodontic Certificate/Ph.D. degree program is to prepare the student for a career in education and research. The program is designed to develop outstanding clinicians/scientists in basic biomedical, behavioral and clinical oral health research.

Program Components

The Endodontic Graduate Program has the following components:

  • Patient care
  • Interdepartmental didactics
  • Intradepartmental didactics
  • Teaching
  • Research

Program Goals

The Endodontic Graduate Program adheres to the American Dental Association Commission of Accreditation Standards for Advanced Specialty Education Programs in Endodontics to provide graduates qualifications to meet the eligibility requirements of the American Board of Endodontics certification examination. In the education of endodontic residents, biological foundations of endodontic practice will be emphasized, and in patient care, the pursuit of excellence will be the ultimate aim. Endodontic residents will gain experience in the generation of knowledge by their required research projects. They will gain experience in transferring knowledge by instruction and evaluation of dental students. Acceptance of qualified candidates for careers in academic endodontics and research will be fostered. Service through teaching, provision of help for dental students, and students of other specialty programs are emphasized.

The overall goal of the program is to provide a learning environment to give the student opportunities to develop as a specialist.

Interdepartmental Didactics

The following interdepartmental didactic courses are offered:

  • Sedation
  • Functional Oral Anatomy
  • Advanced Oral Histology
  • Clinical Oral Pathology
  • Graduate General & Oral Pathology
  • Principles of Oral Microbiology and Infections
  • Epidemiology
  • Biostatistics
  • Scientific Writing
  • Research Methods in Epidemiology
  • Biomaterials
  • Evidence Based Dentistry
  • Orofacial Pain

All endodontic residents must complete all of the above courses with a grade of S (satisfactory). A number of these courses may be taken for credit as part of the requirements for combined programs. The Graduate School requirement for the Master’s degree, however, is a minimum of 15 credits at no less than a 3.0 (B) average (Refer to Requirements and Procedures of the Master of Dental Science Degree).

Intra-departmental didactics consist of the following:

  • Basic Graduate Endodontics
  • Advanced Clinical Endodontics
  • Graduate Literature Review Seminars
  • Current Literature Review Seminars
  • Case Presentations/Treatment Plan Case Conferences
  • Endodontic Topics

Patient Care

Patient care includes all aspects of endodontic diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis. Treatment is performed in conjunction with other dental specialties and referring general dentists. Upon completion of the program, endodontic residents must be proficient in:

  • endodontic treatment of anterior, premolar, and molar teeth
  • differential diagnosis of odontogenic pain
  • diagnosis and management of endodontic emergencies including pain and/or swelling
  • complex isolation including gingivectomy procedures
  • endodontic re-treatments. treatment through existing restorations
  • surgical procedures including incision and drainage, diagnostic flap, root-end resection, root-end filling, root resection, obtaining biopsy specimen, and perforation repair
  • management of patients with immature apex, pediatric patients, endodontic-periodontic, and endodontic-orthodontic patients
  • management of traumatized patients, physically and mentally handicapped, and other systemically compromised patients
  • bleaching, intentional replantation, auto-transplantation, splinting procedure, intra-radicular restorations.

The endodontic residents gain experience and become familiar with crown lengthening procedures and performing endodontic procedures in the operating room. The residents are expected to manage all patients referred to them for treatment and record their clinical activities (including diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and follow-up) in the endodontic electronic patient record. Each resident must also develop a case portfolio of all of their cases in hard copies. Five of each resident's cases need to be prepared according to the American Board of Endodontics format and submitted to the program director before graduation. Endodontic faculty members are available for clinical supervision and consultation at all times and all completed cases are reviewed individually by at least one endodontic faculty member during scheduled Case Review.

Research

All endodontic residents are required to engage in research. Their research activity is determined by their career goals and their personal aspirations as well as the endodontic program they enroll in.

The research requirements of those who are in the Endodontic Certificate/Master of Dental Science Program are determined by a committee that is comprised of a major advisor and associate advisors who include the Endodontic Program Director. It is the responsibility of the endodontic resident in the combined Certificate/Master of Dental Science Program to read the Master of Dental Science Program Manual and comply fully with its contents and guidelines. Endodontic residents’ research requirements include: successful completion of the research project; submission of an abstract for presentation in a state, national, or international professional meeting (e.g., meetings of the American Association of Endodontists or the American Association for Dental Research) before September of the final year; and preparation of a manuscript ready for submission to a peer reviewed journal.

Those enrolled in master’s combined programs are encouraged to submit a grant proposal and must successfully defend their thesis in a formal meeting. A selected number of abstracts will be submitted for presentation and support will be provided for presentation of accepted abstracts. Formal meetings for evaluation of the student's research progress are periodically scheduled that include the student and the advisors and the proceedings of these meetings are maintained in the student's personnel record.

The research requirements of those who are in the Endodontic Certificate Program are determined by the student's career goals and their personal aspirations. They are required, however, to initiate or take part in a departmental research project under supervision of a faculty member and present their materials, methods, and conclusions in a manuscript that is suitable for publication. Submission of grant proposals, presentation of research results in professional meetings, publication of abstracts/articles are encouraged and supported.

Teaching

As a part of the requirements mandated by the American Dental Association, all endodontic residents are expected to gain experience in clinical and didactic instruction and be familiar with teaching methodology. Thus, they give formal presentations to the faculty and fellow students and participate in preclinical and clinical teaching of endodontics to the predoctoral dental students.

Endodontic resident teaching is scheduled in the second and/or third year in the three-year program. Teaching should comprise ten percent of the resident's time (about four hours per week) after the first year of training.

Endodontic residents are required to prepare themselves for teaching by reviewing the predoctoral syllabi and familiarize themselves with current predoctoral student clinical requirements and their clinic chart, electronic record, and clinical evaluation procedures. Teaching consists of scheduled assignments in predoctoral laboratory courses and predoctoral endodontic clinic. The teaching starts in the beginning of the second academic year of the program (after participation in the teaching methodology seminar and faculty evaluation calibration exercise) and continues in the third year.

Endodontic residents take part in student clinical evaluation and are authorized to evaluate and grade predoctoral students. They, however, do not evaluate student test cases (only endodontic faculty members are authorized to evaluate predoctoral test cases). Endodontic residents are always scheduled with a faculty member in each teaching session and the faculty member monitors their teaching.

Endodontic residents are not assigned to teach other endodontic residents, however informal clinical consultations between endodontic residents are allowed. The program director evaluates endodontic resident teaching based on their competency in teaching methodology and observation of their teaching performance in the pre-clinic and clinic.

Admissions

Admission Requirements

We are currently accepting applications. The application deadline is June 7, 2024 to be considered for the following academic year. We do not participate in ADEA PASS. Interviews will be held late June for the selected candidates.

Admission requirements include the following:

  • $75 application fee. Pay with MasterCard or Visa here. Please select “PASS ID” as the ID type and enter 2022202300 as the ID number.

We also accept checks or money orders drawn from a U.S. bank in U.S. dollars, made payable to UConn School of Dental Medicine and sent to:

UConn School of Dental Medicine
Division of Endodontology
ATTN: Erika Egan
263 Farmington Avenue, MC 1715
Farmington, CT 06030-1715 

  • Please send the following items via email to Erika Egan at eegan@uchc.edu:
  1. Completed application form. Applications must be typed. Handwritten applications will not be accepted.
  2. Three original letters of recommendation. The letters should be sent directly from the person writing the recommendation. The email subject should include the applicant's full name. The file format of the letter can be a PDF or Microsoft Word document. Institutional or Dean's letters are not required.
  3. Curriculum Vitae (CV).
  4. Official transcripts from all undergraduate and professional schools sent electronically directly from each school to endodontology@uchc.edu. Alternatively, official transcripts can be mailed to:

UConn School of Dental Medicine
Division of Endodontology
ATTN: Erika Egan
263 Farmington Avenue, MC 1715
Farmington, CT 06030-1715

Important: Graduates from non-American Dental Association (ADA) accredited schools must submit transcript/credit evaluations electronically via ECE or WES. You will be able to find our department in ECE or WES listed as University of Connecticut - Endodontology Department. Transcripts are not required for internationally trained dentists as transcripts are sent directly to WES or ECE.

  1. A digital 2" x 2" photograph (JPG, PNG, or BMP).
  2. ADAT, GRE, and CBSE scores are NOT required. National Dental Board examination scores are not required but should be provided if available.
  3. TOEFL (Institution Code: 3938). Students whose native language is not English must submit English proficiency scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). A minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper), 213 (computer), 80 (internet), or 6.5 (IELTS) is required for admission. The TOEFL should be taken well in advance of the admission deadlines to assure consideration for the requested admit term. Copies of score reports sent to students are acceptable. TOEFL and IELTS are not required from graduates of the United States and Canadian dental schools.

The endodontic residency certificate can be done on its own or it can be done in conjunction with the Master of Dental Science program. Once accepted into the residency program, a separate online application must be submitted to the University of Connecticut Graduate School to apply for the Master of Dental Science Program.

More information about the Ph.D. program can be found here.

*Obtaining a badge from UConn Health is mandatory and required in order to be enrolled. This process includes a full background check. Badges are subject to approval from UConn Police and the Risk Management Office. 

Stipend and Tuition

Stipend 

  • Residents in the endodontic certificate program receive a monthly stipend.
  • For U.S. citizens who are graduates of U.S. and Canadian dental schools, the current annual stipend is $24,000 for the first year and $25,000 for the second and third year of residency.
  • For foreign nationals and foreign graduates, the current annual stipend is $13,000 for each year of residency.

Tuition

  • For the residency certificate program, the Advanced Dental Education Fee is $25,000 per year for all graduates (U.S., Canadian and International graduates). This fee is not eligible for Federal Financial Aid when a resident does not enroll in the Master of Dental Science Degree program.
  • For the Master of Dental Science program, tuition is charged per credit hour. The Master of Dental Science requires a minimum of 24 credits and this degree is optional.

For more information, see the Resident Salaries, Stipends, Fees and Tuition.

Fellowship Program

The Division of Endodontology offers a one-year Fellowship Program that is only available to graduates of the UConn Endodontic Certificate Program. Please submit the completed Fellowship Program application form to the address listed below.

 

 

Faculty

Part-time faculty

David Burkhard

Chris Carrington

Bruce Cha

Jin Jiang

Seymour Melnick

Rekha Pawar

Lester Reid

John Russo

Michael Rutberg

Gita Safaian

Jacob Saidon

Thomas Turek

Emeritus Faculty

Larz S.W. Spångberg
Professor Emeritus

Kamran Safavi
Professor Emeritus
 

Contact Information

Erika Egan
Administrative Program Coordinator
Division of Endodontology
263 Farmington Avenue, MC 1715
Farmington, CT 06030
Phone: 860-679-2719
Fax: 860-679-2208
Email: eegan@uchc.edu

Qiang Zhu, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Program Director, Division of Endodontology
Professor and Chair
UConn School of Dental Medicine
263 Farmington Avenue, MC 1715
Farmington, CT 06030
Email: qzhu@uchc.edu