Aim

Students to acquire Operative Dentistry’s basic theoretical knowledge and to develop manual skills by practicing on posterior, up to medium-size, direct restorations in a simulated oral environment in the laboratory.

Learning outcomes

1. Explains the general principles to be met by an acceptable restoration and the basic qualities that a material should possess.
2. Describes the clinical and other specific characteristics (activity, progression rate) of all types of carious lesions, and lists existing diagnostic techniques with their particularities.
3. Determines the particularities of the cervical area of the tooth, classifies the non-carious lesions, and describes the clinical characteristics, the causes and their epidemiological profile.
4. Describes the modern caries management model, explaining the concept of carious risk, detailing and analyzing the factors leading to its identification, to know the groups and criteria for classification.
5. Describes the protocols and techniques of preventive treatment of caries as well as intercept of the incipient carious lesions.
6. List the basic principles of cavitation, the techniques and cutting tools of healthy, decayed dental tissues and restorative materials, explaining cutting mechanisms, their efficiency and impact on the pulp and dental tissues.
7. Knows the terminology of the dental cavities and describes the mechanical and biological principles of their formulation.
8. Describes the stimuli and mechanisms for causing pulp injury, to identify factors that determine the necessity for protection and to describe the composition and basic characteristics of protective materials.
9. Describes the composition, setting reaction, structure, types, physico-mechanical, biological properties of the materials: amalgam, resin composite, glass ionomer cement.
10. Describes the principles of bonding to dental tissues, the basic elements of adhesives, the mechanisms by which they are polymerized and placed in restorations of composite resins in naturally extracted teeth
11. Cuts healthy and carious dental tissues in naturally extracted teeth, forming cavities according to the principles of cavitation of dental tissues and based on the material to be used.
12. Implements the techniques for preventive fissures’ sealing in plastic and extracted natural teeth.
13. Handles, places and shapes resin composite in restorations of up to medium extent, of all surfaces, on posterior teeth and secondarily amalgam, on plastic and extracted natural teeth.
14. Handles and places pulp protection materials in restorations of amalgam and resin composite, of various depths, in plastic and extracted natural teeth.

Content

1. Foundational principles of conservative restorations and restorative materials
2. Dental caries (clinical characteristics and diagnosis.)
3. Caries risk assessment and caries management.
4. Non-carious cervical dental lesions.
5. Principles and methods for hard dental tissue and materials removal
6. Restorative dental materials - resin composite, amalgam, glass ionomer cement  
7. Retention and adhesion of dental restorations
8. Principles of pulp protection in restorations
9. Pit an fissure sealing (lab practise)
10. Restorations, up to medium-size, of posterior teeth  with resin composite and amalgam (lab practise)

Educational methods

• Lectures
• Laboratory exercises

Criteria for successful completion

• Attendance of lectures (10%)
• Intermediate written examinations (2) for theoretical knowledge (30%)
• Intermediate lab practical examinations (2) (30%)  
• Final examination for theoretical knowledge and lab practice (30%)