Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 13 text:

DRAL SURGERY Despite the fact that Oral Surgery is generally considered to be a rather select specialty of Den- tistry, it is still, of necessity, an extremely important part of any dental curriculum. The dental graduate is expected to be able at least to recognize and understand if not treat all pathology existing in his field of operation, which is the oral cav- ity, and its investing structures and tissues. It is no more reasonable to expect a dental student to be im- mediately qualified for a specialized practice of Oral Surgery than it is to expect a medical student to be proficient in surgery of the brain or gynecology even after a hospital internship. The reason for this is, the lack of time in a four year course and the large num- ber of specialties in both medicine and dentistry. However, the complete dental curriculum does include a relatively intensive training in broad surgical prin- ciples as well as general and regional pathology. In this consideration, it is more important and more practical for the student to be given a complete training in fundamentals and principles rather than in experience through sheer volume of work done in school. The field of Oral Surgery as a whole is a large one but is as yet quite obscure and undefined. It is one of the oldest specialties of Dentistry and as a matter of fact is so far advanced in scope that it is now being split into two separate subdivisions; those of Oral Surgery proper and Exodontia. Exodontia is gen- erally conceded to be within the natural domain of the Dentist. However, parts of Oral Surgery have been variously claimed by: the general surgeon, the rhinologist, the orthopedic surgeon and the otolaryn- gologist as well as the dentist. It is difficult to define the function or logical field of each one of these specialists in Oral Surgery. How- ever, if the dental curriculum does include an ade- quate training in fundamentals, principles and theory, it should be sufficient to train the dental neophyte to be able to diagnose all oral pathology, treat most surgical problems which present in the general prac- tice and at the same time provide him with a solid basic foundation of Oral Surgery upon which to build a superstructure of specialized practice after suitable post-graduate training. msrm JOSEPH L. McSWEENEY D.D.S. Assistant In D ALBIN R. SEIDEL D.M.D. Instructor in Dentistry F. A. STEWART A.B., D.D.S. Instructor in Dentistry ROBERT NORTHROP D.D.S. Instructor in Dentistry

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HENRY SAGE DUNNING, D.D.S., M.D., B.S. Professor of Dentistry ADOLPH BERGER, D.D.S. William Cam Professor of Dentistry JOSEPH SCHROFF DOUGLAS B. PARKER FRANCIS S. McCAFFREY SAMUEL BIRENBACH B.S., M.D., D.D.S. M.D., D.D.S. B.S.. D.D.S. D.D.S. Associate Prof, of Dentistry Associate Prof, of Dentistry Associate Prof, of Dentistry Assistant Prof, of Dentistry KENNETH F. CHASE D.M.D. Instructor in Dentistry

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OPERATIVE DENTISTRY LEROY L. HARTMAN. D.D.S., Sc.D. Professor of Dentisfry It has been said the loss of a single tooth from one dental arch affects, almost immediately, all the teeth and contiguous tissues of both dental arches. Opera- tive dentistry aims to prevent the loss of teeth through proper treatment of carious areas. The infected mate- rial is removed, a cavity prepared, and the tooth restored to proper anatomy and function. At Columbia, the Operative Division makes every attempt to help the student construct for himself a technique built upon scientific knowledge and upon the experience of successful operators. It is only natural, therefore, that the cavity preparations used are based upon the fundamental research of S. V. Black. Because caries, like neoplasms, may assume no given form but tends to run wild, modifications in the Black technique are made whenever indicated. Application of the rubber dam is routine in the clinical procedure; it is to be used wherever possible. With better vision and a clean field in which to work — to mention but two of the many advantages — the operator is amply rewarded for the few minutes spent in placing the dam. Another feature is emphasis upon the use of hand instruments. To prevent recurrent decay margins should be sharp and definite; sharp hand instruments are often indispensable for this reason. In addition they are valuable in planing the dentin and in joining sharp line and point angles. While operative dentistry does not have the general disagreement upon fundamentals that obtains in cer- tain other branches of dentistry, it is by no means perfect. Nor can it afford to be static. Our operative dentistry faculty has been working hand in hand with other departments, exploring with its finest instruments for catches in each component of this division of den- tal science and art. The closest collaboration with the Prosthetic Division is always maintained; as a conse- quence we have today better materials, used to better advantage. Included on the faculty are persons of wide experi- ence in the entire operative field. But it is significant that several of these men have given special consid- eration to the properties and uses of particular filling materials. This is of great benefit to the student body.