Established as a General Practice Residency (GPR) in 1986, the residency program has become one of our most successful programs, in addition to our volunteer dentists care, dental assistant training, and professional continuing education programs. It has continued its growth and was incorporated as an AEGD program in 1992.

Community Smiles has been affiliated with other institutions, including: the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where many of our clinic members hold appointments on the volunteer adjunct faculty; UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital Medical Center (UM/JMH, the county hospital), where our residents have participated in hospital rotations; and the University of Florida College of Dentistry’s Hialeah Dental Clinic, where our clinic faculty hold appointments on the volunteer adjunct faculty, and with which there has been a mutual rotation of residents.

Additionally, we participate in various cooperative activities with other institutions, e.g. the annual residents’ course in Nitrous Oxide Sedation and Oral Anxiolysis is taught to all the south Florida general practice residents every summer by faculty members at the Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine.

The AEGD curriculum is designed to prepare the resident to manage the total range of general dental practice through instruction and experience in the delivery of care to a wide range of patients of all ages, ambulatory, hospitalized, healthy and ill. The program offers the opportunity to:

• 1. Refine, advance and/or acquire new knowledge and skills in clinical dentistry.
• 2. Improve understanding of the relationship of medical disorders to oral disease and its treatment.
• 3. Learn to interact effectively with other healthcare professionals in the hospital setting and elsewhere.
• 4. Develop the skills and judgment to provide comprehensive care to medically compromised patients.

The clinic is organized around 16 study groups which each meet one day per month. They encompass the entire range of general dental practice: general operative dentistry; fixed partial prosthetics; removable partial prosthetics; complete dentures; æsthetic dentistry; endodontics; periodontics; orthodontics; oral surgery; TMJ disorders; implantology (surgical and prosthetic); diagnosis and treatment planning; and two pediatric dentistry groups. The primary clinical practice takes place at Community Smiles clinic, located in the Lindsay Hopkins Technical Education Center.

The Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency program (AEGD), located in the Lindsey Hopkins Technical Education Center, is unique among general dentistry residencies in the United States. Although not based in a dental college or a hospital, it offers the advantages of both, in a superior postdoctoral educational program in general dentistry. Our program has maintained Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accreditation since 1992. We currently offer a 1 + 1 program, meaning residents may practice with us for one or two years, depending upon their needs.

Applications are handled through the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The standardized PASS application form is available online, at American dental colleges or directly from ADEA at 1625 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Suite 101, Washington DC 20036-2210.

Applications must be received by September 17th, in order for candidates to be fully considered for review. Interviews for our Residency program take place in October and November with our Residency Selection Committee. Successful candidates are notified of acceptance in December and January. Incoming residents begin their year on the first business day in July. Residency tuition for 2013-14 is $48,000 per year.

All first-year residents must attend and participate in a mandatory pre-residency orientation and training program that begins on the first business day in June and ends on the last business day of June. There is a $3,000 fee for this course. 

Community Smiles now requires successful completion of Parts I and II of the National Boards, as well as a minimum TOEFL score of 80 (85 is recommended), for consideration for acceptance into our program.

Our 2012-2013 Residents