Internship Length and Number of Positions
This is a 12-month program commencing on or about July 1st of each year. Four new positions will be offered each year.
Internship Application
The Denver Health Pediatric Dentistry Intern Application is used and can be obtained by contacting the Pediatric Dentistry Program Director, Dr. Jeffrey Kahl, at Jeffrey.Kahl@dhha.org. Applications must be received by the Program Director by February 10th* to be considered for acceptance on July 1st. Four interns are selected each year through direct application to the Program Director.
*The application process may be modified to accommodate the shortened timeframe during which candidates have an opportunity to apply to the program.
Internship Description
The Pediatric Dentistry Internship at Denver Health Medical Center is a one-year program that provides focused clinical training in pediatric dentistry and dental care for patients with special healthcare needs. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in limited clinical experience for dental students across the country. Denver Health offers a well-rounded experience for those who are searching for additional hands-on training.
The Internship Program is NOT accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association.
Curriculum
The curriculum is divided into two areas: clinical and didactic.
The clinical curriculum includes providing both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care needs.
Interns will have the opportunity to see normal, healthy children as well as those that present with complexities related to age, medical condition, extent of oral disease and behavior.
Denver Health provides comprehensive oral healthcare that encompasses prevention; diagnosis and treatment planning; restorations including stainless steel crowns, zirconia crowns, composites; pulp therapy; extractions; and space maintenance.
Clinical experiences are provided in a variety of settings including:
- Webb primary pediatric dental clinic
- Community Health Centers
- Medical Dental Integration in Pediatric Medicine Clinic
- School based clinics
- Operating Room
- Emergency and Trauma Call
- Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic
Advanced clinical training is provided in:
- Sedation
- Orthodontics
- Endodontics
- Periodontics
Guidelines and policies of the AAPD are reviewed and incorporated into discussions regarding patient care in the clinic.
In addition to clinical experience, evidence-based dentistry is also presented as part of the didactic curriculum. The program’s standard for providing oral health care requires faculty and residents to use critical thinking in both didactic and clinical experiences. Critical thinking when evaluating patient oral and medical conditions and health history will advance learner ability to consistently provide evidence-based treatment.
Interns will be exposed to a variety of subjects through didactic sessions including treatment planning seminars, literature review and lectures.
The lecture series provides in-depth coverage of multiple topics including:
- Diagnosis and treatment planning
- Restorations in the primary dentition
- Pulp therapy
- Treatment of toothaches and trauma in children
- Infant oral health
- Space maintenance
- Treating pregnant mothers
- Medical emergencies in the dental clinic
- Protective stabilization
- Nitrous oxide/Oxygen administration
- Nonpharmacological behavior guidance
- Advanced behavior guidance
- Oral pathology
- Special healthcare needs
- Advocacy
Internship Facilities
Denver Health Medical Center is a not-for-profit, teaching and academic hospital accredited by The Joint Commission. The Wellington Webb Primary Care Building is accessible for special health care needs patients. Patients currently receive care in the primary pediatric and adult clinics, the dental clinic, and other specialty clinics located within the Webb Building. Denver Community Health Services (DCHS) is one of the oldest and largest community health center networks in the country. DCHS dental target population is all patients in the city and county of Denver.
The Webb Clinic at Denver Health is dedicated to care for pediatric and special health care needs patients. The Webb Pediatric Dental Clinic has 13 treatment rooms and 4 sedation dedicated treatment rooms.
In addition, there are two facilities on campus that have fully equipped operating rooms with pre- and post-op care units. These are utilized to provide treatment for dental patients under general anesthesia.
A new Outpatient Medical Center (OMC) opened in 2021 and is utilized by the Denver Health CODA accredited OMFS and GPR programs, as well as staff dentists, to provide patient care for adults, including those patients with special health care needs.
Denver Health maintains a Complex Care (Tier 4) team that supports about 500 children with the highest level of special medical needs, primarily in their medical home. The Complex Care clinic does comprehensive multidisciplinary visits once a week, in which five children usually attend, and often more as a consultation visit. Overall, about 20% of the pediatric population at Denver Health has some level of special needs, primarily in the area of developmental challenges. Denver Health also has a 25 bed Level III neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); a 20-bed pediatric ward; an 8-10 bed pediatric intensive care unit (PICU); and a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center.
Internship Admission Requirements
Graduation from a CODA-accredited dental school, Denver Health Pediatric Dentistry Internship application including transcripts and CV, three professional evaluation forms including at least one institutional evaluation, a personal interview if invited, and an expressed desire on the part of the applicant to complete a one-year Internship Program in Pediatric Dentistry. In addition, applicants must be eligible to apply and obtain a Colorado Dental License (Colorado accepts both WREB and CDCA examinations) by July 1st.
Internship Strengths
The Denver Health Pediatric Dentistry Intern Program is oriented to enhance clinical skills and knowledge in the provision of comprehensive dental care to children. This is best evidenced through the didactic and clinical schedules, which have been developed by a collaborative pediatric dental faculty group at Denver Health with robust backgrounds, skills, and experiences in dentistry.
Denver Health Medical Center’s dental programs treat a growing, unique population of more than 25,000 patients.
The pediatric dental clinic is based in the Webb Center for Primary Care where pediatric and special needs patients receive a variety of primary and specialized healthcare. The dental clinic is co-located with the primary care pediatric clinic and has established an effective medical-dental integration process. Resources and consultants for pediatric health care are available at Denver Health as well as Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children. Denver Health is a Level 1 Trauma Center providing training and experience in management and treatment of injuries to oral-facial structures.
Denver Health CODA accredited Oral Surgery and General Practice advanced education programs work closely with Pediatric Dentistry.
Internship Accreditation
The Pediatric Dentistry Internship is sponsored by Denver Health Medical Center. It is not accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.