General and Preventive Dentistry Rotations

Freshman dental students - rotate to Roy Cisneros Elementary School (half day) in the Edgewood Independent School District as part of a required course in School-Based Preventive Dentistry.  The Freshman dental students teach oral hygiene instruction to the 2nd and 3rd graders.  Freshman dental students also rotate to one of several Head Start Centers in San Antonio (one half day).  Through this rotation, dental students provide oral health promotion/disease prevention strategies at the community level. The Head Start Oral Health Initiative is a collaboration with the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry, San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD), and the Head Start Program, Parent Child Incorporated (PCI). Dental students work with other oral health care professionals in a community setting. Through this rotation, the dental student evaluate the child’s oral health need by performing dental screening using the Basic Screening Survey instrument and apply fluoride varnish as a preventive measure.

Sophomore dental students – rotate to various elementary schools throughout San Antonio as part of a required course in Sophomore Clinic.   Dental students provide dental sealants and oral health instruction to children during the fall and spring semesters.  Sophomore dental students also rotate to Roy Cisneros Elementary School (half day) in the Edgewood Independent School District as part of a required course in School-Based Preventive Dentistry.  The sophomore dental students provide sealants for the children who have parental consent to participate.  There is a 3-chair dental clinic in Roy Cisneros Elementary School.

Junior dental students – rotate to University Hospital with the Oral Surgery as part of Hospital Dentistry Training.  Junior dental students also have the option to rotate for a two-week summer selective to provide primary dental services to children at Ricardo Salinas Clinic, which is located in an underserved area of San Antonio.

Senior dental students - rotate to at San Antonio Christian Dental Clinic at Haven for Hope as part of the weeklong required rotation in GEND clinic. The focus of this rotation is on providing primary care to special needs patients including homeless families in San Antonio/Bexar Country. Upon completion of this rotation, students participate in a guided reflection session and tour the homeless facility. Barriers to accessing dental care are discussed.