Oral Medicine and Orofacial Pain

Extensive educational activities include courses for dental students, residents, and international trainees.

Predoctoral instruction is provided in the areas of dental morphology, oral medicine, internal medicine, clinical patient assessment, dental management of medically compromised patients, treatment planning, TMJ disorders, orofacial pain of non-dental origin, occlusion, and dental therapeutics.

In addition, faculty members supervise the patient assessment, the oral medicine, and the advanced treatment planning clinics. Students identify patients with jaw dysfunction and chronic pain, sleep related parafunction and sleep breathing disorders, for consultation and co-treatment with faculty and in the Graduate Orofacial Pain Clinic.

2-Year Postgraduate Clinical Training Programs

Postgraduate Programs (shorter duration)

We also supports some of the School's other postgraduate programs by providing seminars in Oral Pathology and Orofacial Pain, mentoring postgraduate student research, and teaching graduate courses in Oral Biology as well as postdoctoral program core courses.

In addition, faculty offer continuing education courses in oral medicine, orofacial pain and sleep medicine for practicing dentists throughout the world.

Faculty members are involved in research in the areas of oral cancer early detection and chemoprevention, oral mucosal immunology related to HIV infection and substance abuse, infection control, TMD/OFP and Sleep Medicine disorders, wound healing and mechanism of abnormal scar formation, and the role of the dentist in tobacco cessation. The research interests of the faculty have led to the development of a dentist assisted tobacco cessation program for 3rd and 4th year dental students, and the oral health curriculum developed by the American Academy of HIV Medicine for physicians specializing in HIV medicine. In addition, we have collaborated with the Pacific AIDS Education and Training Centers in developing the Dental Standards of Care for HIV positive patients in the Pacific and NW region. The standards are adopted and implemented by the LA County Division of HIV and STD Programs.

Faculty members were successful in securing funding for an R25 NIDCR grant to design and implement an Academic Track designed to recruit and mentor future academic dentists. Track participants work with faculty mentors to develop the teaching, leadership, and communication skills needed to be successful in an academic career.

Faculty provide clinical supervision in the pre-doctoral dental clinic, where they supervise and train students in the oral diagnosis, oral medicine, and advanced treatment planning clinics and teach the methods for diagnosis, evaluation and clinical care of patients with oral diseases and orofacial pain.

Faculty supervise resident dentists in the Graduate Orofacial Pain and Dental Sleep Medicine Clinic. They also are direct providers of patient care through the Orofacial Pain Faculty Practice and Oral Medicine Faculty Practice.

Faculty have also been able to procure two contracts with the County of Los Angeles Division of HIV and STD Programs for the oral health care of patients with HIV infection. These contracts provide general dentistry and specialty services to over 1,000 patient each year throughout the School of Dentistry clinics. 

Kristina Etchison, Academic Division Administrator
Phone: (310) 825-3241
ketchison@dentistry.ucla.edu 

For patient inquiries
Phone: (310) 825-8082