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What is hospital dentistry?

Hospital dentistry is the intersection of medicine and dentistry. Hospital dentists provide comprehensive dental care for patients with special needs and complex medical conditions who cannot safely be treated in community dental practices.

General dentists working in hospitals have a strong interest in medicine and usually have post graduate education in hospital dentistry. Integrated specialist dental care provides unique expertise for patients with complex or unusual oral facial conditions. Working collaboratively with medical/surgical colleagues, hospital based general dentists and specialists provide critical support for trauma, cancer, cardiac, transplant and many other strategic programs of the hospital in which they work.

In addition to highly specialized care for medically complex patients, dentists in teaching hospitals (academic health sciences centres or AHSCs) provide hospital-based training for dental students and residents in many dental specialties from the affiliated university and may carry out clinical, biomedical, and population health research.

Elective one-year hospital based dental training programs called General Practice Residency (GPR) Programs are offered in most AHSC dental departments. These programs train future dental hospitalists, as well as future community practitioners who have a high degree of expertise in the management of medically complex or disabled individuals and who have advanced dental skills necessary for practice in small community and rural settings.