University of California, Los Angeles

The Orthodontics Postgraduate Training Program is designed to train clinical specialists at the postgraduate level and includes extensive didactic, clinical, and research experience. Although the major study concentration is in orthodontics, research in any of the allied medical or dental sciences is acceptable. Successful postgraduates must complete the requirements for both the Master's degree in Oral Biology and the Orthodontics Postgraduate Training Program in order to be awarded a certificate of completion for the orthodontic program.

The curriculum consists of subject matter that has direct application in orthodontic practice. Examples of such subjects are orthodontic seminars covering etiology, diagnosis, and treatment planning; applied clinical orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics; cephalometrics, and other auxiliary imaging methods; biomechanical principles; anatomy; growth and development; review of orthodontic literature; gnathology and TMJ function and dysfunction; surgical orthodontics; craniofacial anomalies; embryology; biostatistics; metallurgy of orthodontic materials; research design; and research and manuscript preparation.

Concomitant with their formal education, postgraduates attend the regularly scheduled seminars of the UCLA Health System Craniofacial Team and take part in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with various developmental abnormalities in the UCLA Craniofacial Clinic. Postgraduates also participate in a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment and diagnosis of complex adult orofacial problems. In the orthodontic clinic, our postgraduates have the opportunity to treat skeletal and dental problems in deciduous and mixed dentition. These course requirements are consistent with the recommendations of the Council on Orthodontic Education of the American Dental Association of Orthodontics.