Postgraduate Periodontics

Program Overview

The Post-Doctoral program in Periodontics is fully accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council on Post-Secondary Education and the United States Department of Education. The objective of this program is to develop specialists with a sound academic and clinical background on which to base clinical treatment, research, and teaching. Emphasis is placed on training clinicians who are competent in all aspects of Periodontology and preparing them for the certification process of the American Board of Periodontology. 

The clinical component of this program includes: 

  • Ample exposure to periodontal examination procedures
  • Nonsurgical periodontal therapy
  • Surgical periodontal therapy including esthetic periodontal surgery
  • Guided tissue regeneration
  • Osseous grafting
  • Implant placement
  • Preparation of sites for implant placement including extraction of teeth, socket preservation techniques, sinus augmentation, and block grafting
  • Hospital anesthesia
  • IV sedation
  • Supportive periodontal therapy
  • On-call duty commitment totals one month per year 

Candidates will also complete the MSD (Master of Science in Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine). The program and MSD require completion of a research project, a Thesis and defense of that Thesis. The didactic component of the program includes treatment planning seminars and literature review seminars one half day each per week in addition to formal lecture courses. 

The Masters degree program is completed simultaneously with the clinical Certificate program and there is no option for a Certificate only program. The Masters degree and Certificate program is a minimum of 35 months in length. The time required to complete that combination may be more than 35 months depending on the research project and Thesis defense. 

New students begin the Post-Doctoral program July 1, and there is no option for part-time attendance. 

Applications are due on October 2 for the program that begins the following July. Application as early as possible is strongly recommended. October 2 is the deadline for all application materials, including those submitted to ADEA PASS. Note: the first step in using PASS is for the applicant to register and pay your PASS registration fee. Nothing will happen in PASS until you have paid and are registered. 

  • Our residency program will participate in Phase I of the Match during the Fall 2018 application cycle (for students who will start the residency in July 2019). Applicants must register with the Match program. The Match and ADEA PASS share a registration portal for applicants, so applicants who want to register for the Match must go to the ADEA PASS website to complete the Match registration process. Applicants will be charged the Match registration fee at that time.
  • Application through ADEA PASS is required (ADEA PASS application materials are accepted in mid-May).
  • Official Transcripts uploaded to ADEA PASS (all colleges, dental school). If you have attended a non-U.S. college/university, it is required that all international transcripts be evaluated by either ECE (Education Credential Evaluators) or WES (Word Education Services) foreign credentialing services. We do not allow international applicants to use any credential evaluation services other than ECE or WES. We accept international applicants to our program with these restrictions.
  • Two Professional Evaluation Forms (Letters of Recommendation) uploaded to ADEA PASS
  • Institution Evaluation Form (formerly called the Dean’s Letter) submitted by the Dean’s Office to ADEA PASS. This form will include GPA, Class Rank, and National Board Examination scores.
  • GRE and/or ADAT scores uploaded to ADEA PASS. All applicants who graduated from a dental school not accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation are required to take either the GRE or the Advanced Dental Admission Test (ADAT); applicants may take both exams if they desire but must take at least one. GRE scores taken more than 5 years before the application date will not be accepted.
  • While not mandatory for applicants from CODA-accredited dental schools, ADAT or GRE exam are still recommended, especially for applicants from schools that do not rank or provide grades.
  •  For international applicants: Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL iBT) scores uploaded to ADEA PASS. We do not accept the IELTS test. A minimum TOEFL iBT test score of 92 is required for application consideration. TOEFL test scores taken more than 3 years before application date will not be accepted.
  • Applicants must complete a personal statement and send to Dr. Cuenin. Please be sure include a personal check or cashier's check for $75 which will serve as the application fee. The check may be made payable to the Medical University of South Carolina.