Assist with Minor Oral Surgery

Materials Included

  • Text
  • Video
  • Anatomy
  • Simulation
  • Quiz

This course explains the dental assistant’s role in knowing and understanding various minor oral surgery techniques during dental treatment.

This course provides knowledge in minor oral surgery during dental treatment. Minor oral surgery refers to procedures which can be performed by general dentists under light anesthesia and typically within 30 minutes or less. These procedures often pertain to the extraction of broken or impacted teeth.

The dental assistant plays a crucial role in aiding the dentist to ensure a safe and successful procedure. This includes preparing necessary materials, ensuring all equipment is properly functioning, efficiently handing off to the dentist the needed tools to complete the procedure and ensuring the patient’s comfort through the procedure.

Introduction

Step 1 - Preparation

Step 1.1 - Equipment preparation

Step 1.2 - Dental assistant preparation

Step 1.3 - Patient preparation

Step 2 - Minor oral surgery procedure

Step 2.1 - Minor surgical procedure for simple extraction

Step 2.2 - Minor surgical procedure for extraction of impacted tooth

Step 3 - Post-operative care

Step 3.1 - Post-procedure care

Step 3.2 - Patient recovery

Step 4 - Complete the procedure

Step 4.1 - Discard materials

Step 4.2 - Complete the documentation

Step 4.3 - Disinfect equipment and work area

Step 4.4 - Remove your gloves and wash your hands

  • Describe the pre-procedure considerations for minor oral surgery.
  • Describe and demonstrate the preparation for minor oral surgery.
  • Understand minor surgical tray setup and recognize common instruments included.
  • Demonstrate the dental assistant's role during minor surgical procedures.
  • Explain the post-procedure process for minor surgical procedures.
  • Describe correct post-procedure considerations.
  • Describe correct recording and reporting procedures.
  • Define and correctly use related medical terminology.
  • Describe clinical safety according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines.
  • Describe the purpose of the state Dental Practice Act and its relevance for dental assistants.
  • Explain the Patient Privacy (HIPAA), Patient Safety Act, and Patients' Bill of Rights.

The SIMTICS modules are all easy to use and web-based. This means they are available at any time as long as the learner has an internet connection. No special hardware or other equipment is required, other than a computer mouse for use in the simulations. Each of the SIMTICS modules covers one specific procedure or topic in detail. Each module contains:

  • an online simulation (available in Learn and Test modes)
  • descriptive text, which explains exactly how to perform that particular procedure including key terms and hyperlinks to references
  • 2D images and a 3D model of applied anatomy for that particular topic
  • a step by step video demonstration by an expert
  • a quiz
  • a personal logbook that keeps track of all the modules the learner has studied and how long