The Oral Examination

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This course addresses how to perform consistent and thorough oral examinations of children and adults. Clinicians will learn to differentiate between normal and abnormal findings, and develop an awareness of the examination needs of special populations.

Educational Objectives for the Oral Examination Course are:

  • Describe basic oral anatomy and characteristics of healthy teeth.
  • Demonstrate proper use of readily available equipment to perform an oral examination on adults, infants, and children.
  • Perform a consistent, thorough, and nonthreatening oral examination of infants and children.
  • Perform a consistent and thorough oral, face, and neck examination of adults.
  • Be able to differentiate between normal and abnormal findings.
  • Develop awareness of  challenges involved in the examination of special populations.

If you are already logged in, scroll down to the Course Content and select a topic to begin this course. If you are not logged in, select the green Register for Courses link above. You can navigate through the course by pressing the "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons, or select each page on the left sidebar menu. The "Mark Complete" button will also automatically advance the page. If you are only completing a few pages at  a time, you may utilize the "Mark Complete" feature at the bottom to track your progress in each course. It is not necessary to mark each page to complete the course or to be eligible to take the assessment.  

This course takes approximately one hour to complete. Each clinical case takes about 10 minutes.

Acknowledgments

All authors involved in producing the content of this course have indicated they have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Steering Committee Editors

  • Mark E. Deutchman, M.D.
  • Hugh Silk, M.D.

Dental Consultant

  • Joanna M. Douglass, B.D.S., D.D.S.

Smiles for Life Editors

  • Karlynn Sievers, M.D.
  • Melinda Clark, M.D.

The images in this course are not to be reproduced/downloaded for purposes other than personal use. Republication, retransmission, reproduction or other use of the Licensed Material is prohibited.

Last Modified:
November 2021

Important note: If you have completed a Smiles for Life course and need to print another copy of the certificate:

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