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Core modules

Clinical Foundations Modules

A four-month clinical development course • September – December
ABOI Diplomate • AAID Fellow • Associate Fellow — Clinical Preparation

Course overview

The Clinical Foundations Modules are designed to build the clinical knowledge, judgment, and decision-making skills required for success in implant dentistry and board credentialing. Through four comprehensive monthly modules, participants develop a systematic approach to patient evaluation, treatment planning, surgical principles, prosthetic decision-making, complication management, and evidence-based implant dentistry.

Each module combines didactic instruction with track-specific assignments, ensuring candidates apply what they learn in a practical, board-oriented format.

How the modules work

Each module opens with a shared Core Lecture attended by all candidates, followed by differentiated assignments along two tracks. Oral candidates carry one continuous thread — longitudinal case development — across all four months.

Core lecture

All candidates — Diplomate, Fellow &
Associate Fellow

Written track

ABOI Diplomate (written) & Fellow (written) candidates

Oral track

ABOI Diplomate (oral) & AAID Associate Fellow (AF) oral candidates

Standalone course enrollment

Enroll in the Clinical Foundations Modules

The Clinical Foundations Modules are also available as a standalone four-month virtual course. Candidates may enroll without purchasing a credentialing preparation track.

Enroll now

Module 1

Patient Assessment, Diagnosis & Treatment Planning

September 2026.

Goal: Build a defensible, evidence-based treatment plan — and begin assembling board-case records.

Core lecture

For all candidates

  • Comprehensive patient evaluation
  • Medical risk assessment
  • CBCT interpretation
  • Occlusion & biomechanics in planning
  • Smile analysis
  • Bone classification
  • Implant selection
  • Treatment sequencing
  • Digital planning
  • Alternative treatment options
  • Treatment-planning mistakes commonly tested on
    written exams

Module 2

Surgical Decision Making & Surgical Principles

October 2026

Goal: Develop surgical judgment — justify every surgical decision and lock in final board cases

Core lecture

For all candidates

  • Surgical planning
  • Incisions & flap design
  • Implant positioning
  • Immediate vs. delayed implants
  • Surgical guides
  • GBR decision making
  • Ridge preservation
  • Sinus augmentation
  • Soft tissue management
  • Pharmacology
  • Surgical complications prevention

Module 3

Restorative Decision Making, Prosthetics & Complications

November 2026

Goal: Master restorative decision-making and complication analysis while drafting case narratives.

Core lecture

For all candidates

  • Implant prosthetics
  • Screw vs. cement retention
  • Components
  • Occlusion
  • Passive fit
  • Full-arch design

  • Overdentures
  • Prosthetic maintenance
  • Immediate complications
  • Delayed complications
  • Failure analysis

Module 4

Evidence-Based Implant Dentistry & Clinical Decision Making

December 2026

Goal: Integrate the evidence base and rehearse clinical defense for both written and oral examination.

Core lecture

For all candidates

  • Landmark implant studies
  • Current consensus statements
  • Survival vs. success
  • Risk factors
  • Medical management
  • Peri-implant diseases
  • Ethics
  • Clinical judgment
  • Board-style treatment planning
  • High-yield controversies frequently tested