The use of auxiliaries in prosthodontic graduate programs

There is a need for more dental services, and the use of auxiliaries can help the dentist meet this need. Dental educators and the government are encouraging programs and research in the expanded use and management of dental auxiliaries. Advanced prosthetic programs have special needs. The dentist-patient relationship for this highly personal service, usually accompanied by difficult clinical and technical problems, requires a dentist with special skills. No advanced program should use auxiliaries to the extent that the student does not develop these special skills in diagnostic, clinical, and technical areas. Expanded duties to demonstrate how much an auxiliary can do could be harmful. The program director and the faculty should judge the level of assistance each student should have in an advanced program.