Oral Surgery for the General Practitioner: Faster, Easier, and More Predictable
Return to Course Catalog
Friday, October 16, 2026 – Saturday, October 17, 2026
9:00am – 5:00pm (both days)
This is a hands-on course. Limited attendance.
Instructor: Andrew Drollinger, DDS
Dr. Drollinger has a practice limited to oral surgery in Houston, TX. He also oversees multiple clinics dedicated to providing dental care for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in the state of Texas. He relocated there after having been an Assistant Professor in Oral Surgery at Roseman College of Dental Medicine in Utah and former Director of their AEGD residency. For a period of time, he also directed their Department of Orofacial Pain & Dysfunction. As full-time faculty, he maintained a 1-day/week private practice doing primarily oral surgery.
Earlier, he completed a one-year oral surgery internship, two-year AEGD Residency, and a two-year Orofacial Pain and Dysfunction Residency – all three at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. He received his dental degree at the University of Maryland. He teaches oral surgery courses to general dentists throughout the U.S. with an emphasis on surgical extractions and related topics.
Overview:
Many extractions look easy but can soon become difficult, time consuming, and lead to complications. This course reviews the best techniques and instruments to remove “surgical” extractions easily and quickly while conserving bone. From that primary emphasis, Dr. Drollinger branches to other related surgery subjects that use many of the same instruments and principles.
These include:
- The most common suturing techniques and materials
- Predictable socket grafting techniques (without company hype)
- Ridge preparation for immediate dentures
- Avoid sinus problems
- Bleeding management during surgery
- Review of moderate third molar impaction essentials (anatomy and step-by-step guidelines)
- I&D in general practice, discussion of antibiotic usage
- Other discussions as time permits
Hands-on Session
This part of the course uses life-like dentoform models on which surgical procedures are performed.
The following procedures will be done on the models:
- Full-thickness mucoperiosteal flaps (envelope and triangular)
- Suturing (interrupted/surgeon’s knot, cross-suture, continuous-lock)
- Surgical extractions (multiple root-tip removals with several different methods)
- Alveoplasty
- Socket grafting (bone graft and barrier membrane)
- Moderate third molar impaction (mesioangular)
- Incision and drainage
Course Objectives:
At the end of the course, participants will be better able to:
- More easily do “surgical” or difficult extractions that frequently occur in general practice
- Be more proficient at ridge preparation for immediate dentures
- Select appropriate socket grafting cases and have the knowledge to do them successfully
- Prevent and/or manage bleeding problems that can occur during oral surgery
- Understand patient selection and risks of third molar surgery along with step-by-step – how to do moderate third molar impactions
- Perform oral surgery according to current standards of care
Teaching Method: Lecture and participation
Recommended for: General dentists and specialists
Testimonials:
“A very good course for general dentists, at all stages of their careers, who would like to perform surgical dental extractions in their dental practice.” Dr. Steven M. Ramos, October 2019
“This continuing education course was truly amazing. Dr. Drollinger was very knowledgeable and presented the topics very well. After completing this course, I feel that I am able to take what I learned and apply it to my every day practice. This course gave me more confidence with oral surgery.” – Participant, October 2019
“Absolutely great course, especially for younger dentists! Couldn’t recommend it enough! You leave the class feeling much more comfortable about those tough surgical extractions.” – Dr. Christa Coscia, October 2019
“The course was great and instructor was very knowledgeable, and lectures were very organized.” – Romeo Ghraieb, October 2025
“I have been a practice owner for 5 years and I have referred out a lot of oral surgery that I could do but would take me too long. With what I learned in this course I feel pretty confident that I can use these techniques to be more efficient at not only completing oral surgery procedures but also managing complications that may arise.” – Karl McMillan, October 2025
| Dates | Friday, October 16, 2026 Saturday, October 17, 2026 |
| Time | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (both days) |
| Price | $1295 |
| CEUs | 14 |
| AGD codes | 310 (10 hours), 490 (2 hours), 730 (2 hours) |