Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine (DDS) Dentistry Interview — Format, Questions & Prep Tips

Why Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine — and what specifically attracts you to training on Long Island?

SUNY value, Long Island patient population diversity, hospital integration with Stony Brook University Hospital, research culture. Show genuine knowledge of the school.

Stony Brook's dental school is integrated with Stony Brook University Hospital. What clinical training opportunities does that create that a freestanding dental school would not have?

Hospital dental rotations, oral medicine, complex medically compromised patients, interdisciplinary case management, oral surgery in a hospital setting. Shows you have researched the specific curriculum.

Have you had any experience with or interest in dental research? How does a research university environment influence clinical training?

Stony Brook is a major research university — evidence-based practice, clinical research exposure, access to research faculty. Even if research is not your career goal, show awareness of the evidence-based practice connection.

Long Island has significant dental access disparities in its immigrant and low-income communities. How would you address those disparities in your practice?

Community health center practice, Medicaid acceptance, linguistic access, culturally competent care. Suffolk County has large immigrant populations — cultural and linguistic competence are clinically practical here.

A patient with a complex medical history — on warfarin, with a history of cardiac valve replacement — presents needing an extraction. How do you approach the case?

Medical consultation with physician before procedure, anticoagulation management, hospital dental setting when appropriate. Complex medically compromised patients are exactly where Stony Brook's hospital integration shines — show you understand that context.

Describe your most meaningful dental shadowing or work experience and what you specifically observed that confirmed your interest in the field.

Concrete, specific, sensory-level description. The best answers describe a particular patient interaction, procedure, or moment — not a summary of hours logged.

Long Island has large Spanish-speaking, Korean-speaking, and Chinese-speaking communities. How would you approach patient communication in these contexts?

Professional interpreters, cultural competence, translated materials, building community relationships over time. Do not suggest relying on family members as medical interpreters.

You discover that a treatment error was made by a previous clinician in the patient's chart — the patient is currently in your chair. What do you do?

Treat the current clinical need, document accurately, inform supervising faculty, and address the error through appropriate channels. Patient safety and transparency are primary.

How do you stay current with advances in dental materials and techniques? Give a specific example of something you have learned recently.

Journals (JADA, Journal of Dental Research), continuing education, evidence-based dentistry principles. Shows professional identity formation beyond basic requirements.

An anxious patient refuses X-rays that you consider clinically necessary. How do you handle the appointment?

Informed consent and patient autonomy — they can decline. Explain your rationale clearly, document the refusal, proceed with the clinical assessment you can perform, and establish a plan to revisit in a future appointment.

You are shown two studies on a new bioactive restorative material: a manufacturer-funded trial with strong results and a smaller independent trial with mixed results. How do you decide whether to adopt it at Stony Brook?

Appraise sample size, conflict of interest, outcome definitions, and follow-up duration. Favor independent replication and longer-term data over a single funded trial. Evidence-based reasoning is fair game at a SUNY research university.

Your simulated patient is a Stony Brook University Hospital inpatient on multiple anticoagulants who is anxious about a bedside dental consult and says they 'just want to go home'. How do you conduct the encounter?

Acknowledge the stress of being hospitalised, explain why the consult matters now, coordinate with the medical team on anticoagulation, and keep the dental ask proportionate. This is exactly the hospital-dental interface Stony Brook is known for — show you can work inside a ward.

If you joined a Stony Brook summer research project, what oral-biology or craniofacial question would you most want to investigate, and why does it matter clinically?

Pick a genuine interest — periodontal immunology, biomaterials, oral oncology, salivary diagnostics — and connect it to patient care. Stony Brook values research literacy even from students who will practice clinically.

A Suffolk County patient brings their teenage child to interpret because they speak limited English. How do you handle informed consent for the parent's extraction?

Decline to use the child as interpreter — use a professional or telephone interpreter, protect the child from clinical burden, and confirm understanding with teach-back. Name why family interpreters are a consent and safeguarding risk.

During a hospital rotation you notice an attending dentist rarely washes hands between patients despite protocol. You are a student. What do you do?

Patient safety and infection control are non-negotiable. Raise it through appropriate channels — speak up tactfully in the moment if safe, and escalate to a supervisor or infection-control lead. Hierarchy does not excuse a safety lapse.