Introduction

Fellowship certification is the second level of certification from the WCLI. Candidates who successfully meet all requirements will have demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of lasers and their applications in dentistry, as well as a commitment to the advancement of laser dentistry.

1. Earn Associate Fellowship certification and practice at that level for at least twelve (12) months.
2. Earn and document fifty (50) hours of continuing education in laser dentistry. CE hours should be logged using the official WCLI CE log form. The CE log must be submitted and approved more than 60 days prior to your scheduled Fellowship Certification.
3. Pass the Fellowship Written Exam with a score of 70% or higher.
4. Pass the Fellowship Clinical Simulation Examination.
5. Document and present TWO clinical cases, including one (1) simple case, and (1) moderate case.
6. Pay a certification and processing fee to the WCLI of $295 prior to beginning the Fellowship certification process.

Fellowship Clinical Simulation

A clinical simulation examination will be conducted by one (1) examiner. Candidates for Fellowship certification will receive a minimal amount of prompting or assistance from the examiner. The candidate should be able to completely describe and demonstrate thorough knowledge of a number of critically important concepts related to the laser, its environment, and safety issues.

You may download the Fellowship Clinical Simulation Exam checklist, which will be used by the examiner during the Fellowship Clinical Simulation Exam..

Fellowship Case Presentation

Candidates are required to present one (1) simple case, and one (1) moderate case.

Simple Cases

A single soft tissue treatment (e.g. a one-tooth gingivectomy) or a one tooth procedure (e.g. a single tooth restoration; or, for hygienist candidates, a simple gingivitis or class I-II treated with

Moderate Difficulty Cases

Moderate difficulty cases include multiple treatment sites with a single procedure (e.g. a quadrant gingivectomy for periodontal pocket reduction) or one site treated with multiple procedures (e.g. a single-site frenectomy and gingival recontouring; for hygienists, document one case II-III and present FM).

When presenting cases for Fellowship certification, the candidate is required to give a PowerPoint of the documented cases to one (1) examiners. The candidate is required to show thorough knowledge of the presented case and demonstrate accurate diagnosis, treatment plan, accurate and applicable laser settings and parameters, successful treatment and post-operative management.

For complete instructions, download the document entitled Making Case Presentations for Certification from the WCLI.

Documenting Continuing Education for Fellowship Certification

“Continuing education,” as it is defined in the context of obtaining laser certification from the WCLI, refers to any combination of the following:

• Classroom instruction at an accredited (AGD PACE, ADA CERP, Academy of Laser Dentistry, or an equivalent international body) laser symposium, seminar, or other educational course with approved content specific to laser dentistry.
• Any hours spent preparing, modifying, or readying lecture material for laser dentistry for presenting at an accredited (AGD PACE, ADA CERP, or an equivalent international body) trade show, symposium, seminar, study group, or in a similar educational environment.
• Any effort put into publishing clinical content regarding laser dentistry in a dental trade journal. Generally, the article must be published in order to receive credit, but exceptions are allowed if an article is rejected for publication. These exceptions will be the decision of the WCLI Certification Committee.

All laser dentistry continuing education must be documented on a WCLI CE Log. Applicants will be responsible for accurately logging all applicable Laser Dentistry CE hours for credit toward Fellowship or Mastership certification in the WCLI.