Sir, the pandemic has forced dental institutions to change approaches to teaching undergraduate dental students and postgraduate residents (PGR). With great interest we have read recent letters and publications in the BDJ1,2 and elsewhere that outline the approaches our European colleagues have taken. In this letter, we would like to describe our approaches to modify postgraduate periodontal training at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (Houston, TX, USA) in response to substantial interruptions in didactic and clinical training.

First, we identified our immediate goals:

  1. 1.

    To evaluate the existing curricula and reorganise them by adopting the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) compliance protocols on the interruption of education and distance education to allow for a continuation of the PGRs' hands-on and didactic learning

  2. 2.

    To calibrate all full- and part-time periodontal faculty

  3. 3.

    To transition the residents through their respective clinical curricula

  4. 4.

    To provide feedback on the residents' surgical skills.

Once these goals were met, we aimed to implement the following sessions to allow for the transition of PGRs through the updated curricula:

  1. 1.

    Case-based classroom videos from the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and webinars allowed residents to enhance their didactic knowledge on clinical techniques

  2. 2.

    Clinical case presentations through online sessions allowed continued PGRs' feedback to enhance their presentation and treatment planning skills as well as surgical techniques

  3. 3.

    Sessions with invited speakers allowed PGRs to learn clinical management with the experts in the field and receive constructive feedback

  4. 4.

    Collaborative seminars in surgical, prosthetic and restorative dentistry with the Department of Periodontics at the University of Illinois at Chicago allowed PGRs to get exposed to world-class periodontists and dental implantologists and ask one-on-one questions

  5. 5.

    Suturing training modules allowed PGRs to practise suturing at home and learn indications of various techniques

  6. 6.

    Virtual sedation cases were utilised to accomplish PGRs' sedation competencies

  7. 7.

    Mock periodontal oral board sessions allowed PGRs to prepare for the AAP specialty board examination and fulfil temporary CODA requirements in certain competencies

  8. 8.

    As laboratory research activities were suspended, PGRs were asked to work towards their Master's thesis writing and analysis of the existing data.

Despite facing changes in a teaching format, especially in clinical training, our approaches, including the use of online portals and modules, maintained and enhanced PGRs' hands-on and didactic experiences. We expect to implement these new teaching approaches in future curricula.