Academic Programmes

Undergraduate Teaching and Learning

The department is responsible for the teaching of Bachelor of Dental Science (BDS)/ Dentistry students, from the first year to the final year of study. The School of Oral Health Sciences has introduced a new curriculum which commenced in the year 2020 and affected all the courses that are given in the department. The new curriculum will be fully in place in 2024. See below table for curriculum changes: -

Year of study	Old Curriculum Courses	New Curriculum Courses	The year in which the new curriculum has been or will be introduced
BDS 1	1)Operative Dentistry I	1) Fundamental Dental Skills	2020
BDS 2	1)Operative Dentistry II 2)Endodontics I	1) Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry I	2021
BDS 3	1)Operative Dentistry III 2)Endodontics II 3)Paediatric Dentistry I	1) Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry II	2022
BDS 4	1)Operative Dentistry IV 2)Endodontics III 3)Paediatric Dentistry II	1) Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry III	2023
BDS 5	1)Operative Dentistry V 2)Endodontics IV 3)Paediatric Dentistry III	1) Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry courses will be part of Integrated Dentistry course	2024

BDS 1 -2

The first two years of study (BDS 1-2) are pre-clinical years. In BDS 1, the pre-clinical courses of Operative Dentistry and Prosthodontics have been combined to form a course called Fundamental Dental Skills (FDS). In 2^nd year the pre-clinical courses of Paediatric Dentistry, Operative Dentistry and Endodontic courses have been combined to form the Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry I (PERD I) course.

The students in these pre-clinical years get to learn mostly in the skills laboratory whereby they get to practice the skills on phantom/simulation heads and artificial teeth. The students do exercises that include drawings, tooth preparations, restorations, endodontics procedures (on both primary and permanent dentition) and many more. Both the theoretical and practical aspects form an important part of these pre-clinical courses.

BDS 3 – 5

After the extensive two-year training in the Skills laboratory, the students are considered to be competent to go to the clinic and treat patients under close supervision by staff members from the department. The students who are in their 3^rd to 5^th year of study get to treat both paediatric and adult patients who require restorative and endodontic treatment. The three clinical courses (Paediatric Dentistry, Endodontics and Operative Dentistry) have now been integrated to be taught as one course called Paediatric, Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry course (PERD). At the end of BDS 5, students need to be competent to do treatment planning, and manage patients (paediatric and adult) who require restorative work, endodontics/root canal treatments and paediatric dental work. The theoretical components of these PERD courses (PERD I-III) are more clinically orientated and requires vertical and horizontal integration.

Postgraduate Teaching and Learning

The postgraduate programs in the department are as follows: -

Master of Science in Dentistry (MSc Dent)
MSc Dent (Paedodontics)
MSc Dent (Restorative Dentistry)
MSc Dent (Endodontics)

The postgraduate students studying towards the above Masters degrees can do their degree by course work or by dissertation. The course work route requires the students to follow a set curriculum which includes a research report, whereas the MSc Dent by dissertation requires a student to complete a comprehensive research report to fulfil the requirement for their degree.

The duration of these programmes is 1 year full time or two years full time.

As part of their requirements, postgraduate students in the department (MSc Dent by course work) need to spend 100 hours in the department attending clinics, observing and or treating patients under supervision. They also do clinical case and seminar presentations. Through these, postgraduate students learn to do comprehensive treatment planning and a holistic management of patients using evidenced based dentistry.
The MSc Dent (Paedodontics)	The MSc Dent (Restorative Dentistry)	The MSc Dent (Endodontic)
Postgraduate students have the opportunity to be exposed to the following:- Management of paediatric patients using advanced dental procedures (in the clinic and or the theatre) Observing or managing (under supervision) special needs patients. Attend the Cleft clinic where they would experience the multidisciplinary teamwork and learn their role as general dental practitioners in this setting.	Postgraduate students gets an opportunity to observe or treat under supervision:- patients who require advanced restorative work for fluorosis and other conditions such as amelogenesis imperfecta. be exposed to a multidisciplinary team which manages the maxillofacial defects that are caused by cancer, trauma, and others. They get to learn about the role of a general dental practitioner in a multidisciplinary team.	Postgraduate students get an opportunity to observe or treat under supervision:- the advanced endodontic cases using the conventional and rotary endodontic instruments. they also get to do the root canal treatments under microscopes which allows them to achieve the best outcomes for their patients. they can also attend the rotary endo courses that are run in the department
Upon qualifying, the MSc Dent students should be able to apply knowledge to solve problems at advanced levels, be critical thinkers apply evidence based dentistry approach show expertise in research. be able to work in a multidisciplinary environment able to recognise the multifaceted nature of the dental profession

2) Master in Dentistry (M Dent)

Currently there are no M Dent programmes in the department
The anticipated introduction of the speciality of Paediatric Dentistry in the future will give an opportunity for an M Dent in this field

2) PhD

Currently the department does not have the capacity to train PhD students, but in the future through collaborations with other departments, this will be possible.

Academic Programmes

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