HKU Faculty of Dentistry Bulletin: April 2017
Faculty News
HKU Dentistry Tops the World in QS University Subject Rankings 2017
The Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong has earned the world No. 1 dental school for the second year in a row according to the latest QS University Subject Rankings 2017 published on March 8, 2017. The Faculty first achieved this recognition in 2016, moving up from the second place in 2015.
Press release on Faculty Top 1 Ranking:
http://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/16014.html
Teaching and Learning
Introducing Institute of Advanced Dentistry
The HKU Council in their February 2017 meeting approved the establishment of the Institute of Advanced Dentistry (IAD), with the objective to create a centre of excellence for the management of complex and severe oral conditions. Apart from providing postgraduate dental education, foster clinical innovation, support translational and clinical research, and offer continuing dental and professional education to practicing dentists and specialists, IAD also provides affordable multispecialty advanced dental care to patients with complex and/or severe oral conditions.
The IAD Multi-Specialty Clinic is currently located on the 6th floor of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital and accepting referrals for oral conditions requiring advanced and complex treatments in all disciplines. Treatments are provided by dentists enrolled in our MDS programmes.
For more information on the IAD Multi-Specialty Clinic's operation, please send enquiries or patient referrals to cadcinfo@hku.hk (or mailing address: 6th Floor, The Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road. Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong)
Research
A Two-part Facebow for CAD/CAM Dentistry
The advancement in digital technology has revolutionized the clinical dental practice and dental laboratory in recent years. With the introduction of 3D photography, intra-oral scanner and cone-beam computer tomography, virtualization of a patient can become a reality. Having the 3D data set of facial profile, teeth, jaw bone and other important structures, a modern dentist can easily devise the most appropriate treatment plan for the patients without their presence. However, technical difficulties are often encountered when different datasets are being merged together. In order to solve the problem, Dr. Walter Lam, Assistant Professor in Prosthodontics, and his team including Dr. Richard Hsung, Dr. Winnie Choi, Dr. Henry Luk and Dr. Edmond Pow, have developed a novel facebow which facilitates the radiation-free registration of the teeth to a 3D face image for the patient virtualization. The technique was published in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry in December 2016 and the error of this registration method has been shown to be less than 1mm.1
1. Lam WYH, Hsung RTC, Choi WWS, Luk HWK, Pow EHN. A two-part facebow for CAD/CAM dentistry. J Prosthet Dent 2016; 116:843-847.
Awards and Achievements
Advanced Training in Bioinformatics Analysis (USA)
Dr. Rohit Menon, PhD Candidate in Prosthodontics, won the Chui's Student Excellence Scheme Award and the Pilot Scheme on International Experience for RPg Students to participate in the academic activity called "Advanced training in bioinformatics analysis" at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in La Jolla ,San Diego, USA. The training scheme was newly introduced last year by the Faculty of Dentistry which provides funds to selected research post-graduate students who intend to collaborate or expand their research from an International institute.
Dr. Menon was invited by the JCVI, a pioneer institute in human microbiome research, as a Visiting Scientist. His research answered key questions related to prophylactic antibiotic prescriptions in third molar surgery and paved the way for developing newer techniques for rapid diagnosis and screening of dental infections particularly with respect to antibiotic resistance.
Talking about the future, Dr. Menon said it is likely to expand his research capabilities in oral microbiome research related to dental infections and antibiotic prescriptions in dentistry. With his expertise in this emerging area, Dr. Menon wishes to use fourth generation sequencing techniques to develop a novel technique for rapid diagnosis of infections and screening for antibiotic resistance.
Community Engagement
Special Olympics Hong Kong 2016-17
Dr. Andy Yeung, Tutor in Radiography at the Faculty of Dentistry, with a team of approximately ten people took part in the voluntary service "The Healthy Athletes® program - Special Smiles" in the Special Olympics (Hong Kong) 2016-17.
The Healthy Athletes® program is designed to offer health services and information to athletes with intellectual disabilities. Through "Special Smiles", the team provided free oral health services to over 400 people in the three-day event.
"The greatest difficulty was in talking to the athletes with different language backgrounds. We had to try to understand and interpret other people's body language - that was funny," he said.
"As some of the athletes have little or no access to proper oral health care in their countries, it was a good opportunity for them to get their teeth checked up through Special Smiles service. Their teachers and friends had been a great comfort to them during the check-ups," he added.
Call for participants
Continuing Dental Education (CDE) Seminars
Topic: "Are You Ready for CAD/CAM Ceramic Materials?"
Speaker: Dr. James Tsoi, Assistant Professor in Dental Materials Science, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, China
Date: April 20, 2017
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Venue: LT 1, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Hong Kong
Check out the full 2016-17 CDE Seminars Schedule at http://facdent.hku.hk/docs/2016/CDE_Leaflet_Registration201617.pdf
The Faculty offers regular lectures and courses for continuing dental education and continuing professional development. To learn more about CDE courses, please visit: http://facdent.hku.hk/cde