Department of Community & Preventive Dentistry

Assoc Prof Muhammad Omar Niaz

Head of Department

Message from the HOD

It is a matter of tremendous honor and pride for me to lead the Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry at my alma mater after 15 years of graduating from the same institution. I aspire to enable my students to benefit from the learnings that I have experienced through my education and training in the field of Dental Public Health within the country and abroad.

The World Health Organization’s slogan of "health for all" can remain elusive without adequate education, understanding, and application of public health principles towards the prevention of any disease in a population. This belief gives me the motivation to drive my teaching of basic public health concepts for their real-life application in educating our communities and promoting health in the society. I instill the same zeal in the faculty members of my department to make our students competent in various preventative strategies that can significantly lower the burden of oral diseases in our population.

Assoc Prof Muhammad Omar Niaz

Head, Department of Community & Preventive Dentistry

Introduction

Community & Preventive Dentistry is a fundamental scientific course offered in the BDS second professional year. It aims to educate students on the epidemiological basis of diseases so that they learn how to prevent oral diseases, promote oral health, and contribute to society's organized efforts to improve the population's quality of life. It enables students in organizing oral health programs, as well as the planning and evaluation of dental services in the healthcare systems. Basic research methodologies and statistical principles are also taught for making students competent in research. Promoting adequate oral health and hygiene with public health awareness through community-based activities is a major goal of Community Dentistry.

Outline of the Course

To attain curricular integration in the BDS program, teaching will be conducted in two spirals, i.e. Basis of Medicine (including topics from the disciplines of Pharmacology & General Pathology) and Essentials of Dental Rehabilitation (including topics from the disciplines of Dental Materials, Community Dentistry & Vertically Integrated Prosthodontics & Operative Dentistry). Professional Examinations, both theoretical and practical, are integrated and theme based. There are six theoretical examinations, one for each block of teaching, that will assess the themes of both spirals. Students will be required to pass each discipline component in the integrated paper separately to discourage selective/strategic learning.

The “Community and Preventive Dentistry” component of the integrated curriculum will consist of the following 6 themes:
1. Introduction to Dental Public Health
2. Epidemiology of dental diseases
3. Prevention of dental diseases
4. Dental health education and Oral health promotion
5. Dental healthcare delivery systems
6. Oral health research and biostatistics