Dalhousie University, Faculty of Dentistry
About the Faculty
Dalhousie University's Faculty of Dentistry offers dentistry programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as diploma and Bacholor of Dental Hygiene programs. For additional information regarding the Faculty's programs please visit http://www.dentistry.dal.ca/programs/index.html.
Academic Opportunities
For a listing of current academic opportunities with Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry please click here.
community programs
Overall Community Service Summary
The Mission of the Faculty of Dentistry is to promote health in a caring and compassionate way through oral and maxillofacial health-based education, research and service.
- Faculty of Dentistry Outreach Clinic
The Faculty of Dentistry provides oral health emergency and phase 1 care through its Emergency/Recall Clinic and Public Health Elective for refugees who have recently arrived in the Halifax Regional Municipality area. Patients are identified and appointed through a cooperative effort with the area immigration associations.
Specific Program Descriptions
Newly-arrived refugees most often have not received adequate dentistry care for a number of years. The Faculty of Dentistry works with area immigration associations to identify, appoint and provide transportation (if required) for patients. Diagnosis, treatment planning and phase one dental treatment is provided for all patients, with a priority given to relief of pain, swelling and bleeding.
Senior dental students are assigned rotations in the Emergency/Recall (E/R) clinic, (2 per day) or have selected the Public Health Elective for their senior year. Immigrants identified having urgent oral health care needs are cared for in these two clinic options. Often individuals are initially appointed to the E/R Clinic and after management of any emergencies, are assigned to the Public Health Elective students for follow-up.
- Labrador Clinical Experience
Senior dentistry students, as part of the Dental Public Health elective program, attend a two-week rotation, providing the population of an under-serviced area in Northern Newfoundland and Labrador with comprehensive dental care (including preventive services and education). The objectives of the Dental Public Health elective are directed toward the promotion and improvement of the population’s oral health, especially in under-serviced and marginalized groups.
Specific Program Descriptions
In a clinic operated by the Nunatsiavut Government, located in Hopedale, NL, students provide comprehensive dental care to members of the community, under the supervision of a practicing dentist who is also appointed to the Faculty of Dentistry. In addition, students are expected to integrate into this remote community, providing dental education to adults and children through in-school and community presentations and activities. Students benefit from diverse and expanded dental patient care experiences; the community receives additional dental care opportunities; the community and students benefit from the awareness of outreach dental needs. Students live and work in the community, interacting with the population and providing dental care and education. Students are given an extensive orientation to the community and cultural expectations prior to attendance, and share experiences with the Faculty and other students at the conclusion of the rotation.
Support is provided for this program by the Faculty of Dentistry, the Nunatsiavut Government, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Association. The Faculty of Dentistry and the Nunatsiavut Government provide funding for student travel and accommodation.
- Grenfell Regional Health Services Clinical Experience
Senior students in the Diploma in Dental Hygiene program attend a two-week rotation to a remote community in Newfoundland. The rotation is a partnership with the Grenfell Regional Health Services which permits students to have a clinical and community experience in a remote community, providing a much needed oral health care service for residents of the region.
This experience is available for 10 students each year as part of the Dental Hygiene Population Health course. The course provides all students with an introduction to the promotion of oral health and the prevention of oral diseases in populations. Objectives include demonstrated knowledge of determinants of health, health promotion theory and strategies for targeted groups, oral epidemiology, prevention, control and treatment of oral diseases in a community, program planning and evaluation. Course requirements include practical experiences in community settings such as health centers, schools, and extended care facilities.
Specific Program Descriptions
In a clinic operated by the Grenfell Regional Health Services, dental hygiene students provide comprehensive dental hygiene care to members of the community, under the supervision of a practicing dental hygienist who is also appointed to the Faculty of Dentistry. In addition, students are expected to integrate into this remote community, providing dental hygiene education to adults and children through in-school and community presentations and activities. Students benefit from diverse and expanded dental patient care experiences; the community receives additional dental care opportunities; the community and students benefit from the awareness of outreach dental needs. Students live and work in the community, interacting with the population and providing dental hygiene care and education. Students are given an extensive orientation to the community and cultural expectations prior to attendance, and share experiences with the Faculty and other students at the conclusion of the rotation.
Support for this program is provided by the Faculty of Dentistry and the Grenfell Regional Health Services. The Faculty of Dentistry provides funding for student travel and some accommodation funding. The Grenfell Regional Health Services provides the facility for the educational and clinical patient treatment, as well as some accommodation facility support.
- Pediatric Dentistry Outreach Clinics
The Faculty of Dentistry operates dentistry clinics in two elementary schools in the Halifax Regional Municipality in under-serviced areas, where children otherwise would likely not receive dentistry care. Dentistry and dental hygiene students attend regular rotations to the clinics to provide comprehensive pediatric dentistry/dental hygiene care.
Specific Program Descriptions
School children from area schools are provided with comprehensive dentistry and dental hygiene care under the supervision of Pediatric Dentists. The clinics are completely operated and staffed by the Faculty of Dentistry, interacting with parents, teachers and support staff of the schools, and providing dental assistant and technical support staff. Children from the two schools in which the clinics are located are provided with oral health care, as well as children from surrounding area schools, who are transported to the school clinics by a local volunteer club. The community is actively involved in the planning and organizing of the clinic, with employees from the community supporting the clinic through employment as dental assistant, reception and transportation positions.
Fifteen dentistry students and six dental hygiene students attend the outreach pediatric clinics over a two-day period every week during the public school terms; and approximately 550 pediatric dentistry appointments are scheduled annually.
research
Dalhousie University, Faculty of Dentistry has a diverse range of individual and collaborative research programs including:
- basic research
- clinical research
- community/population health research
- education and curriculum/professional development
For additional information regarding the Faculty's research projects please visit http://www.dentistry.dal.ca/research/index.html.
Dalhousie Directory
In collaboration with the Faculty of Dentistry, ACFD maintains a directory of the Faculty's administration and members. To view the directory click here.
|
