Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry Lastovka Aleksandr Sergeevich
The Dental Faculty was opened in 1960. It has always enjoyed great popularity and its prestige has considerably increased. Since 1992 the students’ training has been based on a new curriculum corresponding to international standards and approved by the experts of the World Health Organization. For training highly qualified specialists the faculty has its own dental clinic, maxillofacial surgery clinic, WHO collaborating research center functioning at the department of therapeutic dentistry. Therapeutic dentistry deals with the treatment of hard dental tissues and the diseases of oral mucosa; orthopedic dentists are engaged in the correction of malocclusion and in the fabrication of dentures; maxillo-facial surgeons deal with the treatment of traumas, tumours, suppurative inflammatory diseases, elimination of maxillo-facial tissue defects and deformities of the neck.
Dentistry is a branch of clinical medicine including science, practice and art of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, developmental defects, dental, oral, maxillary, mandibular and obverse area traumas.
The prospects of the development of dentistry, like those of any other branch of medicine, are defined by three basic components: the level of doctors’ training, the quality of materials and technologies.
A second birth of the Dental Faculty was in 1996. Our faculty was one of the first among the medical higher educational establishments in the former USSR to adopt a new teaching curriculum approved by the Dental Education Association under the auspices of the WHO. The new curriculum has a greater focus on specialized dental disciplines.
The curriculum in Dentistry adopted by the BSMU has also been adopted by the dental faculties in the Dnepropetrovsk and Kirghiz State Medical Academies.
Teaching at the Dental Faculty extends over 5 years. In the first two years the students study dental materials, functional anatomy, laboratory techniques of denture fabrication, master the techniques of manipulations on phantoms (simulators). From the third year onwards the students have practical training at the clinical departments of therapeutic dentistry, orthopedic dentistry, maxillo-facial surgery, pedodontia, surgery stomathology and orthodontia, where they examine patients under the guidance of experienced instructors.
The dental training is carried on by the departments at the base of the Republic Dental Clinic, the departments of maxillo-facial surgery in Minsk City Hospital # 9 and other dental clinics and departments of the city. The material and technical supply of the faculty has been considerably improved and it has given a better opportunity for the students to master modern techniques.
Besides special training in dental disciplines dental students acquire knowledge in medico-biological subjects aimed at the profile of a dentist. For instance the Department of Human Morphology founded in 1998 deals with intergrated teaching of Anatomy, Histology, Topographic Anatomy and Surgery according to a special syllabus for dental students. The students of the faculty also undergo training in the specialities of general medicine. It gives them a better insight into the integrity of the human body.
The students’ life at the faculty is versatile and interesting. During their studies the students can carry out research at numerous theoretical and clinical departments.
Besides their studies and research work, the students can take part in theatrical activities, sports competitions as well as traditional international festivals for medical students.
The dental faculty trains about 770 students.
The faculty has 9 specialized departments.
The teaching staff of these department includes 230 specialists, 16 Doctors of Science, 125 Ph D specialists, 13 Professors and 78 Senior lecturers