The NobleDentist Blog

This article recently appeared in UQ News – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

The University of Queensland will soon offer one of the world’s first clinical masters postgraduate programs in implant dentistry – a field that could make conventional dentures a thing of the past.

The new program will be offered at the new $3 million Australian Institute of Dental Education and Research (AIDER), a facility which has been established by the Global Microsurgery Foundation (GMF) – a Swiss philanthropic organisation dedicated to supporting patient-focused scientific projects in the field of microsurgery.

Implant dentistry is a current focus of the Foundation. Dental implants are metallic fixtures placed within the jaw bones which can replace missing roots of teeth and support crowns, bridges and dentures.

The AIDER dental clinic, located on DaVinci Drive near Brisbane Airport is open to the public. It will be a UQ-affiliated teaching clinic providing new clinical training opportunities for undergraduate students, as well as the clinical hands-on training of students in a masters program in implant dentistry.

The AIDER clinic has eight dental surgery suites, a tomography room and two seminar rooms. It was designed specifically with the needs of students and postgraduate trainees in mind.

A major focus of AIDER clinic will be the standardisation of methods of patient treatment and the evaluation of new treatment strategies as well as the prevention and therapy of problems associated with dental implant therapy.

“This clinic is the first private facility to pioneer education in oral implant dentistry and to conduct research to evaluate novel treatment strategies under the supervision of a university,” said Professor Niklaus P. Lang from The University of Hong Kong, who chairs GASID.

“It is the aim of the Global Association for the Standardisation of Implant Dentistry (GASID) Foundation to set up a network of cooperative clinics for education and practical training in OI with leading universities around the world,” he said.

Professor Laurie Walsh, Head of the School of Dentistry at UQ said in Australia dental implants were currently provided by dental specialists or by general practitioners, who had undertaken short to medium length educational modules.

However, the new UQ educational model would offer an opportunity for general practitioners to gain comprehensive experience and hands-on skills not available in any current program.

“Working with the Global Association for the Standardization of Implant Dentistry, an international group of leading academic clinicians and researchers in the field of implant dentistry, we have developed a new approach to teaching implant dentistry at a post-graduate educational level for general practitioners,” Professor Walsh said.

“The program focuses on treatment planning, sequencing of care and studying long term outcomes. In so doing, it may go much further and deeper than ‘weekend’ courses focussed on techniques and single products.”

The program includes learning in pre-determined modules and in a small group environment. On-line modules form the basis of the course and are followed by the two intensive clinical periods which will be conducted at the AIDER clinic.

Undergraduate students from UQ have already begun using the AIDER clinic. The first students in the new postgraduate program will enroll in 2010. They will then articulate into the UQ Master of Clinical Dentistry program.