The disciplines of Dental Materials, Endodontics, Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry are taught by the Department of Restorative Dentistry. This department is headed by Associate Professor Jennifer Neo.

Dental Materials

This course equips students with an understanding of the fundamentals and mechanisms governing the behaviour of materials they use in daily practice. It is now integrated with the operative and prosthodontic technique courses in the first and second year. This was done in an effort to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and clinical application. It is hoped that students will be able to apply their knowledge of materials science to the clinical setting.

Operative Dentistry

Operative Dentistry deals with the restoration of the diseased or damaged tooth. Students are introduced to the basics of cavity preparation and restoration in their first year. During the two-year pre-clinical course, students practise simple filling procedures in the phantom head room where they develop their psychomotor skills and learn to manipulate restorative materials. They will then bring these skills to the clinic when they treat patients.

Endodontics

Prosthodontics

Prosthodontics restores oral structures through the use of crowns, bridges, dentures and implants. The undergraduate prosthodontic programme stretches over three years, beginning with removable partial denture technique in the second year. Fixed prosthodontics is introduced at the end of the second year. Simple prosthodontic work is carried out in third-year clinics and more complex cases in final-year clinics.

Another important focus of the department is research. Major areas of research include the development of biomaterials for dental use, alternatives to dental amalgam, and the development of IT-related and multimedia applications in teaching and learning.

The efforts in research have paid off with a recent patent on the invention and development of a carbon dental post. The concept of a functionally graded material was employed in the development of a dental post. This was to help reduce the stress concentration at the tip of the dental post which is cemented in the endodontically treated tooth. A graded stiffness, where the apical end is of lower stiffness than the coronal end, allows more even dissipation of stresses in root dentine. Finite element analysis and photoelastic stress analysis were performed to test the efficacy of this new material.

Contact

Department Telephone : (65) 6772 4954
Department Fascimile : (65) 6773 2603

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