Goals

The College of Dental Medicine is the first institution providing dental education in Taiwan. We have launched an ongoing process to excel in dental and oral medicine education and to meet the highest international standards. We are continuing to implement institutional improvements and conducting interdisciplinary, interdepartmental research through our undergraduate and graduate programs, in order to promote academic exchange and train outstanding specialists in dental science, oral health promotion and policy, oral health care in general and special populations as well as preventive dentistry.

The College encompasses oral-related areas of specialization, including dentistry and oral hygiene. The teaching of School of Dentistry strives for mutual application of the fundamentals of sciences and clinical experience in order to assist students to integrate academic knowledge with clinical practice by entering the clinical environment at an early stage. Our dental research has laid the foundation for the training of future dentists and dental researchers. We foster high-level professionals with both capacities of research and clinical treatments, and expect them to improve dental service by transferring these research results into clinical practice. To conform with the country’s educational policies and concepts of lifelong study as well as in-service education, the Department of Oral Hygiene has undergraduate program, master program and continuing education master program. The main goal in the undergraduate program is to train a professional oral hygienist who has expertise in oral health education, clinical dental assistance, preventive dentistry, research critique, and global perspective. Our master program is the only graduate program in Taiwan that dedicates to multifaceted oral health professional knowledge and research, oral health problem-solving and improvement ability in special populations, as well as oral health promotion and policy application. The College aims at training future generations of oral health science professionals and researchers, cultivating our students’ valuing cooperation, and hoping to bring well-trained dentists, specialists, and dental hygienists work together to provide patients with comprehensive dental and oral hygiene care services and to enhance human oral health and improve the quality of life.

Mission

1. Training of Dental and Oral Hygiene Professional
We will train oral hygiene and treatment personnel to possess the most up-to-date dental and oral hygiene skills, who will also have the planning and management abilities necessary to improve the quality of oral health care.

2. Developing of Dental Cutting-edge Technology:
We continue to work in the fields of special expertise, particularly with respect to cutting-edge technologies. We are actively developing new resources, and new dental research technologies, and use dental technology to improve life science and human welfare.

3. Promoting of Localized Oral Hygiene
We continue to improve our course design and training programs, promote and develope localized oral hygiene, and strengthen the oral hygiene care system.

4. Strengthening International Academic Exchange
Moreover, we encourage and provide opportunities for staff to participate in short-term research or relevant courses at sister dental schools in the US, Japan and the leading institutions in some other countries. We also encourage students to take part in exchange programs or internships abroad. We are certain that international exchange in academic and practical areas will assist us in training professional oral health specialists with a global outlook. 34

Accomplishments

1. Teaching and Research
The college of Dental Medicine encompasses 2 departments, 3 graduate programs, and two on-the-job programs, in which Dentistry provides undergraduate, master, and Ph.D. programs, and Oral Hygiene provides undergraduate, master, on-the-job undergraduate and master’s programs. For the international connection and application of dental materials and devices, three research centers were established, including 1) Global Center of Excellence for Oral Health Research and Development (GCEOHRD); 2) Dental Medical Devices and Materials Research Center (DMDMRC); 3) Oral and Maxillofacial Imaging Center (OMFIC). There are 36 full-time faculty members in the College. The focus of research activities in our principal investigators are summarized as 7 categories in the following:

1. ) Betel Quid Chewing and Oral Cancer including the mechanisms in malignancy, transformation, invasion, and metastasis, and therapy strategy over the application of stem cell
2. ) Osteo-immunology & Biotechnology for bone resorption, periodontitis, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis
3. ) Microorganism in oral cavity and systemic disease
4. ) Dental medical devices and materials research Stem Cell in Dental Pulp and Cancer Tissue and their application
5. ) Oral and Maxillofacial Image and related application
6. ) Dental Hygiene in Community and Epidemiological Investigation

In research cooperation, the full-time faculty members are conducting interdisciplinary, interdepartmental research through our undergraduate and graduate programs in promoting academic exchange and brain storming. In teaching block cascades and course design, the evaluation in learning effectiveness and cultivation of professional skill in dental training are settled down over the promotion in the teaching quality, learning strategy and website teaching.

2. Service and learning

1. ) To embrace the spirit of medical ethics and human care as well as provide medical and international volunteer services in remote areas.
2. ) To plan comprehensive medical oral care as well as promote oral disease prevention and treatment.
3. ) To extend academic research to the community for the purpose of oral health promotion in order to enhance human oral health and improve the quality of life.

3. Internationalization

1. ) To encourage to establish the international sister department and exchange the teachers and students to take part in exchange programs or internships abroad.
2. ) To provide opportunities for staff to participate in short-term research or relevant courses at sister dental schools in the US, Japan and the leading institutions in some other countries.

4. Industry-University Cooperation
The goal is to develop the dental medical equipment industry, with the government industrial development policies to help traditional industries and high-value transformation, including its own brand of dental implant systems, LED, Laser equipment and clinical simulation guiding system.