Department Overview

The department of public health dentistry is concerned with the prevention and control of dental diseases, and the promotion of oral health through organized community efforts. As a branch and speciality, it prioritizes community health promotion, research, education and group dental care programs.

The department aims to improve the oral health of the target population rather than treating individuals by increasing oral health knowledge, awareness, changing their attitude and perceptions towards prevention and treatment of dental diseases.

We envision an oral health care system that is equally distributed, affordable and acceptable to the community, and the department is relentlessly working towards achieving its vision by implementing various activities.

Key Features

• Mobile dental van
• Tobacco cessation clinic
• Dental museum designed for provision of dental health awareness and education to patient
• Free basic dental services

Activities of the Department

Clinical services

The students are trained in providing a range of preventive and therapeutic care to the camp patients reporting to the department.

Out-reach activities

Screening and treatment camps are conducted in schools, colleges, work places, rural and remote communities to provide populations with incremental and comprehensive dental care. This enables us not only to make certain we make available oral health care services to the under-served patients, but also inculcate in the students, the practice of community service. The students diagnose, educate and provide basic therapeutic services at the camp site. A fully equipped mobile dental van allows for proper infection control to be maintained during the treatment procedures.

Peripheral or rural oral health care clinic

The department boasts of a fully equipped rural health care clinic in thirukazhukundram town. The students under guided supervision examine, diagnose, inform, educate and provide basic treatment services in the clinic pro-bono. For all the advanced treatment services, the patients are referred to the College.

Research projects

Undergraduate students are educated on the subjects of qualitative and quantitative research, research methodology, biostatistics, writing and publishing the report. The research projects carried out in the department include surveys, descriptive, analytical and in-vitro studies.

Oral health awareness programmes & other activities

The department conducts regular awareness programmes, which includes organizing activities on important health days such as World oral health day, World Cancer day, World no tobacco day, Oral hygiene day etc.