Besides lecturing in classes, the faculty members of the School of Dentistry adopted problem-based learning in courses of dental radiology, oral pathology and oral diagnosis in 1996. The content of the courses is posted on the website for convenient access by students. The one-to-one teaching method is used for students in the dental clinics to learn the techniques of dental treatment. In addition, total patient care system was adopted to train the junior residents in July 2001.

The dental department of the National Taiwan University Hospital is the practice and teaching unit of the dental school. Currently there are 105 dental chairs, 39 specialists and 42 residents. Since 1995, the dental department has been formally divided into 9 specialized divisions in order to offer excellent services to the public – oral pathology and oral diagnosis, family dentistry, operative dentistry, endodontic dentistry, periodontic dentistry, prosthodontic dentistry, orthodontic dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and oral and maxillofacial surgery

The main research topics of the dental school are pathogenesis of oral cancer, dental materials, pulpal response to laser, tissue engineering of oral hard tissues, force analysis of dental implant upon occlusal loading, distraction osteogenesis, and development of new oral biomedical materials. These research activities led to the production of 38 SCI papers in 1999 and 41 in 2000.

The master's programs of the Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry include oral pathology, operative dentistry, endodontics, periodontology, prosthodontics, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. There is no division for the Ph.D. courses. A new master's course in dental science for part-time students of dentists with jobs was established in 2001.

The Brief History of School of Dentistry

The predecessor of the dental school was the dental unit of the Taipei Imperial University affiliated-hospital. After Taiwan¢s retrocession to the Chinese government, the first chairman, Dr. Kuo Shui served as the professor of the medical college in dental science. Since 1955 the dental school has been admitting students and in 1988, the graduate course for a master‘s degree in dental science was set up. Then in 1991, Ph.D. graduate courses were added and in 1996, the dental school was authorized to establish graduate courses in oral biology. During this 42 years, our teaching quality, dental services and research in dental science has progressed.

Introduction to the Dental Department
The dental department of the university-affiliated hospital is the practice and teaching unit of the dental school. It also serves the public for dental treatment. There are 106 dental chairs, 43 specialists, and 36 residents. The dental department was divided into 9 specialized units in order to offer excellent service to the public.

1. Full time faculty: student (undergraduate and graduate) = 1:6.1

2. Full time faculty: There are 10 professors, 9 associate professors, 1 assistant professor, and 9 lecturers. 16 faculty members have Ph.D. degrees, 9 faculty members have master¢s degrees, and 4 faculty members have bachelor¢s degrees.

3. Part-time faculty: 20 teachers.

4. Facilities: There is a computer center, an audio-video center, two dental laboratories, an oral pathology laboratory, an oral embryology and histology laboratory, and three lecture rooms for teaching purposes. Research laboratories include laboratory for hard tissue study, craniofacial growth and development, periodontics, oral pathology, oral histology, material sciences, dental physiology, endodontics, molecular biology, oral biology, oral microbiology, immunology, and laser study

Characteristics

The teaching goal: prepare general and specialized dentists to offer dental services to the public.

1. Prepare distinguished teaching staff and research worker in basic science and clinical dentistry to advance both the art and science of dentistry in Taiwan.

2. Offer advanced education for dentists and dental assistants to improve the current situation of dental practices in Taiwan.

3. Offer advice and consultancy to government authorities for oral hygiene, preventive dentistry, and policies for dental treatment.

Faculty and facility

1. Full time faculty: student (undergraduate and graduate) = 1:6.1

2. Full time faculty: There are 10 professors, 9 associate professors, 1 assistant professor, and 9 lecturers. 16 faculty members have Ph.D. degrees, 9 faculty members have master¢s degrees, and 4 faculty members have bachelor¢s degrees.

3. Part-time faculty: 20 teachers.

4. Facilities: There is a computer center, an audio-video center, two dental laboratories, an oral pathology laboratory, an oral embryology and histology laboratory, and three lecture rooms for teaching purposes. Research laboratories include laboratory for hard tissue study, craniofacial growth and development, periodontics, oral pathology, oral histology, material sciences, dental physiology, endodontics, molecular biology, oral biology, oral microbiology, immunology, and laser study

The Division of Dentistry

Since 1995, our department has been formally divided into 9 different unit: oral pathology and oral diagnosis, family dentistry, operative dentistry, endodontic dentistry, periodontic dentistry, prosthetic dentistry, orthodontic dentistry, pediatric dentistry, and oral and maxillofacial surgery.

1. It takes 6 years (including 1 year internship) to graduate.

2. There are 251 required credits.

3. After completing the required 128 credits in the first 4 years of dental school, a student who is interested in pursuing basic medical research training can have the qualification to apply for any graduate programs in the Medical College or in Public Health College of NTU. The Ph.D./M.S. and DDS degrees are awarded simultaneously upon completion of the requirements of the school of dentistry and graduate institutions.

4. The number of graduate students (1998) Master program: 27 Ph.D. program:8

5. The number of undergraduate students: 180
(1)Scholarships (only for our department)
(2) Scholarship of Mr. Chu Kwang-jun: 8000 NT/Year, offer for 2 female students who come from a low-income family.

Future Development Plans

The future college of dentistry will include two departments, six graduate institutes, eight research centers and a dental hospital with 14 clinical departments.The organization is shown as following table：



Organization of National Taiwan University College of Dentistry