Five Facts About UWC Dentistry That Will Put A Smile On Your Face

Dentists perform a very necessary function in society - and the University of the Western Cape’s (UWC) Faculty of Dentistry performs more of that function than just about anybody else on the continent.

It’s the biggest dentistry school in Africa, responsible for training almost 50% of all new dentists in South Africa in fields as diverse as oral hygiene, orthodontics and paediatric dentistry, restorative dentistry (you’ll know when you need it), community oral health, diagnostic dental sciences and maxillofacial and oral surgery, anaesthesiology and sedation.

Didn’t quite get that? Don’t worry - here’s what you should know...

1.   Internationally Renowned: UWC’s Faculty of Dentistry plays a prominent role in the advancement of oral health in South Africa and Africa in association with the World Health OrganisationCentre for Oral Health, by engaging with the broader social, political and economic determinants of oral health, and by training well-rounded professionals with a holistic understanding of development, health and oral health care. And UWC Dentistry students, staff and alumni continue to win award after award...

2.   Bigger Can Be Better: The Faculty of Dentistry is too big for just one campus. Subjects such as public health, physics and chemistry in the dental degree are typically taught on UWC Main Campus. The Dean’s office and the principal teaching hospital are at Tygerberg Hospital Campus. And the Mitchell’s Plain Campus houses the Deputy Dean and administrative staff for Postgraduate and Research Affairs - and also serves as a principal teaching hospital with a state of the art virtual-patient lab, including a simulator with a set of acrylic teeth which is an exact replication of human teeth.

3.   Name Dropping: As the biggest dental school in Africa, UWC Dentistry has seen its share not just of big-name dentists, but also of famous clients. Like Former president Nelson Mandela, for example, who was a regular visitor for dental care to the Oral and Dental Teaching Hospital at Tygerberg during his time on Robben Island.

4.   Finding Out: The staff and students at the Dentistry Faculty don’t just engage in teaching and learning - they also do research into dental problems (like the dreaded tik mouth) and new techniques of performing dental operations. Forewarned is forearmed - and the Faculty likes to send dentists into the fight prepared.

5.   Giving Back: The Faculty has a number of outreach programmes, providing eager students with the opportunity to practice their skills and provide services in the community after hours. This is in addition to the two-week rotation that some students spend on the Phelophepa health train, and serves as an ideal situation for providing some much-needed dental treatment and much-needed training - a real win-win situation. And the Faculty even helps train dental specialists who service the South African National Defence Force. And community outreach organiser Prof Robert Barrie was recently honoured with a Rotary Award for his hand in many good deeds.

Still not sure what UWC Dentistry is all about? Why not visit the UWC Faculty of Dentistry website and learn more about the staff, programmes, specialisations and more?