School of Dentistry

Tokyo Medical and Dental University School of Dentistry is a leader in Japanese quality dental education encompassing both basic and clinical dentistry, and features both experienced teaching staff and well-equipped facilities. In order to gain experience in comprehensive patient care, students during years 5 and 6 of the university program are required to treat patients for approximately 12 months in total.The Medical/Dental Integrated Undergraduate Curriculum has been established to meet the accelerating demand for multidisciplinary care of medically compromised dental patients. In addition, fourth year students conduct a Research Project, which is designed to cultivate the spirit of inquiry in our future dentists. International exchange activities with our affiliated overseas universities enable us to expand our vision and broaden our horizons to meet the demands of a globalizing world. In order to develop infection control and independent learning attitudes, we have introduced new educational programs such as a hybrid curriculum combining synchronous and asynchronous distance learning and in-person classes, as well as online overseas exchanges.
Our goal is not only to provide knowledge and skills essential to being a dentist, but also to create global leaders in dentistry who possess a sense of humanity and mission.

The School of Dentistry was established in 1928 and since that time it has actively contributed to the development of dental medicine in Japan. Our aim is to train global leaders who can develop cutting-edge modern dental care in our highly globalized and aging society. Our graduates are trained to become not only dentists and creative researchers capable of solving problems that are presented to them, but also global leaders in dentistry who possess a sense of humanity and mission. In order to provide our students with the highest education level possible, we are constantly working on improving our educational program by observing the successful examples of educational programs run by various domestic and overseas universities and modifying our present curriculum to meet the accreditation standards for dental education.

In 2018, when I was in my second year, I went to the Faculty of Dentistry, Srinakharinwirot University (SWU), Bangkok, Thailand. It was only a two-week, short-term study program, but I gained an overview of the facilities at the Faculty of Dentistry, the dentists, the dental education curriculum, and so forth. In addition to the direct insights I obtained from this program, I learned about Thai culture, the atmosphere, and the Thai lifestyle. The teachers and students at the university were keen to discuss issues during lectures and when having lunch together. Those times deepened my knowledge of the pros and cons of the Thai dental educational programs, healthcare system, and insurance. I also broadened my perspectives on the geographical and epidemiological situation not only related to oral health but also in other healthcare fields, which are also affected by the socioeconomic conditions and the religious and political situations.
This was the first time for me to visit another country to study as a dental student, so everything was fresh and inspiring. Before studying abroad, I had never thought deeply about our dental education, oral health status, and oral health problems, but visiting Thailand led me to gain greater insight into dentistry in Japan by comparison.
Lunch time with Faculty Playing Thai traditional musical instrument The many friends and connections made during this study program were indescribably precious, expanded my future vison and mission, and promoted my international exchange with students and teachers in other countries.
One of the events this experience motivated me to participate in was the “Discussion Café with SWU and Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU)” in 2020. Since COVID-19, it has become harder for those hoping to study abroad to visit other countries and to engage in international exchange. The experience in 2018 prompted me to continue on-line international exchange as one of the Discussion Café’s task force members. We prepared for the Discussion Café sufficiently to enable students to take part in international exchange, including new first year students. The good news was that as many as 45 SWU and TMDU students joined the on-line Discussion Café. We mainly discussed two topics related to the changing situations under the pandemic. The topics were: changes in dental medicine/ practice during and after COVID-19 and our school life after 2020. The discussions revealed that even under each country’s difficult pandemic situation, many students and universities were seeking solutions to enable students to study as usual and continue their enthusiasm for studying dentistry and international exchange.

TMDU Annual News vol.13

I PARTICIPATED IN basic research activities for three months at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. I visited Dr. Baron's laboratory, which was famous for bone research. During my stay, I was invited to join my supervisor's project (a postdoctoral student from China) exploring the influence of high circulating Irisin on bone and osteocytes.
Irisin is a newly identified myokine produced by skeletal muscles during physical exercise, suggesting an important role in bone remodeling.
At the beginning, I read many papers, including those published in Japan by Dr. Baron, in order to prepare myself for this project. I discussed what I couldn't understand with my supervisor.
While reading papers, I learned an clinexperiment technique needed for the project. Though I had learned some techniques in Japan, at Harvard I encountered difficulties learning unfamiliar protocols and new, challenging techniques.
I found euthanizing mice to be particularly difficult. We had to dissect mice as fast as possible to get fresh samples, but the process was extremely time consuming. After much practice, I was able to do it more quickly. My first month was spent primarily acquiring knowledge and experimental technique.
y main project started the second month there. It was a collaboration with a researcher at DANA-FARBER, a cancer institute, where we euthanized mice and obtained bone material. Later we analyzed the mice in our laboratory using the new technique I learned. The Harvard laboratory experience was invaluable because it provided opportunities to learn about career paths from mentors and co-researchers and observe first-hand the environment of a large laboratory on a scope I had never seen in Japan.
It was also my first time to visit the U.S. I was surprised at the rich international environment. In my laboratory, Dr. Baron was from France, and other members came from other countries, such as Italy, China, Saudi Arabia and more. They all had different backgrounds.
I really enjoyed talking with them and learned much about their respective countries. As most of them were doctors or dentists, I could ask them about the medical environment and education for dental students in their country. Outside the laboratory, I had dinner and lunch with them. At the end of my stay, they held a farewell party for me, complete with cake, and kindly gave me a card wishing me the best. I had a great time thanks to them.
I visited sightseeing place in Boston on my holidays. There were many famous places, for example, Museum of Fine Arts and Freedom trail. I usually went out with medical students from Taiwan in my laboratory.
My experience in Boston was invaluable.
I am determined to make use of my experience there in my future career as a dentist.

TMDU Annual News vol.12

WE VISITED INDONESIA for eight days from March 4, 2018, for studentexchange activities between the University of Indonesia (UI) and TMDU. I applied for this program as I had never been to Southeast Asia and wanted to see a dental school in a foreign country to expand my knowledge. We learned lots of things about dentistry and experienced Indonesia’s culture during this overseas study.
At UI, we participated in a Prosthodontics and Oral Surgery Skills Lab, special lectures on microbiology and dental materials and problem-based learning (PBL) for prosthodontics. UI students take lectures on clinical dentistry from their first year. Unlike Japanese universities, they do not seem to learn basic medicine. Therefore, although our grades were different, they had already learned what we had only learned recently or have not yet learned from lectures and practical training at TMDU, and so I was a bit confused.
However, I was able to make use of those lectures as preparation for clinical subjects in TMDU.
Especially during PBL, I thought that the extent of their research and study was extraordinary. Each student had a lot of information and participated in discussions. I realized that the time they spend studying is overwhelmingly different from Japanese university students.
We treated clinical content as the subject of PBL, and I realized that basic medicine was still very important when studying clinical material. In fact, knowledge of immunology, pathology and histology were very important.
Also, some people say that English education in Southeast Asia is not so advanced, but it is superior to Japan. It was difficult to discuss the same topics in English, so I realized we have to be exposed to English on a daily basis.
It was a great opportunity, and I was able to compare the strengths and weaknesses of education at our university with the University of Indonesia. After graduating and acquiring our licenses, we can compare ourselves again. That will be a wonderful stimulus for studying hard, so I would like to try my best before comparing again.
We also gave presentations introducing life at TMDU and Japanese culture.
UI students gave presentations about UI and the culture of Indonesia in fluent English.
In addition, UI students guided us to a mosque, MONAS (National Monument) and Pari Island, where we enjoyed cycling and snorkeling. We returned with a lot of precious memories.
This study program in Indonesia was a very good opportunity for me and I realized that I must study hard about medicine moving forward.

TMDU Annual News vol.11