Dentistry
The Faculty of Dentistry was established in 1928 and since that time it actively contributes to the development of dental medicine in Japan. Our aim is to train a global leaders who can develop a cutting-edge modern dental care in the 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 the global leaders in dentistry who possess sense of humanity and mission. In order to provide our students with the highest educational level, we are constantly working on improvement of our educational program. We are trying and modify the present program by implementing the successful examples of educational programs run by various domestic and overseas universities to meet the accreditation standards for dental education.
In order to train a dentist who can respond to an increasing complex medical environment that could potentially arise in Japanese rapidly-aging society, we introduced a curriculum that integrates medical and dental education; the "Medicine/Dentistry Integrated Undergraduate Curriculum".
Our main goal is to educate well-trained dental care professionals. In our well-equipped dental hospital, students are trained by experienced staff and get the first-hand experience of comprehensive patient care. At the time of graduation, they possess excellent technical skills and are fully prepared to give dental care of the highest quality.
Taking an advantage of being one of the largest dental research institution in Japan, at which top-level research are conducted, we put an effort to train the next generation of leading-researchers. Our students have an opportunity to participate in various practical courses including a long-term Research Project course and Clinical Practicum for Comprehensive Patients Care to develop their science process skills.
Our Faculty of Dentistry has more than 50 affiliated overseas universities and runs a number of international programs. Every year, selected undergraduate students are awarded with the Science Tokyo scholarship and can spend several weeks in top-class medical and dental institutions overseas. At the same time, we also accept foreign dental students on both a short-term externship program and Ph.D. program. By creating such international environment, we give our undergraduate students an opportunity to broaden the horizons to meet the demands of a globalizing world.
Our goal is to educate dental "professionals with knowledge and humanity". Our graduates are expected to be a creative future leaders, who combine their broad education, outstanding dental skills, and high ethical standards to provide comprehensive care to our patients.
In FY 2020, two years after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), there is still a
need for measures in education to prevent the spread of infection, and the School of Dentistry is promoting
curricular responses with the health of students and faculty members as their top priority.
Dental education is characterized by not only the acquisition of new knowledge, but also by exercises in
which students deepen their thinking through discussions with each other, and by practical training to
acquire sufficient skills needed in the future as dentists, dental hygienists, and dental technicians in the
field of practice. Therefore, for the practical training required in many courses, students are required to
come to school for face to face classes, for which increased measures are taken such as selfreporting
physical condition to the university system, assigning seats, and wearing face guards and masks. In
addition, as in the previous curriculum, fifth- and sixth-year students in the Department of Dentistry and
third- and fourth-year students in the Department of Oral Health and Hygiene have required practical
training at the university hospital, after taking measures to prevent infection, as an opportunity to gain
the clinical experience necessary for their respective professions after graduation.
Regarding the remote learning-classes implemented into the curriculum in FY 2020, we are developing a
curriculum that promotes flexible learning for students by taking advantage of the characteristics of
synchronous classes (relay classes) and asynchronous classes (on-demand classes). With regard to the
implementation of these remote classes, training sessions have been held to improve the class delivery
skills of each class instructor through the support activities of a specialized team from the Integrated
Education Organization, and efforts to establish remote classes as one of the teaching strategies of the
School of Dentistry are continuously underway. In our educational setting, students are the main actors, and
our first priority is to nurture dental professionals who can meet the expectations of the public without
stopping their learning. At our School of Dentistry, which is ranked 6th in the world in the QS ranking of
world universities in the field of dentistry, the faculty members who are leading world researchers, the
faculty members who are involved in patient care at the front lines of clinical practice at the affiliated
hospitals, and all related personnel, including administrative staff, will work as one to provide education
to all dental students who will be the future of dental care in Japan and the world in accordance with our
educational philosophy and policies, responding flexibly to any changes in social conditions.
Students participate in training while maintaining social distancing in a disinfected environment.
Clinical skill is an important part of competence for dental professions to achieve high quality of dental
treatment as well as knowledge, judgment, and reasoning ability to analyze cases and make appropriate
diagnoses. At Institute of Education, we have two Clinical Skills Laboratories, called “Skills lab I”
(for medicine) and “Skills lab II” (for dentistry). At Skills lab II, there are six dental simulators, two
VR dental simulator and one Operative Microscope, dental materials and equipment for training of dentist
and dental hygienist. Students and dentists (dental residents) come to Skills Lab II for self-training for
filling, preparation, impression etc. We also provide advanced programs by part-time lecturer (dental
practitioner). Skills lab II has an important role to develop the attitude of students as dental
professional to prepare themselves as self-directed leaner.
Despite the Corona Disaster, a total of 1,415 people used the facility in FY2021.
Course for Oral Health Care
School of Oral Health Care Sciences, Course for Oral Health Care Sciences
The School of Oral Health Care Sciences, a four-year university program established in 2004 under the Faculty of Dentistry, has origins in the School for Dental Hygienists, a TMDU affiliated program that ran from 1951-2004. Since 2011, the School of Oral Health Care Sciences has offered two courses, to train oral hygienists and oral engineers. Our mission is to educate students to become professionals who have specialized knowledge and the ability to collaborate with other medical professionals for the welfare of their patients and to be able to play an important role in dental practice, education and research.
By making use of the characteristics of our university, we can offer inter-professional education (IPE) as part of this four-year curriculum where students can acquire a wide range of general skills as well as advanced expertise and technology through studying with health professionals from other fields. In addition, we offer many overseas study opportunities, enabling students to gain the broader perspective necessary for making learned decisions either on their own or as part of a team.
We aim to foster oral health care professionals who have not only knowledge but also humanity. Our graduates should be able to give specialized support for oral health so that their patients could live healthy lives throughout their lifetime. We also hope that students will be personable and highly ethical professionals who have the scientific expertise and the ability to contribute to society by promoting oral health and to take the leadership role in various scenes in medical care.
Our university dental hospital provides the highest level of dental care in Japan. By training in its various outpatient departments, students are able to obtain a top-class education. In addition, they have opportunities to gain further practical healthcare experience by rotating to numerous external facilities, including general hospitals and community welfare centers. Our program also provides opportunities to do observational rounds at the ward facilities in the university medical hospital to learn the duties of nurses and the other health care workers, and the oral care performed by dental hygienists in this setting. By doing so, they can understand the importance of collaboration between medical and dental professionals as members of a team to provide an inclusive integrated community care-system.
In order for citizens to obtain health and happiness in this rapidly aging society, we believe that it is necessary to train dental hygienists who have the basic knowledge, skills, the broader global perspective and problem-solving abilities to provide oral healthcare treatment from a bioscience standpoint. These skills learned and practiced in our program allow graduates to interact with other healthcare specialists, enabling proper team based management of patients' health and welfare, and to contribute to society.
School of Oral Health Care Sciences, Course for Oral Health Engineering
The Course for Oral Health Engineering at the Faculty of Dentistry was established in 2011. It originates from the School for Dental Technicians, which was founded in 1952 as a part of Faculty of Dentistry. At present, it is one of the only two colleges in Japan which offers four-year educational program for future dental technicians. Our mission is to learn how to maintain, preserve, or restore oral health with dental prostheses and appliances by combining the knowledge in advanced engineering, science and technology to improve oral health and aesthetics. Our curriculum aims at training of global leaders who not only have excellent professional skills, but also a broad knowledge and ability to work in the multidisciplinary team.
We provide the program which allows the students to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills to become a dental technician, but at the same time cultivates the dental professionals who possess a sense of humanity and respond to patient’s needs. Our program also provides an opportunity to interact with medical and dental course students, to participate in extension course to learn an inter-professional approach to perioperative patients and to obtain a comprehensive oral rehabilitation engineering practice at our faculty hospital.
Our curriculum is also reflecting the changes in society or development of new technologies. During the course, our students will learn the highly innovative technologies, i.e. CAD/CAM system technology or maxillofacial prosthetics. In addition, we aim at fostering the global leaders and thus giving our students the opportunity to learn the English presentation skills during the courses given by native speakers or to participate in overseas training program held in Taiwan.
By providing the highest-level education available in Japan, we aim at cultivating dental technicians who can provide the best oral care to the patients, have a broad knowledge and professional skills to provide the next-generation dental care and become the future global leaders.
