Dean's Message
Dr. Ochiba Lukandu, Dean School of Dentistry
Dental Health was part of the Department of Surgery and Traumatology in the then Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). Thereafter, an independent department was formed in 1996 and mandated to prepare the groundwork for the start of the School of Dentistry as it continued to participate in the teaching of Medical and Nursing students in the school.
The School of Dentistry (SOD) is now a full-fledged school under the College of Health Sciences. The School is headed by the Dean assisted by 6 Heads of Departments and various committees that help run the school’s affairs.
Currently the school has established a five year Bachelor of Dental Surgery undergraduate programme (BDS). The academic year is divided into three terms and is structured under the following academic Departments:
- Department of Conservative Dentistry and Prosthetics
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine/Oral Pathology and Radiology
- Department of Community, Preventive Dentistry and Periodontology.
- Department of Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics.
- Department of Oral Biology/Anatomy/Physiology and Biochemistry
- Department of Dental Clinical Services
Through the training of Dental Surgeons, the Moi University mission and vision aims at producing graduates with practical, intellectual and appropriate skills to meet the needs and demands of the Kenyan and global population. They shall be self directed, capable of decision making and understand the relationship that general health, disability and illness has to oral health in order to satisfy the community’s need for oral health care.
The program is integrated and designed to provide diverse range of academic basics, biomedical and clinical sciences and practices that are necessary to develop knowledgeable, skillful and competent graduates, who are able to share the responsibility of the oral health welfare of the public, provide effective and safe oral health care based on ethical foundations and have an internal motive to achieve continuous professional development.
The program also aims at providing community based clinical experience through outreach and extension. Oral health problems have become a major public health concern worldwide. Due to the lack of awareness, early prevention and inaccessibility to oral health care, oral diseases continue to increase in Kenya.
Thus, graduates are prepared for gradual transition from sheltered undergraduate education to unsupervised dental practice. To enhance this aim, a one year of vocational general training is also provided for the graduates.