Dentistry

The Department of Stomatology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University was founded in 1948. Through the unremitting efforts of several generations, the Department of Stomatology has continued to develop and grow; an oral disease ward was established in the 1980s. It is currently a first-level key medical discipline in Dalian, a national base for master’s postgraduate training and degree authorization, was designated in 2004 as a hospital for cleft lip and palate treatment under the international “Smile Train” program, becoming one of the cleft lip and palate diagnosis and treatment centers, and is a standardized training base for professional physicians in Liaoning Province and an affiliated institution of the Dalian Stomatology Quality Control Center.

At present, the Department of Stomatology’s outpatient services are located at the Changchun Road Campus and the Lianhe Road Campus, with a total of 36 comprehensive treatment chairs; the Department of Stomatology ward has 32 beds. After several decades of sustainable development, the discipline has achieved its present state. The discipline has a highly experienced core technical team composed mainly of doctoral and master’s degree holders, and currently has 36 medical and technical personnel, including 16 with senior professional titles, of whom 7 hold doctoral degrees and more than 20 hold master’s degrees. There are currently 9 master’s supervisors, and more than 30 postgraduate students and international students are trained each year. A total of 14 experts have successively held important positions in various national, provincial, and municipal academic organizations, including 3 members of national academic societies. Academic exchanges and technical cooperation are conducted with well-known oral healthcare institutions in China and abroad, forming a talent echelon with a rational structure and strong overall quality and capabilities; its academic standing and influence continue to rise.

Stomatology is a first-level discipline, and clear development directions for second-level clinical disciplines have been established: subspecialty departments include Oral Medicine (including Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Periodontology, Oral Mucosal Diseases, Pediatric Dentistry, and Preventive Dentistry); Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (including the outpatient clinic, ward, and Implantology); Prosthodontics, Orthodontics, and an Oral Imaging Room. The diagnosis and treatment of oral and maxillofacial tumors, repair and reconstruction of complex craniofacial fractures, orthognathic surgery, dental implants, sequential treatment of cleft lip and palate, temporomandibular joint disorders, dentoalveolar surgery, diseases of the dental pulp and periapical tissues, periodontal diseases, oral mucosal diseases, restoration of missing dentition, orthodontic correction, and other diseases have developed into distinctive features of the discipline, with annual outpatient and emergency visits exceeding 50,000 and more than 1,000 surgeries; this fully demonstrates the department’s strong level of medical technology and represents a high-level professional team integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research.

The Department of Stomatology Teaching and Research Office undertakes the university’s teaching tasks for five educational levels and more than ten courses, receives more than 100 graduate and undergraduate students for clinical internships annually, and trains more than 40 visiting trainees. Provincial continuing education courses are held every year. It has received 1 Third Prize for Outstanding Educational Achievements in Liaoning Province during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period and 1 Second Prize for Outstanding Teaching Achievements from Dalian Medical University.

In recent years, it has received 3 Second Prizes and 2 Third Prizes for Science and Technology Progress of Liaoning Province, and 2 First Prizes and 1 Second Prize for Science and Technology Progress of the Dalian Municipal Government. A total of more than 20 new clinical technologies have been completed. It has led and undertaken 5 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and 8 provincial and municipal scientific research projects. More than 100 academic papers, including papers indexed by SCI, have been published in core journals in China and abroad, and 3 books have been published with the department as a contributing editor.

The department has received the hospital’s awards for Advanced Department and Advanced Management Department for many consecutive years; in 2012, it received the hospital’s “Silver Award” for department management; in 2006, it received the highest honor awarded by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China—the “China Charity Award”.