Centre for Dental Education

Our curriculum is developed and taught alongside our internationally renowned researchers.

We have an academic education pathway which recognises the importance of research in education and its role in developing curriculums. Science is embedded all the way through the curriculum, and students are taught by leading research academics.

As well as learning in the classroom and clinics, our students can engage with the local community and see patients at our outreach centres. We are developing an innovative Clinical Humanities and Wellbeing programme which is a first in dentistry. Our students also have opportunities to engage with vulnerable groups in the community as part of our service to society.

The Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences is collaborating with other disciplines to conduct research on learning with the use of advanced technologies. We have simulation and virtual learning systems which currently involve phantom-head with computer aided tools, haptic dental workstations and robotic devices and include the development of 2D and 3D digital images for educational use.

Members

Priya Bahal

Academic Clinical Fellow

Subir Banerji

Programme Director MSc Aesthetic Dentistry

Igor Blum

Maurice Wohl Professor in Primary Care Dentistry & Advanced General Dental Practice

Lyndon Cabot

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Clinical Education

Brian Davies

Principal Teaching Fellow / Senior Specialist Clinical Teacher

Federico Foschi

Consultant in Endodontics

Adam Hasan

Reader in Education and Statistics

Fariha Hussain

Deputy Programme Director for Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics MClinDent

Francesco Mannocci

Professor in Endodontology

Mark Packer

Associate Dean Postgraduate Taught Studies

Barry Quinn

Clinical Senior Lecturer in Simulation and Team-based Clinical Education

Jonathan San Diego

Senior Lecturer in Educational Technology & Health Informatics

Flora Smyth Zahra

Clinical Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinarity & Innovation Dental Education

Sanjeev Sood

Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry/Specialist Clinical Teacher Undergraduate Lead in Paediatric Dentistry

Michael Thomas

Senior Specialist Clinical Teacher

Jonathan Turner

Director of Admissions

Eric Whaites

Joint Clinical Director – Dental Services at GSTT

Clinical Simulation

New and emerging technologies continue to change the way we educate and train dental professionals. From mobile technology, to sensors and graphic imaging, this has an impact on how students learn. It is important to understand and examine the effects of technologies on teaching and learning clinical skills. We are committed to developing and evaluating simulation and virtual learning systems that enhance the teaching and learning of clinical skills; examining the benefits of multimodal feedback from graphic imaging, sensors and trackers for teaching and learning and how these technologies can be exploited for dental education and practice; and evaluating the education impact of traditional and state-of-the-art simulations using e.g. phantom-head, digital technologies, and haptics for learning clinical skills. Haptic devices use technology based on 3D TV and the games industry, providing an immersive environment in which students can develop.

Clinical Humanities

We are developing an innovative Clinical Humanities and wellbeing programme which is a first in dentistry. Currently we have a pilot programme utilising art gallery and museum space, drawing on London as a living classroom. We are linked with the Culture Institute, providing further extra-curricular activities to support wellbeing. We are developing these themes because society requires clinicians who advocate against health inequalities and inequities, are innovative and caring. The students also have opportunities to engage with vulnerable groups in the community as part of our service to society.

Cariology

Tooth decay is a huge hidden burden – not often life threatening, but still the most common disease in the world with the highest burden in adults and bringing significant compromises to children’s health and wellbeing. Working with the Alliance for a Cavity Free Future and ICDAS Foundation charities, together with international partners and organisations, King’s now runs an expanding Global Collaboratory for Caries Management which is generating positive impacts in the domains of practice, postgraduate and undergraduate education, public health, policy & economics. New scientific understandings on dental caries, its pathogenesis, aetiology, diagnosis, prevention and management have flowed from research published from the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences.

Assessment & Curriculum

The Advancing Dental Care national project is looking at how the dental workforce of the future will work together, and our faculty is constantly developing with a new curriculum for 2020 which will ensure the education delivered to our students meets the needs of this and the changing demographics of the population. Patients are living longer and they're retaining more teeth into later life. The challenge is how to deliver dentistry in a different way to this evolving population and our curriculum is designed to meet this need. One of the ways to meet this challenge is for hygienists and therapists to develop their scope of practise and work alongside dentists. We are building this model by developing a new hygiene and therapy degree and they'll be taught alongside the dental students. With the massive changes in technology it's an exciting time for digital dentistry and we are actively developing and teaching digital dentistry in all of our courses. Our students have experience of CBCT, 3D scanning and milled or 3D printed restorations. Our students study topics they probably wouldn't be able to do on many other courses. Students experience special care dentistry and conscious sedation, as well as an implantology course, with a focus on how they can use these topics in their future careers. Finally, we're making sure the curriculum matches up with the University's wider vision. There will be stronger elements of service learning, so we'll be working with homeless charities and palliative care organisations.