Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the mouth, most commonly focused on dentition as well as the oral mucosa. Dentistry may also encompass other aspects of the craniofacial complex including the temporomandibular joint. The practitioner is called a dentist.
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry. The dentist's supporting team aids in providing oral health services. The dental team includes dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental technicians, and sometimes dental therapists.
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the oral cavity, head and neck, mouth, and jaws, as well as facial cosmetic surgery/facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate surgery.
The Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) is the dental school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to the DMD degree, HSDM offers specialty training programs, advanced training programs, and a PhD program through the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The program considers dentistry a specialty of medicine. Therefore, all students at HSDM experience dual citizenship between Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Today, HSDM is the smallest school at Harvard University with a total student body of 280.
A number of professional degrees in dentistry are offered by dental schools in various countries around the world.
Donald Lewis Leake was an oral surgeon, and inventor of the alloplastic tray, a method for reconstruction of jaws without the need for bone grafts. He gained his D.M.D. from Harvard University in 1962, and an M.D. from Stanford University in 1969. In 1970, Leake was employed at Harvard Medical School as an oral surgeon, and since 1971, Leake had been a Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at UCLA.
The UCLA School of Dentistry is the dental school of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in the Center for Health Sciences building in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The school has several educational and training programs, conducts oral and dental health research, and offers affordable dental care at three locations: Westwood, Venice, and Inglewood. The school also participates in several outreach endeavors, including numerous health fairs during the year, STEM pipeline programs and provides dental care for underserved populations in the region. The School of Dentistry is considered among the nation's best research-intensive dental schools.
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in honor of media mogul David Geffen who donated $200 million in unrestricted funds. Founded in 1951, it is the second medical school in the UC system, after the UCSF School of Medicine.
Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street in West Carson, an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County, California. As implied by the name, the hospital is owned by the Los Angeles County and operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, while doctors are faculty of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who oversee the medical residents being trained at the facility.
Daniel M. Laskin was an American oral and maxillofacial surgeon and educator who contributed to his field for over fifty years. He excelled as an educator, a researcher and a clinician. He served as AAOMS president, as well as the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and served as the editor of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery till his death. He was a major contributor to the dental literature with over 900 contributions to the field of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He co-authored 16 textbooks and monographs.
Simon Hullihen MD, DDS was a dental surgeon born in Point Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He completed his medical degree and then was inspired to seek a career in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Regarded as the first oral surgeon in the United States, he helped to develop many modern techniques of maxillofacial surgery and contributed to the establishment of oral and maxillofacial surgery as a surgical specialty.
S. M. Balaji is a dental, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a dental scientist who specialises in repair of cleft palate, rhinoplasty, ear reconstruction, jaw reconstruction, facial asymmetry correction, dental implantology, maxillofacial surgery and Craniofacial surgery.He is the alumni of prestigious Annamalai University where so many efficient oral and Maxillofacial surgeons are trained.
Elmer Belt was an internationally recognized urologist, a pioneer in sex-change surgery, an important mover in the founding of the UCLA School of Medicine, and a book collector known for assembling a library of research materials about Leonardo da Vinci—the Elmer Belt Library of Vinciana—which he donated to the University of California, Los Angeles between 1961-66.
Muhammad Saeed is a dental surgeon and one of the pioneers in the field of Oral and maxillofacial surgery in Pakistan. He is currently working as Principal, Bakhtawar Amin Dental College, Multan. He is the former pioneer Principal of Nishtar Institute of Dentistry, Multan, former Principal De'Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore and Sharif Medical and Dental College, Lahore.
Hermann F. Sailer is a German maxillofacial surgeon. He leads the Klinik Professor Sailer in Zurich and is the founder of the Cleft-Children International Foundation.
Colonel Robert G. Hale, DDS is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon and former Commander of the US Army Dental and Trauma Research Detachment. Hale lectures worldwide on craniomaxillofacial battle injuries and regenerative medicine. He is a researcher and public advocate for the advancement and benefits of regenerative medicine.
William Harrison Bell was an American Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and a Professor of Surgery who is known for his contributions to the field of Orthognathic Surgery. Dr. Bell's groundbreaking research provided a biologic basis for the Le Fort I osteotomy and other orthognathic surgical procedures used to reposition the facial skeleton. Active throughout his life, his later work provided a biologic rationale for distraction osteogenesis of the facial skeleton, a technique used to gradually lengthen bone at a rate of 1mm a day. A prolific author, his publications provided a thorough description of the diagnosis and management of dentofacial deformity, surgical technique, and detailed figures that illustrated the operations in sufficient detail that would provide generations of surgeons the necessary information from which to apply a surgical-orthodontic approach to facial deformity. He is credited in the United States with pioneering the transition of the field of Oral Surgery to become Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Jean Delaire was a French orthodontist known for developing the Delair Facemask or reverse headgear. This facemask is used to treat children who have maxillary retrognathism and mandibular prognathism.
Hugo Obwegeser was an Austrian Oral Surgeon and Plastic Surgeon who is known as the father of the modern orthognathic surgery. In his publication of 1970, he was the first surgeon to describe the simultaneous procedure which involved surgeries of both Maxilla and Mandible involving Le Fort I and Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy technique.
Shan K. Bagby is a U.S. Army brigadier general and the 28th Chief of the Army Dental Corps. Bagby also serves as the Commanding General, Regional Health Command-Central. Bagby, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, was the Army’s first African-American dental officer promoted to brigadier general.
