Dental Faculty, University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh
The Dental Faculty was set up in 1962 to meet the oral health needs of the Cambodian people. During the Pol Pot regime from 1975-1979 many of the dentists were killed. By 1979 only 34 assistant dentists remained. These assistant dentists were given further training in Vietnam to prepare them to be dental lecturers and dentists. On 10th January 1980, the Dental Faculty was re-opened to train dental students.
At present there are over 40 Cambodian staff serving at the Faculty. In line with the development and needs of the country, the Dental Faculty, in collaboration with dental specialists from other countries, now offers Postgraduate courses in the following areas: Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, Orthodontics and Dental Public Health. It hopes to offer Postgraduate courses in Oral Surgery, Prosthodontics and Endodontics in the future.
Yew On and Chern Chern Choo served at the Orthodontic Department from October 1996 until December 1999. After a period of further training they returned to serve at the Dental Faculty in December 2003. Chern Chern serves as a clinical instructor, working with a team of visiting consultant Orthodontists from the UK, training four Cambodian orthodontic Postgraduate Diploma students. Yew On serves as an advisor to the Head of the Orthodontic Department in the running of the Undergraduate orthodontic program. Their vision is both to train and equip the local orthodontic staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to teach and train others and also to upgrade the dental services available to the Cambodian people.