The Department of Preventive Dental Sciences at PNU College Dentistry focuses on the science and art of preventing and controlling dental diseases and promoting oral health to both the patient and the community. Within the department, there is a wide range of specialty and research foci.
The Department of Preventive Dental Sciences has four divisions:
• Community Dentistry
• Orthodontics
• Pediatric Dentistry
• Periodontics
Community Dentistry Division
The Division of Community Dentistry focuses on preventing and controlling dental diseases and promoting oral health through organized community efforts.
Reflecting Princess Nourah University's mission of community service, the division not only provides comprehensive instruction and conducts research in a wide array of public health topics, but also serves as a role model for future dentists through extensive outreach programs that bring quality services and preventive education to patients/community in need of dental care. Students are taught throughout the program on the basic concepts of the specialty. Through their training, students will go out into the community participating in a variety of preventive programs planned by the division.
Orthodontics Division
Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry concerned with the prevention, interception, and correction of malocclusion and abnormalities of the dentofacial region. The Division of Orthodontics is involved in the three primary missions of the college of Dentistry: education, research, and patient care.
The Orthodontic courses are designed through an innovative and dynamic curriculum assisting students to acquire basics competences in orthodontics. Students are introduced to the basics concepts to the specialty in the first year of the dental program with specific focus starting from the fourth year to the fifth year of the dental program. Clinical practice for dental students is confined mainly to the management of mild malocclusion problems related to preventive and interceptive measures.
Pediatric Dentistry Division
The Pediatric Dentistry division provides didactic and clinical instruction on preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care needs.
The aim of the Pediatric Dentistry Division is to impart comprehensive training to undergraduate students so that they acquire knowledge and skills to enable them to effectively deal with the problems encountered in a child. The teaching incorporates an innovative curriculum designed to provide the students with the broadest possible exposure to pediatric dentistry using the latest equipment and materials along with qualified and efficient Faculty to supervise. Faculty are involved in the teaching of the dental students in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th years using a small-group format in both the preclinical and the clinical component of the courses.
Periodontics Division:
The Division of Periodontics provides instruction in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases of the supporting and surrounding tissues of the teeth to dental students.
Dental students are provided with the knowledge and clinical skills to diagnose and treat patients with periodontal diseases. This is accomplished through didactic and pre-clinical instruction, followed by clinical treatment of a wide range of patients with periodontal problems.
The undergraduate teaching in Periodontics begins from the third year of the dental program, wherein extensive preclinical training is delivered in a state of the art modernized dental lab, completely equipped with phantom heads for each student to develop their skills before entering the clinic.
