The Division of Community Dentistry is one of the constituent divisions of the Department of Community Dental Health. Community Dentistry is included as a subject in the Final Part I course during the 3 rd year of the BDS curriculum.
The teaching programme of Community Dentistry comprises of a comprehensive series of lectures covering basic topics in Dental Public Health, a Community Dentistry clerkship of 4 weeks duration and supervised project work.
The Division is equipped with a modern computer unit and during the clerkship the students are encouraged to enhance their computer literacy using this facility.
An important aim of the course is to imbue a sense of social responsibility and a strong community perspective on health and disease and in the provision of health care. The limitations of clinical dentistry and professional interventions and the need to view oral health and oral health care in the broader context of general health and medical services are important themes. The dominant role of broad socio-economic determinants including human development and human rights on health is stressed. The course covers a consideration of environment health and alternative systems and strategies in the provision of oral health care. Students are encouraged to see local problems and their solutions in the context of global trends in dental epidemiology and oral health care.
The Community Dentistry clerkship/appointment includes a large range of field experiences enabling students to obtain a sound understanding of oral health care provision in Sri Lanka. During the appointment the students also receive a practical introduction to oral epidemiological methods and clinical prevention of oral disease.
For the project work component, students have to carry out limited investigations inquiring into and reporting on interesting questions pertaining to community health.
The topics covered during the course includes: oral epidemiology including oral disease patterns both local and global, basic survey methodology including screening for disease, basic statistics, environmental health, social and economic aspects of health, prevention, health communication, health manpower, primary health care and organization of oral health care services.
Further, the academic staff functions as trainers and supervisors of postgraduate students who follow the MSc and MD programmes in Community Dentistry conducted by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo.