NUS - Faculty of Dentistry
The present Faculty of Dentistry of the National
University of Singapore began as a Department of Dentistry within
the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1929. It was the first
dental school to be established in a British colony in the east.
From the beginning, the courses of study were designed to conform
to British standards. Up to 1949, the College awarded a Licence
in Dental Surgery which was accorded recognition by the General
Medical Council of England in 1947.
In October 1949, King Edward VII College of Medicine amalgamated with Raffles College to form the University of Malaya. King Edward VII College of Medicine then became the Faculty of Medicine. The Department of Dentisty continued to be a Department within the Faculty of Medicine.
After revising the courses of study in dentistry to conform to the General to the General Dental Council requirements, the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery was awarded in place of the Licence in Dental Surgery in 1950.
The Department of Dentistry later became a part of the University of Singapore which was founded as a separate university from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on 1st January 1962. On 31 August 1966, the Department of Dentistry attained Faculty status.
On 8th August 1980, the University of Singapore was merged with the Nanyang University to form the National University of Singapore.
The Faculty premises were located
on the grounds of the Singapore General Hospital until 28th April
1986, when it occupied a three-storey modern complex in the National
University Hospital.
In 2001, another floor (4th level) was added to the existing building which included new features like a 185 seat auditorium with full theatre facilities, additional seminar rooms, student lounge cum computer lab, a multimedia development laboratory, dentistry IT Unit office, research lab space and a concourse area. These additional facilities will help faculty maintain its mission.
In 2001 A/P Keson Tan became the 4th Dean taking over the mantle from Prof Chew Chong Lin, the immediate past Dean.
In 2002, the graduate school of dental studies was subsumed into the faculty and renamed the “Division of Graduated Dental Studies (DGDS) offering MDS residency training programs in 5 dental specialties.
Year 2003 was significant as we became the first dental school in this region to use the electronic clinical information system for clinical charting and record keeping. In 2004, Faculty celebrated its 75th anniversary and in that year part of its research facilities were opened at the DSO building.
Faculty became part of the National University Health System (NUHS) in 2008.The NUHS comprises, the Yong Lu Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM), Faculty of Dentistry (FOD) and National University Hospital (NUH).
Due to the increasing demand for dental education, Faculty took in its first cohort of 48 first year students in 2009. It was also a significant year, as we celebrated 80 years of dental education with the launching of the 80th Anniversary Bursary Fund. Construction of the new FOD building began in June 2009 and the building was completed in December.
In January 2010, Assoc Prof Grace Ong became the 5th Dean of the FOD. The dental school officially moved to its new building at the junction of Medical Drive and Lower Kent Ridge Road on 4th January to begin its Term III of its academic year 2009/10.
