17-19 May 2013 – IMU final year dentistry students, Chan Li Xing and Joseph Tan Meng Ern won the 2nd and 3rd prize in the poster presentation category and oral presentation category at the 5th National Dental Students’ Scientific Conference (NDSSC). Li Xing’s presentation was on her research on “Effect of bleaching gels on the surface hardness and surface topography of two CAD/CAM veneer materials” while Joseph’s presentation was on his research on “Intracanal placement of calcium hydroxide: A comparison of specially designed paste carrier technique with other techniques using Cone Beam Computed Tomography”. IMU was the only university with winners in both poster and oral presentation categories. This is part of the scientific presentation competition whereby each university sponsored 2 students in each category to compete for best poster and oral presentations. In addition there is a Research Challenge Trophy for the university with best performance from their students. The Research Challenge Trophy was jointly won by IMU and two other universities.
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The National Dental Students’ Scientific Conference (NDSSC) is a national level scientific conference that is organised annually for dental students to present their research papers. This year, the 5th NDSSC, IMU was given the honour as the first private university to organise this event. More than 200 dental students and lecturers from the various local universities participated and 45 abstracts were accepted for scientific presentation. Dental trade and industry partners supported the event by taking up a total of 18 trade booths.
The two and half day programme was packed with pre-conference workshops on dental education and rotary endodontics, symposium on career ambitions and long term professional goals and a scientific programme which includes a line-up of luminaries from the nation’s research, oral health service delivery and education (including dental education) arena. Speakers which include Merdeka Award 2012 recipient Prof Mak Joon Wah, the Principal Director of Oral Health, Dr Khairiyah Abd Muttalib and Dean, Prof Toh Chooi Gait shared their experience and provided insights on strategies and factors that were so critical to their success stories.
A very entertaining Gala Dinner evening was also organised where the IMU dental students had the opportunity to display their talent in a variety of ways – videos, dances, songs, playing of various types of musical instruments to accompany songs and table drumming.
Positive feedback and commendations were received from deans of various dental schools and dental staff on the organisation, venue and quality of food.
