A book newly acquired by the Thammasat University Library should be useful to students who are interested in history, sociology, the history of medicine, and related fields. The Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, 1916-2016: a Dental School on University Lines is by Allan J. Formicola. It is shelved in the General Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus.
The book recounts how the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine (CDM) was founded and developed over a century ago. On the faculty website, a message from the Dean, Professor Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent, Dean of the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and Senior Vice President of the Columbia University Medical Center notes:
Leveraging our position within a world-class academic medical center at an Ivy League university, we advance dentistry’s practice, teaching, and scientific research. One of our founders, William J. Gies, PhD, asserted that because oral health is inextricably linked to overall health, dental medicine is best taught within an academic medical setting. His words transformed our field, and their full expression is one of the college’s defining features today. In our classrooms, DDS students spend their pre-clinical years studying alongside medical students. In our clinical settings, scientific research and new technologies enhance care. In our laboratories, we advance the frontiers of science, often with students working under the mentorship of renowned research faculty. As part of an engaged global university, our work extends far beyond campus. We cultivate partnerships across disciplines and continents to fulfill research, educational, and social justice goals…
- support students and faculty as they aspire for preeminence in dentistry, education, and science.
The College Values
- Alignment with the mission of Columbia University
- Respect, inclusiveness, and diversity among staff, students, faculty, and patients
- Integration of oral health as part of overall health for the individual and the community
- Fiscal responsibility, social justice, community transformation, and global impact
Goals
- The College of Dental Medicine maintains an environment effectively supporting and nurturing its human, physical, and fiscal resources.
- The College of Dental Medicine supports excellence in opportunities, innovation, methods, evaluation, and quality of its educational programs.
- The College of Dental Medicine ensures appropriate and compassionate oral health care for individuals and responsiveness to community needs.
- The College of Dental Medicine advances scientific research and scholarly effort in the basic, oral health, and social sciences and in education.
Dr. Stohler earned his DMD and DrMedDent degrees from the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he also received certificates in oral surgery and prosthodontics. He is a leading expert on pain management and jaw disorders.
Thailand and dentistry
TU students are familiar with the Faculty of Dentistry, Thammasat University at Piyachart Boulevard, Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang District, Pathum Thani and its Doctor of Dental Surgery Bilingual Program. Among its distinguished ajarns is Professor Dr. Siriwan Suebnukarn, D.D.S., Ph.D., Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, Thammasat University.
The TU Faculty of Dentistry’s color is purple with gold accents, and its representative flower is the lotus. Its vision includes being a leader in change to promote oral health, adding to quality of life by producing public-minded graduates of public mind who will be devoted to academic service and international research. Its values include teamwork, reflecting the Thammasat philosophy of good governance. Many ajarns at the The TU Faculty of Dentistry have published international research, including Professor Dr. Sittichai Khunthongkaew, Professor Emeritus Dr. Sathit Sirisingha, Associate Professor Prathip Phanthumavanit, Assistant Professor Dr. Siriwan Suebnuen, Assistant Professor Dr. Yasun Janjanthawin, Associate Professor Dr. Thanyasit Sathidphong, Associate Professor Dr. Matana Kettrathat, Assistant Professor Dr. Weerachai Singhathanathankit, Assistant Professor Dr. Somying Phatthiraphong, and others.
Another well-known educational institution in the Kingdom is the Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Dentistry, founded in 1940 as the first dental school in Thailand. The dental profession in the Kingdom is united by the Dental Association of Thailand, which since 1950 publishes the Journal of the Dental Association of Thailand (JDAT) to spread knowledge about basic science and clinical research in the field of dentistry and related fields. JDAT is edited by Dr. Ekamon Mahapoka, DDS., Ph.D.
Historical progress
Modern dentistry in Thailand marks significant advances on past conditions. World’s History and Review of Dentistry by Herman Lennmalm, a book published in 1895, reports that in 1893, dentistry in Siam still needed development. According to George B. McFarland, MD, DDS. of Bangkok:
In Siam the practice of Scientific Dentistry, by fully qualified men, for any length of time, has been entirely unknown…The next question you ask is in reference to laws regulating the practice of dentistry here. This is easily answered in the one comprehensive word, none. Neither are there any requirements nor examinations. The nation has not come to feel the need of making laws to protect itself against reckless practitioners. The natives individually are, however, exceedingly cautious, and it is only after careful consideration that they will consent to have anything done in the way of dentistry…This intolerable fear of pain has made the introduction of nitrous oxide gas in the extraction of teeth most profitable. This gas is an entirely new thing in Siam, unknown until I set up the apparatus and manufactured it from the imported chemicals. During the past year I have administered gas sixteen times with greatest success. The Siamese consider it a most beneficial novelty, so much so that I was asked by a man who had just come out from its influence, if I could not bottle some of it up for him, so that he could use it at night for sleeplessness. The Siamese, as a nation, are very free from diseased teeth so common among other countries. This fact is accounted for as being one of the effects of the universal custom of chewing betel. This custom dates back to the earliest days of the Siamese and surrounding nations, and was used originally, it is said, as a medicament to prevent decay of the teeth… The art of replacing artificial teeth for natural ones, by the natives themselves, is the only thing that I have heard of their attempting in the way of dentistry… The Siamese have a curious custom of preserving as mementoes whatever has been used by their parents. The teeth seem to be especially valuable as relics. Sometimes when I have been extracting several for a person, and in my haste have thrown them to all corners of my room, as soon as the job was over, a servant would be ordered to gather up the teeth to make sure that none were lost. These were then divided among the children. Usually children of wealthy parents have these teeth polished and ornamented with gold bands and jewels for watch charms, or the cross section of a tooth is taken, and after being highly polished, is set with jewels in a finger ring… Bangkok, Siam, June, 1893.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)