A worldwide search is underway for the right person to fill Australia's first chair in general practice dentistry at the University of Queensland.
Head of the University's School of Dentistry Professor Greg Seymour said a search committee had been set up comprising members of the dental profession and the School.
Their initial job was to draw up a list of potential candidates from anywhere in the world. After their next meeting, on July 8, they would begin contacting people on the list and advertising the position.
Professor Seymour said if the person appointed to the new chair was from overseas, a realistic starting date would probably be early in 2000. However, an Australian appointee may be able to start sooner than that.
Fundraising for the new chair started late last year and already the base target of $1.5 million - enough to fund the chair for 10 years - has been passed.
Secretary of the fundraising committee Dr Linda Griffith said $1.6 million had been raised so far but the more that was donated, the further the tenure of the chair could be extended.
In addition, any extra funds would help towards the research activities conducted by the professor who took up the chair.
Dr Griffith said graduates of the Dental School had been generous donors, among them Dr Peter Clark Ryan, chair of the fundraising committee, whose personal contribution was $25,000.
There had also been a very positive response from industry, principally from the international firm Colgate Palmolive after which the new chair was being named.
Individual donations of $5000 or more and corporate gifts of more than $25,000 will be acknowledged on a permanent honours board in the Dental School. All donations to the University of Queensland are tax deductible.
Professor Seymour said the chair in general practice dentistry would provide leadership in an area which constituted 90 percent of dentistry. He said professorships in this field were lacking in nearly all dental schools worldwide.
'Clearly there is a need for a chair of general practice dentistry and the University of Queensland is taking the lead,' he said.
General practice dentistry is a holistic approach which brings together such elements as operative and preventive dentistry, primary care, pain diagnosis and treatment planning, and ensures students adopt a 'total-care' approach to their patients.
The University began teaching general practice dentistry formally in 1987; it became a whole-year subject in 1995 and part of the School's core stream last year.
'The changing oral health status and age distribution of various populations will have a significant influence on the content and emphasis of dental education for the future,' Professor Seymour said.
'Oral health changes have included a substantial reduction in dental caries, a reduced number of patients with few surviving teeth, an increased interest in aesthetic dentistry, and in geriatric and orthodontic care (the correction of facial and dental abnormalities).
'In addition, there is a definite trend towards the practice of minimal intervention dentistry.'
Professor Seymour said the chair would create new links between the School, the profession and the dental industry by opening more direct communication channels.
'The creation of this chair will be an overt expression of the priority and status of general practice within this Dental School,' he said.
'A first in Australia, it will make a recognisable statement about the commitment of the University of Queensland Dental School to the profession and the people of Queensland.'
For further information, contact Professor Greg Seymour (telephone 3365 8032).
