The acting Dean, Dental Faculty, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Dr. Nneka Onyejiaka has called for the upgrade of dental facilities in the institution.
Onyejiaka made the call on Saturday in Enugu during the First Annual Scientific Conference of the faculty with the theme, ‘Research Challenges in Dental Practice’.
The acting dean said that the call had become necessary following the dearth of facilities in the faculty which had limited the number of their new intakes and graduates.
Onyejiaka said that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria had limited the number of graduates to be produced by the faculty annually.
According to her, the faculty is currently not allowed to graduate more than 15 students yearly.
She said that the figure was a far cry to their avowed goal of taking care of the dental challenges of the people considering that UNN was the only institution accredited to train graduate dentists in the South-East.
The dean noted that the problem was due to the dearth of dental facilities and infrastructure in the institution.
She said that there was need to upgrade existing facilities in the faculty, erect new structures, provide dental chairs, compressors and phantom heads.
Onyejiaka said that the faculty only admitted 14 students in the current academic year as it was limited by equipment and structures.
She called for the construction of an ultramodern dental centre in UNN in order to increase the quota of new intakes and graduates.
In a remark, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, said that the essence of the conference was to showcase the research findings carried out by the academics in the faculty.
Ugwuegede said that the research findings would be of benefit to the academic community, government, regulatory bodies, patients and the entire populace.
He urged the government to encourage the faculty with the necessary support and friendly policies that would enhance its efficiency.
Ugwuegede encouraged the students in the faculty to remain focused and to leverage on the various opportunities that the profession would present to them.
Also, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Dr. Nkoli Uguru, said that the faculty was in the business of training quality graduates.
Uguru said that with the annual graduation of 15 dentists, one dentist would be responsible for the dental needs of 100 persons in the South-East.
She described the figure as unacceptable and appealed to the government to assist the faculty with the necessary facilities to train more students and meet the needs of the people.
