Dentistry - the dentist

Dentistry is a science dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the status, changes and illnesses of jaws, mouth and of the surrounding soft and hard facial tissues. Already in the university education the complexity providing opportunities of specialisation for graduated dentists is present. We differentiate between many branches of dentistry, which concentrate – with overlappings- on different problems.

Some of these are: conservative dentistry (fillings, inlays), aesthetic dentistry (precise interventions specifically with aesthetic goals) prosthetic dentistry (prosthetics-replacement of missing teeth with fix or removable partial dentures), endodontics (science of root canal therapy), oral and maxillofacial surgery (emergency, prothetical, ontological operations) iplantology (root implants and complementary surgary) pedodontia (care of primary teeth and mixed dentition), orthodontics(for children and adults), periodontics ( healing of the supporting structures of the teeth, the gum) gnathology (science of chewing, masticatory motions).

A dentist is someone who holds a degree in dentistry after 5 years of university studies. In the different branches of dentistry you can get further qualifications, so in many cases out of the above mentioned examples you can get board certification and become a specialist. Board certifications do not mean everlasting qualifications for the dentists, in each specialisation they have to undergo further trainings regulated by law. They are under the supervision of the continuing education units of universities. The specialist that fulfils these requirements is denoted as ‘registered’. We expect or colleagues to fulfil these criteria in a regular basis in connection of their board certification(s).