Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University
Faculty
of Dentistry was established in May 16, 1940. It was first founded as Department
of Dentistry under the supervision of Professor Coronel Luang Waj Withayawat,
a chariman. At the beginning, teaching anatomy was assisted by Department
of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Siriraj Hospital where Professor Sood
Sangvichien acted as a chariman and Arjarn Lim Jullapun acted as an instructor.
The course for dental students was similar to that for medical students.
Later on, in 1943, Chulalongkorn
University transferred all the Faculties responsible for medical sciences,
which comprised Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Science and Veterinary
Science, to University of Medicine (renamed as Mahidol University later).
As a result, the status of the Department was changed into Faculty of Dentistry
under the act of University of Medicine, 1943. Professor Coronel Luang Wat
Vithayawat took position as a dean.
Two years later on March
31, 1945, Faculty of Dentistry was moved to the third floor of Building
5, Rajdumnern Road. However, the course of Anatomy remained being conducted
at the building of Radiology, Siriraj Hospital.
Since June 10, 1946, the
Faculty has fully adopted and conducted all the course for training dental
students by its own teaching staffs. Anatomy was included and was directed
by Dr. MR. Odd Kridakorn (Professor Dr. MR. Odd Kridakorn).
A year later in 1947, the
Faculty set up 12 departments, including Anatomy. The department was under
the supervision of Dr. Lek Nanakorn and Dr. Sangiem Limbasuta (Professor
Dr. Sangiem Limbasuta) was an instructor. In the same year, the Faculty
moved again from Building 5, Rajdumnern Road to Henri-Dunant Road.
In 1953, Professor Dr. Sangiem
Limbasuta was appointed to be the first chairman of Department of Anatomy.
There were only two teaching staffs for running the course. Consequently,
the course of Anatomy was adjusted to become more concurrent and appropriate
for Dentistry.
In 1961, the Anatomy course was
improved, more subjects concerning to Anatomy were added. By then, there
were 6 staffs working on teaching.
During 1964-1966, the Anatomy
building had been constructed behind Waj Withayawat Building. After finishing
construction in 1966, the Department moved from Waj Withayawat Building
to the new one. The building was renovated in 1968 and 1974 before being
pulled down on February 19, 1997.
In 1986-1988, another building named
Preclinic Building was built nearby the Anatomy Building. The Department
moved to the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the Preclinic Building afterwards.
The old one was then pulled down and replaced with the parking area nowadays.
To date (2002), there are 12 teaching
staffs and 3 technicians in the Department. The Department takes responsibility
for 17 credit hours for undergraduate courses, which comprises Embryology,
Gross Anatomy,Histology, Oral Histology and Neuroanatomy. In addition, the
Department conducts other graduate courses which are Applied Anatomy of
Head & Neck, Seminar in Oral Biology, and Electron Microscopy and Tissue
Culture in Dentistry.
