Background:

The department is one of the four academic departments that make up the Faculty of Dentistry.  It is the oldest of the four departments having been established in 1983, many years before the creation of the Faculty.  At the moment, there are six lecturers which comprise of four regular and two adjuncts. There are also non-academic staff which comprise of dental technologists, administrative secretary and two junior staff..  Apart from courses in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the department co-ordinates oral biology lectures which is a pre-clinical course in Dentistry.  It is currently saddled with the responsibility of teaching post-graduate specialist resident doctors for the two postgraduate colleges, namely, West African Post Graduate College and National Postgraduate Medical College.  This training however is hospital based and therefore is carried out through its clinical services at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla.  The department also participates in numerous research and outreach teaching programmes such as “low direct current (D.C) affect in the management of oral cancers, prosthetic implantology in the reconstruction of jaw deformities.