First Planmeca simulation units in Romania offer new possibilities for dental education

The University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureş in Romania is the only public university in the country that offers education in three languages: Romanian, Hungarian and English. The Faculty of Dentistry currently has 900 students enrolled in 3 studying programmes: Dental Medicine, Dental Technicians, and Dental Medicine in English – a programme dedicated to international students. Additionally, the university offers a one-year Aesthetics Oral Rehabilitation Master Programme for dental faculty graduates.

The clinical activities of the dental faculty take place in a facility called the Integrated Dental Center (IDC). The facility consists of modular amphitheatres, teaching laboratories and a wide clinical training area, equipped with 84 dental units, and a recently renewed simulation centre. The IDC has also incorporated the newest technology of dental radiology into the facility, including a Planmeca ProMax® 3D imaging unit, in order to offer the patients modern yet affordable imaging services.

„As we started planning the renewal of our Dental Medicine Simulation Center, our goal was to optimise the teaching activities and enhance our students’ practical skills. We wanted to put together a generous and modern teaching area by rehabilitating and upgrading the existing yet conventional simulation department,” Prof. Cristina Bica, the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, explains.

“Our main goal was to purchase the most modern dental simulation equipment that can offer the students the possibility to combine case studies with real clinical data,” she summarises.

The renewed Dental Medicine Simulation Center is equipped with Planmeca solutions.

Finding the most suitable solutions with a competent partner

According to Prof. Bica, the requirements for the university environment are constantly getting higher and higher. Today, the learning environment must support the development of the students’ practical skills. Therefore, the university reached out to Dexellence, Planmeca’s local distributor in Romania, to find the most suitable option for their needs.

For the past seven years, Dexellence has worked with more than 300 dental clinics, and recently also with dental universities. The company specialises in delivering high-end dentistry equipment as well as providing design and construction solutions for dental clinics, with Planmeca as one of their main partners.

“Together with the team of the Faculty of Dentistry in Târgu Mureş, we discussed possible applications and configurations of the Planmeca simulators in order to maximise their potential and to offer the students and faculty teaching staff numerous possibilities for dental education,” Dr Cristina Rizea, Co-Founder and General Manager of Dexellence says.

As a result of the discussions, the faculty decided to invest in the fully digitalised Planmeca simulation units they have been interested in.

“With the simulation units, we acquired perfect replicas of the advanced Planmeca dental units, which offer extraordinary teaching and learning possibilities for our teaching staff and students alike. Our new simulation centre will also be available for post-graduate courses dedicated to dentists with different specialisations, and also for events organised by associations and companies in the dental field,” Prof. Bica continues.

Planmeca dental simulation units were installed at the Târgu Mures university in September 2020.

The installed simulators include intraoral cameras and Planmeca PlanID™ sign-in system, so that each dental student using the simulator can login and access their personalised settings. With the Planmeca PlanID system, it is also easy and fast to obtain reports of the simulator utilisation.

With a competent partner and support from Planmeca, the project was completed within seven months: the initial discussions took place in January 2020, and the installation and training of the faculty staff was performed already in September. The official opening of the Simulation Center took place in the beginning of December 2020.

“The new simulation and training room combined with the radiology department with a Planmeca CBCT unit make up the most modern simulation center in our country,” Prof. Bica rejoices.

Professor Cristina Bica and guests at the official opening of the renewed Dental Medicine Simulation Center in December 2020.

Contributing to dental education in Romania

Planmeca offers fully digital, customisable and integrated solutions for the varying needs of dental schools around the world. The IDC project was the first one in Romania, and also the first one for Dexellence.

“At the time the university’s faculty team approached us with questions regarding the Planmeca dental simulators, there were no previously installed Planmeca simulators in Romania. The simulators were also new devices for us, but that was not an issue. My colleague Cosmin Zaharia, Co-Founder and Sales Manager of Dexellence, gathered as much information as possible on the simulation units and also received full support from Planmeca,” Dr Rizea recalls.

“It was truly an honour for us to take part in this innovative project, and really a pleasure to collaborate with the open-minded team of Târgu Mures university,” she continues.

The Dental Medicine Simulation Center at Târgu Mures university is equipped with Planmeca dental simulation units.

In the future, Dexellence plans to contribute to enhancing dental education in Romania by implementing Planmeca dental education solutions in other dental faculties around the country as well.

“I myself was previously part of the teaching staff in a dental faculty, so it is of great importance for the company I lead to play our part in the future of dental education,” Dr Rizea concludes.
 

Copy: Mari Koivunen
Images: Faculty of Dentistry, University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureş