アメリカ合衆国のDental Schoolと歯学教育の変遷の歴史

• Published in: 日本口腔外科学会雑誌 Vol. 58; no. 9; pp. 517 - 525
• Main Authors: 森, 昌彦, 長縄, 鋼亮, 江原, 雄一, 住友, 伸一郎, 村松, 泰徳, 式守, 道夫
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: 社団法人 日本口腔外科学会 20.09.2012
• Subjects: アメリカ合衆国; 歯学教育; 歯科学校; 歴史
• ISSN: 0021-5163; 2186-1579
• DOI: 10.5794/jjoms.58.517

We report the history of dental education in the United States of America (USA) as compared with that in Japan. In 1840, the first dental school in the world was founded in the USA as Baltimore Dental school, offering a 1-year course. Dental education in the USA gradually progressed, and it took 77 years to reach a higher education level equivalent to that of college. Qualification of admission to dental school required completion or graduation from 2 years of junior college since 1940, and professional education was confined to a 4-year course. Medical school was also the same system. This higher education system is now internationally adopted, and the dental degree is termed Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS: Baltimore system) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD: Harvard system). Before the Second World War, Japanese dental schools were at the career college level and consisted of 8 schools, one of which was national and the others were private. After the Second World War, the Japanese dental education system switched to the DDS system in accordance with the instructions of the General Headquarters (GHQ) in 1946. At present, there are a total 29 dental universities, including 16 private, 11 national, and 1 prefectural. Post-dental education, such as specialist or professional courses requires 4 years, and special clinical courses officially authorize individuals. Before and during the second World War, education on oral and maxillofacial surgery, including cancer surgery as well as clinical and basic sciences, was offered by university departments of oral maxillofacial surgery, and most of the chairpersons of these departments had medical doctor (MD) degrees or both MD and DDS. Many professors had been educated in surgical specialties in Europe after the First World War. The European oral maxillofacial surgery system, including plastic surgery, tumor surgery, and bone surgery, has been followed continuously to the present time. In Japan, dental doctors with a single license can perform major surgery for oral and maxillofacial diseases following examination by a specialist.