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Te Kaupeka Pūniho: New Zealand's new dental school

Abstract

A look at the history of the only dental school in New Zealand situated at the University of Otago since it was first founded in 1905. It has moved twice within campus since then, with its most recent move seeing a brand new and award-winning building being opened in March 2021.

Key points

  • The University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry history and brand new facilities will be of interest to academics, clinicians and faculty alumni, many of whom work in the UK and elsewhere in the world.

  • The Otago Faculty of Dentistry has strong ties to dentistry and dental education in the UK. Indeed, Otago's first Dean was Briton Dr Henry Percival Pickerill, who went on to play an important plastic surgery role during and after World War I.

  • Modern dentistry embodies the influence of well over a century of development and societal change, and the evolution of the Otago Faculty of Dentistry reflects those influences.

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References

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Authors

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Paul R. Cooper, Susan M. Moffat and William M. Thomson have made both direct and intellectual contributions to the manuscript and approved it for publication.

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Correspondence to Paul R. Cooper.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Cooper, P., Moffat, S. & Thomson, W. Te Kaupeka Pūniho: New Zealand's new dental school. Br Dent J 233, 154–158 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-4450-0

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