About the Department
Department "Orthodontics"
The course in orthodontics aims to provide the knowledge and skills essential to the general dental practitioner for conducting primary and secondary prevention of malocclusions, mastering the basic biometric and radiological methods for diagnosis, as well as indications for patient referral to an orthodontist, when necessary.
The training course in Clinical Orthodontics provides knowledge, skills and competence in diagnosis, prevention and clinical procedures, necessary for comprehensive organization and management of the dental care.
Course program tasks:
- To equip young specialists with knowledge and skills necessary for preventive and diagnostic orthodontic management of patients and to participate in orthodontic treatments with moderate severity;
- To be qualified for planning complex treatments involving periodontal-orthodontic, prosthetic-orthodontic and orthodontic-surgical collaboration;
- To identify and diagnose the orthodontic treatment need and properly refer the patients to other specialists;
- To control the retention period of the orthodontic treatment and carry out conservative-periodontal sanation before the beginning of an orthodontic treatment.
The students' training in Orthodontics is carried out from VII to X semester and finishes with a practical and a theoretical exam.
The Department of Orthodontics also provides postgraduate education for the acquisition of Masters’ Degree in Orthodontics. For educational purposes, the department has 1 technical and 2 clinical halls with appropriate equipment, 4 seminar rooms, and 1 dental laboratory.
Training residents and PhD students
A group of 6 residents is trained at the Department of Orthodontics. Since 1994, the postgraduate education in Orthodontics has been conducted according to a program consistent with the Erasmus project, which has been accepted as a standard for training in Orthodontics within the European Union. The postgraduate program duration is 3 years at а higher education institution, under the guidance of tenured professors. To be admitted to the final exam, each resident is required to present 10 finished cases with complete documentation. Furthermore, the resident has to complete scientific research on a topic specified by their supervisor. The Department trains full-time, part-time and PhD students on independent training.
Scientific Research
The Department researches the following topics:
- Enhancing the performance of removable orthodontic appliances;
- Orthodontic prevention of the malocclusions;
- Inheritance pattern of the malocclusions;
- Indications for orthodontic treatment in mixed dentition;
- Vertical discrepancies in the occlusion – diagnosis and treatment;
- Application of functional orthodontics appliances;
- Swallowing and Speech Disorders;
- Molar distalisation and anchorage in the treatment of malocclusions;
- Rapid maxillary expansion;
- Psychological aspects of the clinical Orthodontics;
- Cephalometric Analysis on CBCT images;
- Role of the soft-tissue profile in the diagnosis and orthodontic treatment plan;
- Research on contemporary orthodontic arch-wire materials.
The Orthodontics Department has a study club. Its student members regularly participate in the annual International Congress for Young Doctors and Students in Medical Sciences, and the Balkan International Congress.
The study club was awarded the Humboldt Prize for the 10th anniversary of the partnership between Sofia University “Kl. Ohridski” and Humboldt University – Berlin.
