Dr. SOEURN Visal
This week the Faculty of Dentistry held its first online thesis defence for three candidates – Pheach Ratanak, Sor Keam Ou and Heng Srey Touch. The topic of their thesis was “Comparison Of GIC Fissure Sealants With Different Finger Press Times” and involved 200 children from one Phnom Penh school which was enrolled in the Seal Cambodia project. The clinical trial was conducted over a three month period and sought to determine whether variations on one important step of the clinical procedure (fissure sealing) affected the outcome (retention of the sealants). The findings of their study were significant and have not been previously reported in the internal literature. They plan to publish the results in the future. The defence was chaired by the Head of the UP Research Committee, Dr Tineke Water, and other examiners were Assistant Professor Soeun Sopharith (Deputy Dean), Dr Chher Tepirou (Chief Dental Officer from MOH) and Dr Tort Borany (lecturer in preventive dentistry).
The defence was attended by over 50 staff and students. The three candidates presented well for 20 minutes, and then were asked questions from the examiners for another 30 minutes. The final score for their thesis was “Pass with Distinction” – the highest award so far given for a dentistry thesis.The whole process ran smoothly thanks to the excellent organization by thesis coordinator Dr Kong Sophannary. Congratulations to the three candidates who can now apply to get their graduation certificate.
