State-of-the-art classrooms added to the Faculty of Dentistry

The teaching laboratories of the Department of Preclinical Dentistry of Semmelweis University’s Dental Education Center (FOCI) have been completely renewed and provide state-of-the-art teaching conditions. The investment of around HUF 3 billion has doubled the laboratory space to accommodate the growing number of students, and a new digital dental laboratory has been set up. The renewed student spaces were inaugurated by Dr. Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation; Dr. Béla Merkely, Rector; Dr. Péter Hermann, Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs; Dr. János Gerle, Director of FOCI; and Dr. Krisztina Márton, Head of the Department of Preclinical Dentistry.

The Faculty of Dentistry (FOK) is settling its old debt by expanding and modernizing the general dental preclinical teaching facilities, said Dr. Péter Hermann, Vice-Rector for Educational Affairs at Semmelweis University and Director of the Department of Prosthodontics, in his welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony. He noted that as a result of the development, 115+3 instead of the previous 51 seats were now available in two rooms to teach Hungarian, English and German-speaking students the most basic practical skills of dentistry. Along with the expansion, which involved the conversion of the former library room, the 18-year-old equipment inventory was also replaced with the latest technology to allow students to practice with the most modern tools used directly in patient care. In parallel with the investment, a new 30-seat digital laboratory was also set up for the digital dental design students who were previously taught in the library, with support from the Higher Education Restructuring Fund (FSA).

“We should be proud of Semmelweis University, which is one of the oldest and best medical universities in the world, ranking in the top one percent of 30,000 higher education institutions worldwide,” emphasized Dr. Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation and former Vice-Rector for Strategy and Development at Semmelweis University, in his welcome speech. As he put it, Semmelweis had produced numerous innovations and scientific achievements in medicine and dentistry in its more than 250-year history, based on which the institution was still one of the jewels of Hungarian higher education. Among these achievements, the minister mentioned that in recent years the number of PhD students had doubled, innovation revenues had increased two and a half times, reaching HUF 1.6 billion, while the number of publications in the top 10 percent of the relevant scientific field had increased by 50 percent.

He also cited the fact that a third of the student body are international students and the university has excellent research and teaching links with 200 international institutions. Regarding the developments in the Department of Preclinical Dentistry, he stressed the importance of combining theoretical and practical education in their courses, building on the results of world-class research. “So let us celebrate together the success of Hungarian higher education and commit ourselves to the goal that by 2030, there will be a Hungarian university among the top 100 in the world, that Semmelweis University will be among the top 100 universities in the world,” Dr. Balázs Hankó added.

As Dr. Béla Merkely, Rector of Semmelweis University, emphasized:

Our Faculty of Dentistry is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. The latest development is worthy of this anniversary and worthy of the staff who have been behind the achievements of seven decades. They are the solid, unshakeable foundations on which we can build our current development, and – it is no exaggeration to say – the future of dentistry as a whole.

Dr. Béla Merkely said that when the FOK departments moved into the newly built Education Center in 2007, they were able to utilize a modern patient care building – but continuous improvements are needed to keep pace with the dynamic development of dentistry. “However, this would not have been possible without the dedicated staff of FOK, who, in addition to their lifelong commitment to education, research, and healthcare, have contributed to making Semmelweis the most outstanding university in the region, a true European knowledge center, ranking 200th and 300th in international rankings in the fields of medicine and dentistry, respectively,” said Dr. Béla Merkely.

Among the developments of recent years, he mentioned the digital dental design degree course launched in cooperation with the John von Neumann University of Kecskemét, as well as the modernization investment started in 2024 with nearly HUF 3 billion, which resulted in the renewal of the skill laboratories of the Department of Preclinical Dentistry. “In line with the university’s strategic goal, this will further strengthen practice-oriented education and create new cross-border opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as enable us to train even better-prepared dentists who can provide more effective care to our patients once they leave the university,” added Dr. Béla Merkely.

Dr. János Gerle, Director of the Dental Education Center, gave an overview of the development of general dental preclinical training over the past decades, emphasizing the great progress made by the opening of the Education Center in 2007. He thanked not only the experts of the contractor Dental Plus Ltd. for their flexibility in adapting to changes in the project along the way, but also the German company KaVo, which manufactures state-of-the-art dental training equipment, for their help in the design. In addition to the expansion of the practical training facilities, he highlighted the importance of the 13 operating microscopes in the Sugár Room (named after former Director László Sugár), which will enable the latest precision treatment procedures for root canal therapy to be taught and postgraduate specialist training to be organized.

“With the construction of the new ground-floor classroom 270 square meters in size and with 65 seats, and the installation of 118 new phantom head units in three classrooms, the Faculty of Dentistry has become one of the most advanced and largest training centers in the world,” emphasized Dr. Krisztina Márton, Head of the Department of Preclinical Dentistry, in her welcome speech. She added that it was a global rarity for a university to have a first-year class of nearly 300 students, as was the case at Semmelweis, where in addition to the 130 students taught in Hungarian, there were 110-120 students in the English and 30-40 students in the German-language dentistry programs. “Modern and lifelike simulation teaching tools and related methodology are an indispensable part of modern dental education, and the new laboratories provide preclinical education in line with the latest international standards,” stressed Dr. Krisztina Márton. As part of the investment, the department’s dental laboratory has been renewed and a room for digital dentistry, scanning, and 3D printing has been added.