22 November Turkish Dentists' Day Ceremony

As a result of the personal efforts of Maarif Nazırı Emrullah Efendi, discussions began in the Muallimler Meclisi for the establishment of a "Dentistry School," and the budget was sent to the Maarif Nezareti on November 22, 1908. Since then, dental services have been provided in our country, and upon the application of the Turkish Dental Association dated 17.01.1996, November 22 has been regularly celebrated as Turkish Dentists' Day for 30 years.

The dentistry services that started in a two-story wooden building in Istanbul Kadırga have now reached a large number with a total of 118 Dentistry Faculties, 105 of which have started education and 13 of which have not yet started. Our faculty was established as the 74th in our country with the Council of Ministers Decree dated July 3, 2017, and numbered 10549. This year, our Faculty has risen to the 50th rank among State Universities in Turkey with 41,000. Considering that our Department clinics have been operating for only 1.5 years and our number of faculty members is getting stronger over time, it is clear that we will take a higher place in this ranking in the future. 

Our Faculty of Dentistry, while providing dental treatment services to our people with our application unit, Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Oral and Dental Health Hospital, currently has a total of 300 students studying in our four classes, learning information related to the dentistry profession supported by current literature. Our goal is to transform our Faculty and Hospital into a "Digital Dentistry Faculty" worthy of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University with the latest technological and digital machines, equipment, and programs, and to rank high in education, health services, and even scientific research in our country.

Our hospital, which was in a rough construction state just 4 years ago, and our Faculty located in a corridor on the 2nd floor of the Faculty of Theology, have reached this level with tremendous momentum. We feel it is our duty to thank our Member of Parliament, our former Rector Prof. Dr. Adem KORKMAZ, our Rector Prof. Dr. Hüseyin DALGAR, our Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer TEKŞEN, and everyone who contributed. You can be sure that we will fulfill our duties and do our best to make it the apple of our country's eye in education, research, and dental health services, not just in our region. Our strengths include having a young and dynamic academic and administrative staff, being energetic, enthusiastic, and idealistic in research, service, and education, having a permanent building constructed for its purpose rather than converted from another building, being equipped and technological in terms of infrastructure, machinery, and equipment, and being able to implement our broad vision in a very short time. Our main weakness is that our administrative and academic staff have not yet reached a sufficient level. However, I believe that this weakness will turn into our strength in a very short time. After some of our departments are included in the DUS program and research assistants arrive, there will be a faster improvement in the number of patients seen and satisfaction.

Last year, 8,500 dentists graduated in our country and started their professional lives. In 2024, the number of dentists in our country is around 60,000. This number is sufficient to serve 138 million people. However, it is unacceptable that 74% of our society has tooth decay and 70% has gum problems. Unfortunately, 60% of homes do not have a toothbrush and toothpaste. A toothbrush, which should be replaced every 3 months, is replaced on average every 4 years in our country. While the annual toothpaste consumption is 572 grams in the USA, it is only 125 grams in our country. The ideal tooth brushing time is 2 minutes, but in our country, tooth brushing is completed in an average of 30 seconds. When the history of Dentistry is examined; it has been revealed that the rates of gum diseases in skull research from periods such as ancient Egypt, Inca, Aztec, Hittite, and Roman Empire are almost the same, while the rates of decay are higher than in ancient times. We, as universities, will correct this tragic situation regarding oral and dental health in our country by raising public awareness. To fulfill our university's motto "From Universal Knowledge to Social Contribution," we will continue our first visit to the Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Center, which we started on November 4, with another activation we will carry out on December 3, World Disability Day. We aim to provide information on oral and dental health in the field of preventive medicine by visiting many places, especially kindergartens and primary school students, to conduct oral examinations on-site for early diagnosis, to create an oral profile for Burdur Center and its districts, and to make treatment plans to improve the clinical picture that emerges. We plan to spread the saying "Health starts from the mouth" to the entire society.

While celebrating the 116th year of the 22nd of November Turkish Dentists' Day of our dentists who work with great sacrifices to protect oral and dental health, I wish that smiles never fade from all our faces. Best regards.