Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics

The Department of Pediatric Dentistry was founded in 1988. The first head of the department was PhD in Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Sergei Christophor Aghajanyan, an orthodontist by profession. He held this position until 1994. In 1994-1995 Marina Mitush Markaryan, PhD in Medical Sciences, Associate Professor was appointed acting head of the department. In 1996-1997 Associate Professor Vladimir Mnatsakan Harutyunyan assumed the position of the head of the department. In 1997, the department was merged with the Department of Surgical Dentistry, Associate Professor Gor Vahan Zalyan was elected as the head of the joint department.

          In 2000, the department was again singled out and formed as the Department of Prevention of Children’s Dental Diseases and Orthodontics, Associate Professor Marina Mitush Markaryan was appointed head of the department. In the same year, the department was renamed as Department of Prevention of Dental Diseases and Orthodontics.

          In 2006, the department was divided into the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and the Department of Orthodontics. PhD in Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Arthur Toros Papazyan was appointed head of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry. The head of the Department of Orthodontics was appointed PhD, DDS, MD Grant Yuri Ter-Poghosyan. In 2009, the department was reunited as the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, headed by Associate Professor Arthur Toros Papazyan. From 2011 to present, it is headed by MD Grant Yuri Ter-Poghosyan.

          In 1995-2000 the lecturer of this department Pavel Daniel Mailyan developed and approved one invention, the results of a number of his studies were patented and embedded in the algorithms of orthodontic treatment.

Under the supervision of the head of the department, Associate Professor M.M. Markaryan, in 2000, for the first time in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, epidemiological studies were carried out, on the basis of which, in 2003, programs for the prevention of major dental diseases were drawn up. A dual study was conducted in 2013 by M.E. Manrikyan, on the basis of which the medical and economic efficiency of the preventive program operating on the territory of the Republic of Armenia was determined.

From 2003 to 2018 11 PhD dissertations and 4 doctoral theses in the field of prevention of dental diseases, pediatric dentistry and orthodontics were defended at this department. Now, 2 external applicants of the department also carry out Ph.D. dissertations in the specialties of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.

The department is multidisciplinary: here subjects like Prevention of Dental Diseases, Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics are taught. In 2018 and 2020, Armenian language textbooks on pediatric dentistry (500 pages) and orthodontics (188 pages) were published and republished. Teaching is trilingual, for one semester the department trains up to 50 Armenian-speaking, 12 English-speaking and 11 Russian-speaking groups from 2-5 courses.

The curriculum of 2-3 courses is devoted to the prevention of dental diseases. In the 4th-5th year the subject of Children’s Dentistry is taught, which includes children’s therapeutic dentistry and Children’s surgical dentistry, and in the 5th year the subject of Orthodontics is taught. In the 4th year, students complete the practice of a pediatric dentist assistant, during which they attend the center of excellence.

Clinical residency is available. Currently, 70 people are undergoing clinical residency at the department, 16 of them are foreigners. The specialization of Pediatric Dentistry lasts 2 years without the Family Dentist specialization, the Orthodontics specialization lasts 2 years after the Family Dentist specialization for native students, but 3 years for foreign students. The main forms of education are: lectures, seminars, participation in scientific and clinical conferences. In practical classes, demonstrations and discussions of patients and clinical cases are held. Clinical residents are regularly engaged in preventive and curative activities in outpatient settings, during which they acquire theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

Residents of the clinic by “Family Dentistry” specialization also attend the department.

Over the years, such specialists as Professor Khachatur Badalyan, Associate Professor Gagik Kocharyan, Harutyun Kashlyan, Tsoghik Khachatryan, Pavel Mailyan worked at the department.

The main orientation of the department is to determine the degree of connection between pain dysfunction of the craniofacial system with morphofunctional disorders of the dentoalveolar system and the development of multidisciplinary ways for their prevention and treatment.

   The department also conducts research work on the following topics and areas:

<   Structural and functional patterns of the activity of the periodontal complex, the development of methods for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of dental anomalies (DA),

< Clinical-morphological and biomechanical aspects of hardware-based methods of treatment of AF, the prevalence of AF and their prevention,

<    Analysis of the situation of pediatric dentistry in the Republic of Armenia in order to determine the ways of further development,

<   Modern principles of treatment and prevention of caries in childhood,

< Clinical and morphometric substantiation of the choice of the method of treatment of borderline forms of mesial occlusion,

<   Effect of orthodontic treatment on facial aesthetics in sagittal malocclusion in adolescence.

 In 2015 Neuromuscular dentistry was introduced at the department, which laid the foundation for new approaches to orthodontic treatment both in Armenia and in the region, as it combines the correction of bite and dentition with the treatment of TMJ dysfunction, and also thanks to the used modern systems (biometric diagnostic system K7 and myomonitor J5) can solve not only problems associated with teeth and bite, but also improve the general condition of the body.

 During the past 5 years, the staff of the department has published more than 35 scientific articles in the journals of the Higher Impact Factor of the Republic of Armenia and foreign ones.

The department cooperates with the Faculty of Dentistry of the Samara State Medical University. In the course of cooperation, interuniversity joint meetings of the Student Scientific Society were held, the book “Orthodontics” was published. The head of the department, MD G. Yu. Ter-Poghosyan is the President of the Armenian Association of Orthodontists, the Ambassador of the AOA in Armenia, as well as the Advisor to the Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia in the field of pediatric dentistry. He has organized a number of conferences and seminars with the participation of specialists from abroad, which has made it possible to raise the level of diagnostics and treatment in orthodontics. We also cooperate with the Bergen Medical University in the Kingdom of Norway, the State Medical University of Belarus and the Moldavian State University of Medicine and Pharmacology named after Nicolae Testemitanu, within the framework of which the lecturers of the department, Professor M.E. Manrikyan and Associate Professor I.F. Vardanyan participated in scientific conferences in Bergen, Madrid, Chisinau, Minsk, London. Associate Professor I.F. Vardanyan is the Chief Dentist of Yerevan. In 2018 the department organized the Scientific and Practical Conference called “Modern Problems of Pediatric Dentistry”, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the department, during which cooperation with the R.O.K.S. organization was established, which continues to this day.

The staff of the department conducts active medical work in the form of consultations and treatment. The bases of the department are: Dental polyclinic No. 2 of YSMU, Dental polyclinic No. 4 of Muratsan MC, Shengavit MC, St. Astvatamayr MC, Alfastom Clinic, S/C “Van”. Lecturers of the department Vardanyan I.F., Badeyan E.H., Yeghiazaryan A.D., Gevorgyan M.A. carry out rehabilitation works with children under general anesthesia.