Islamic dental school in Malaysia and Planmeca launch partnership

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia/HELSINKI, Finland: As the first dental faculty in South-East Asia to do so, the Kulliyyah of Dentistry at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in Kuala Lumpur will use equipment from Planmeca exclusively to educate future dentists. The partnership was announced yesterday by the Finish dental equipment manufacturer and includes dental units, as well as panoramic and intra-oral imaging technology.

According to Planmeca’s Vice-President of Marketing and Sales Tuomas Lokki, the equipment was installed by the company's distributor Amedix in November last year. It will help to make operating and teaching at the faculty more predictable and efficient, he said.

Established in 2006, the IIUM’s Faculty of Dentistry currently offers five-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery programmes. According to its website, 234 students are enrolled in the faculty, which makes it one of the largest dental institutions nationwide alongside the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Dental Sciences in Kubang Kerian and Penang International Dental College in Petaling Jaya.

Worldwide, Planmeca already provides equipment to major dental institutions in 27 countries, including the Dental Institute at King’s College London and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital in Hong Kong. More recently, the manufacturer signed a delivery agreement with the Medical University of Vienna in 2010.

“These universities are a fundamental part of our business,” Lokki said. “We are happy that young professionals become predominant users of the latest technology and become familiar with Planmeca’s product philosophy in the early stage of their profession.”

The Planmeca Group, which comprises six business divisions, develops and distributes a range of equipment related to dentistry and medicine. Based in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the company says to generate an annual turnover of €700 million.