5 – 6 June 2014 – The IMU dental students packed a punch in bringing oral health awareness and education to the IMU Community through Oral Health Week 2014 with the theme of DENTAVENGERS.
The opening ceremony started off with a speech by Tay Tze Meng, President of the Oral Health Week committee in which he shared his vision for the event. Following him was a speech given by Prof Toh, the Dean of Dentistry. Gracing the opening of the event and giving an opening address were our VIPs, Dr Teh Tat Beng, President of Malaysian Dental Association, and Dr N Jegerajan, Director of Oral Health Regulation and Practice of the Ministry of Health. Prof Toh, Dr Teh Tat Beng and Dr N Jegerajan cut the red ribbon to officiate the start of the event. Other special guests were external examiners for the recent Semester 7 and 9 examinations, Prof Chow Tak Wah from The University of Hong Kong, Prof Marie Josey from King’s College London and Prof Grace Ong Hui Lian, the Dean of the National University of Singapore.
Following the opening ceremony were a range of performances by dental students and a medical student. Music and dance added to the lively carefree ambience of the driveway, showcasing the various talents of the students. It started off with a relaxing singing performance by Tan Zhi Ying and Yow Yu Xiang from DT1/13 followed by a jazz dance performance by the Dental Jazzies of DT1/14. There was also a solo dance performance by a ME1/14 student. The atrium and driveway were a splash of colours, filled with impressive eye-catching booths and exceptional decorations. Music, chatter and laughter filled the lively atmosphere as not only students and staff, but even members of the public came to see what we had in store.
Over the 2 days, an estimated number of about 350 people visited the booths and completed the quiz. This year’s Oral Health Week was considered a successful one as we managed to attract and promote Oral Health awareness to the students, staffs and even lecturers of IMU. The Oral Health Week 2014 official theme and t-shirt “DENTAVENGERS” caught the attention of many of our medicine, health science and medical science colleagues as well. We even had to bring in a second batch of t-shirts due to the high demand. Oral Health Week ended on 6 June with the closing ceremony at 1pm. The closing ceremony had a lucky draw and closing speeches by the advisor of the event, Dr Muneer Gohar Babar and Prof Allan Pau Kah Heng. 
Commenting on the event, Bryan Ong Ken Jun, IMU SRC VP of Dentistry 14/15, said,
“Personally, I feel that this year’s Oral Health Week event is quite a successful one, although relatively we did not get as much crowd flow compared to last year’s Oral Health Week event which was conducted in late March. However, it is not the crowd quantity that matters, but the spreading of awareness to those whom are not within this field that is important. As the student advisor of the event itself, I can say that one of the proudest and reason for the success of this event is the theme itself “DENTAVENGERS”. The committee itself felt obliged to find something that can help relate this event to our colleagues in IMU, and what better way to connect to the current Generation Y than superheroes. We managed to get the message out to the public, as can be seen on that week itself, people from IMU as well as the public coming up to the booths asking for advice and tips on proper oral health care and also the response from our IMU colleagues and lecturers regarding the purchase of our DENTAVENGERS t-shirt and merchandises. I could neither ask for a better way for this event to be conducted nor for a better committee, as I can see that each and every one poured out their hearts and soul into making this event a fruitful one, despite our hectic schedule of projects and ongoing examinations. I feel truly blessed to be granted this opportunity to work with them.”
