Tohoku University Hospital
Message from the General Vice Director
General Vice Director,
Head of Dental Division
Tohoku University Hospital
Prof. Masahiro Iikubo, DDS, PhD, FRCPath
(Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Perioperative Oral Health Management.)
Tohoku University Hospital has its roots in the Sendai-han (domain) Medical School established in 1817. It is a hospital with a long history and tradition, having opened as the Tohoku Imperial University College of Medicine Hospital in 1915. The scale of our inpatient beds is among the largest of any national university hospital in Japan, attracting patients not only from the Tohoku region but also from all over the country and even from overseas.Our hospital is government-certified as an "Advanced Treatment Hospital" (Tokutei Kino Byoin). Beyond providing sophisticated medical care, our mission includes the development of advanced medical technologies and the provision of professional training. Furthermore, we were one of the first to be accredited as a "Clinical Research Core Hospital" in Japan. Under our fundamental philosophy, "Advanced medical care with kindness," we actively promote the research and development of cutting-edge medical technologies.Within this historic and advanced general hospital, the Dental Division is composed of 11 specialized clinical departments, 6 special clinical divisions, and 4 advanced treatment centers. The dental facilities span three floors of the outpatient building and are equipped with approximately 140 dental chairs. In addition, there are approximately 30 inpatient beds in the wards for patients undergoing dental surgery. Approximately 260 dentists work in the Dental Division, providing team-based medical care in collaboration with various professionals, including dental hygienists, dental technicians, physicians, nurses, radiological technologists, clinical laboratory technicians, speech-language pathologists, and registered dietitians. Under this system, the Dental Division treats approximately 600 patients per day.
Our hospital is a university hospital where "interprofessional collaboration" and "medical-dental collaboration" are advanced to a high level even by national standards. Because medical and dental departments are located within the same hospital building and cooperate closely, we are characterized by our ability to provide patients with sophisticated and comprehensive medical care. While many oral diseases originate in the mouth itself, they can also appear as symptoms of systemic diseases. Conversely, it has become clear that oral diseases or tooth loss can lead to systemic illnesses or post-operative complications. In other words, we are in an era where dentistry increasingly collaborates with medicine to contribute to the recovery of patients' systemic health and the maintenance and improvement of their quality of life. In terms of collaboration, we are also advancing "industry-academia collaboration," providing patients with cutting-edge medical care born from joint research with corporations. Students at the Tohoku University School of Dentistry have the opportunity to experience clinical practice as early as their second year through General Dentistry Practice. Furthermore, from their fifth year, they learn the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of a dentist through actual patient care as "Student Dentists". It is our sincere hope that our students, as members of the medical team, will learn much from their patients and become dentists who respond to the needs of society. We are dedicated to clinical education with the goal of nurturing leaders who will contribute to dental care both locally and globally and lead the advancement of dental science.
Organizational Structure
