Department of Dental Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Pharmacology is the science of drugs. Pharmacology has undergone drastic changes in recent years. The graduate students of dentistry prescribe not only for the dental conditions, but also have to handle medical emergencies that occur during dental procedures on the dental chair and other circumstances. Dentists must also have a sound knowledge of pharmacology to look into varoius drug interactions that may occur due to drugs used for concommitant conditions.

The department of pharmacology at RVS Dental College and Hospital is involved in teaching basic and clinical pharmacology to undergraduate dental students. The students are trained to inculcate a rational and scientific basis of therapeutics.

Goal

The main goal of the department of pharmacology is to provide the students a sound knowledge on drugs for choosing and prescribing drugs for dental problems and to effectively manage medical emergencies.

Objectives

At the end of the course the student shall be able to

Describe the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of essential and commonly used drugs.
List the indications, contraindications, interactions and adverse reactions of commonly used drugs.
Prescribe drugs for common medical and dental ailments.
Choose an appropriate drug in disease with consideration to its cost, efficacy and safety for individual and mass therapy needs.
Appreciate adverse reactions and drug interactions of commonly used drugs.
Indicate special care in prescribing common and essential drugs in special medical situations such as pregnancy, lactation, old age, renal, hepatic damage and immunocompromised patients.
Integrate the rational drug therapy in clinical pharmacology.
Indicate the principles underlying the concepts of “Essential drugs”.
Critically evaluate drug formulations and be able to interpret the clinical pharmacology of marketed preparations commonly used in dentistry.
Evaluate the ethics and modalities in the development and introduction of new drugs.

The above objectives will be achieved using lectures, practicals, group discussions, case diccussions, and audio-visual aids. The laboratory is well equipped with diagrammatic representation of mechanism of action of drugs and flow charts for easy understanding. The students will also be trained to prepare and dispense dental preparations like tooth paste, mouthwash, gargle, oral solutions, etc.