The Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) program has run for over 40 years and the approaches to learning and teaching vary. However, recently it was decided that all BDS programs in Malaysia had to fulfil a set of minimum competency requirements based on three main domains; knowledge, skills and attitudes. The Faculty of Dentistry, USIM has taken an innovative approach to evaluate the perception of its new dental graduates on all of these domains. This study was conducted on the first cohort of graduating students from USIM. The objectives of this study were to evaluate self-rated competencies upon graduation and to determine the baseline competencies of these graduates. It is self-rated and based on the 8 domains listed by the Ministry of Higher Education. The objectives relating to the minimum competencies were sent to all 29 graduates before they had commenced to work in the field. Twenty five out of 29 responded to the questionnaire. The survey used a Likert scale (1=very poor, 2=poor, 3=average, 4=good, 5=very good and 9=cannot judge). It was found that the percentage of rankings for good to very good categories combined in each domain were; D1-96%, D2-79%, D3-76%, D4-82%, D5-85%, D6-50%, D7-68% and D8-32%. In conclusion, the domains of knowledge (D1), values, ethics, morality and professionalism (D4) and communication skills and interpersonal relationship (D5) showed higher percentages compared with the other domains. In contrast, the D8 domain which focuses on managerial and entrepreneurial skills showed the lowest percentage. This reflects the reduced emphasis on this domain in the USIM program. The findings provide valuable insights for reviewing and further improvement of the existing curriculum.

Effective infection control is very crucial. The objective of this research is to determine the level of bacterial countin water from dental chair unit output at the Dental Clinic Faculty of Dentistry, UniversitiSains Islam Malaysia. Five dental chair units of treatment rooms were selected. A total of 31 water samples collected from three-way syringe and cup filler water. Positive control was taken from aquarium and distilled water was used as negative control. The nutrient agar was prepared and the samples were cultured immediately in the laboratory. The samples were incubated for 24 hours in 37?C before observation and the total bacteria counting done. Direct counting method was done in three times by calculating all colonies formed unit in 1 millilitre. The total bacteria count was550 cfu/ml in aquarium, 0 cfu/ml in distilled, (3.40±0.245) cfu/ml in three way syringe and (3.75±0.25) cful/ml in cup filler water. All samples from five dental units showed less than 200 cfu/ml of total bacteria count and meet the American Dental Association recommendation. The Gram staining showed that the colonies of bacteria taken from the samples mostly gram negative bacteria. For conclusion, the filter system and anti-retraction valve used in these five dental units is effective but this system must be timely monitor.

Effective infection control is very crucial. The objective of this research is to determine the level of bacterial countin water from dental chair unit output at the Dental Clinic Faculty of Dentistry, UniversitiSains Islam Malaysia. Five dental chair units of treatment rooms were selected. A total of 31 water samples collected from three-way syringe and cup filler water. Positive control was taken from aquarium and distilled water was used as negative control. The nutrient agar was prepared and the samples were cultured immediately in the laboratory. The samples were incubated for 24 hours in 37˚C before observation and the total bacteria counting done. Direct counting method was done in three times by calculating all colonies formed unit in 1 millilitre. The total bacteria count was550 cfu/ml in aquarium, 0 cfu/ml in distilled, (3.40±0.245) cfu/ml in three way syringe and (3.75±0.25) cful/ml in cup filler water. All samples from five dental units showed less than 200 cfu/ml of total bacteria count and meet the American Dental Association recommendation. The Gram staining showed that the colonies of bacteria taken from the samples mostly gram negative bacteria. For conclusion, the filter system and anti-retraction valve used in these five dental units is effective but this system must be timely monitor