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"Dentistry in the GCC region has developed more in the last five years than ever before..."

Kinga Mollov, Dental Tribune MEA

Kinga Mollov, Dental Tribune MEA

Mon. 14 October 2019

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Dental Tribune MEA recently had the opportunity to interview Dr Mohammad Dashti, President of the Kuwait Dental Association (KDA), and asked him about his new role and the association and its future plans.

Dr Mohammad, congratulations on your presidency. We are very interested to know a little more about you and your experience as a dental professional.
I completed my PhD in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2016, MSc in 2009 and BDS in 2005. I currently work in the Kuwait Army Hospital and am the general manager of 32 dental clinics. I joined the KDA in 2006 as a member of the social committee, and thereafter was head of the scientific committee, treasurer and then general secretary, and now president of the association. 

Could you please tell us about the KDA and what it stands for, its major activities and who it represents?
The KDA is the only association that represents dentists in Kuwait. All dentists working in the country should join it to facilitate their work in the country and to participate and share in the benefits of its scientific activities.

The KDA has been active since 1974. How has it developed since its foundation?
The KDA has developed scientifically and in many other related fields, especially in the last ten years, and this has been noted socially and in the media. 

What motivated you to accept your appointment as President of the KDA?
I had been a board member of the KDA for quite a while already and my colleagues’ decision to choose me to represent them as president will, I hope, place me in a better position to serve the profession well.

As General Secretary of the KDA you were actively involved in the association. What has changed since you became president?
Firstly, I changed the way we deal with any case related to dentistry by communicating with dentists and the ministries to solve it. I now focus more on our scientific activities and am working on new guidelines for our profession 

Our readers are interested to learn more about the KDA’s plans for the future. What are your main goals, and what does the association wish to achieve?
As I mentioned, we are now focusing more on our scientific programmes. We have weekly scientific activities, such as lectures and workshops, and have started working with CAPP [Centre for Advanced Professional Practices] to increase our scientific activity. Our main conference is held every two years in November—the next one will be in 2020—but we are planning to hold it yearly. We will also this year begin to organise the first Kuwaiti dentists’ conference. The idea is to have a conference with all the speakers being from Kuwait only.

How do you view dentistry in the Middle East, particularly in Kuwait and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region? What are some of the key notable indicators we should be aware of?
Dentistry in the GCC region has developed more in the last five years than ever before to the extent that we can be compared with other countries in Europe and America and indeed worldwide.

In Kuwait, we have many achievers in the dental field and a good dental culture and have attracted many patients from different countries. Our aim in the KDA is to increase dentists’ knowledge and experience by organising more scientific activities, and I believe that we will develop even more in the future.

Thank you very much for the interview.

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