DEPARTMENT OF ORTHODONTICS AND PAEDODONTICS
BACKGROUND
The department is an amalgamation of two units closely related to each other in the initial stages of the development of the dentition till the establishment of the permanent dentition into late adolescence.
Paedodontics or Paediatric Dentistry is the field of Dentistry that provides preventive and therapeutic oral health care to children and adolescents, including those with special health care needs. Orthodontics or orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics is the oldest specialty in dentistry and deals with the study of the growth of the craniofacial complex, development of the dentition, the establishment of the occlusion and its associated malocclusions and the prevention and treatment of dentofacial anomalies.
Even in ancient times, the importance of orthodontics was recognized. Adamandios, a fifth-century Greek writer, noted that “those persons whose lips are pushed out because of cuspid displacement are ill-tempered, abusive shouters and defamers.” This shows the long-standing understanding of the impact of dentofacial anomalies on individuals.
Hippocrates, among the first to comment about craniofacial deformity, also said: “Among those individuals with long shaped heads, some have thick necks, strong parts, and bones. Others have strongly arched palates, their teeth are irregularly arrayed, crowding one another, and they are molested by headaches and otorrhea.”
The department has the highest number of postgraduate students and there are various research activities ongoing.
Dr. GYAAMI K. AMOAH
(HEAD OF DEPARTMENT)
An astute academic and innovative and versatile clinician with attention to detail, Dr. Amoah had his undergraduate dental education in the former Soviet Union, now Russia. He specialized as an orthodontist at the prestigious Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Healthcare Sciences, University College London.
He had his housemanship training at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and also served as the only dental surgeon in the Upper West region before starting his postgraduate study.
Dr. Amoah, a commonwealth scholar, is a Fellow of the World Federation of Orthodontists, a fellow of the Ghana College of Surgeons, a fellow of the International College of Dentists, and a clinical fellow of the Joanna Briggs’ Institute, University of Adelaide, Australia.
He is also a member of the British Orthodontic Society, the European Orthodontic Society, the American Association of Orthodontists, and a member of the International Association of Orofacial Myology. He is currently the secretary of the Ghana Society of Orthodontists.
Dr. Amoah’s research interests include the autotransplantation of teeth, cephalometric parameters of Ghanaians, and the morphology of the human teeth. He loves reading and is a proud old student of Mfantsipim School.
DEPARTMENTAL FACULTY
Dr. GYAAMI K. AMOAH - Senior Lecturer/Head of Department
Professor Merley Newman-Nartey - Associate Professor
Dr. Gladia Toledo Mayari Yabang - Senior Lecturer
Dr. Mamta Thadani - Senior Lecturer
Selected peer-reviewed publications
1. Dsane M, Amoah KG, Mamta T, Puplampu P, Pobee RD, Amarquaye GP, Brefo and Newman-Nartey M.
The oral health status of siblings with ichthyosis in a peri-urban community of the Central Region of Ghana. A case report. Ghana Dental Journal 2022(19). 65-69
2. Paa-Kwesi Blankson , Gyaami Amoah , Mamta Thadani ,
Merley Newman-Nartey , Gwendolyn Amarquaye , Sandra Hewlett , Patrick Ampofo , Josephine Sackeyfio. Prevalence of oral conditions and associated factors among schoolchildren in Accra, Ghana: a cross-sectional study. Int Dent J. Published online March 27, 2021.
3. Comfort Ayodele ADEKOYA-SOFOWORA, Merley Afua NEWMAN-NARTEY, Kwabena Gyaami AMOAH, Gwendolyn Pashenka AMARQUAYE, Rita Adorkor AKWE, Nana Kwame AMPOMAH.
Prevalence and causes of traumatic Dental injuries in Ghanaian Preschoolers in Accra Metropolis, Ghana. J paediatr Dent Res 2020; 1(1&2): 4-13
4. Paa Kwesi Blankson, Efua M. Amanor, Alfred D. Dai-Kosi, Emmanuella Amoako, Akua B Konadu, Matthew Owusu Boamah, Gyaami K Amoah, Grace E Parkins. Paediatric maxillofacial fractures in Ghana: Pattern, household cost, and distress. Int J paediatr. Dent. 2020; 00:1-6
5. Newman-Nartey MA, Sackeyfio J, Hewlett S, Amoah KG, Nartey SM, Nartey NO. Prevalence, aetiology, management and retention of midline diastema in orthodontic patients in Ghana, West Africa. West Afr J Orthod vol 5 no. 1 june 2019;
6 .Merley Afua Newman- Nartey, Gwendolyn N. Amarquaye, Kwabena Gyaami Amoah, Alexander Oti-Acheampong, Nii Otu Nartey Orofacial cleft patient referral to a university orthodontic clinic over a 20- year period in Ghana. J cleft lip palate craniofac Anomal 2019; 6:43-50
7. Newman-Nartey MA, Nartey NO, Amoah KG, Buckman VA, Ndanu T. Residency Training in Ghana: The Residents’ Perspective. Ghana Med J 2019;53(1):13-19
8. Amoah GK, Blankson PK, Thadani M, Newman-Nartey M, Appiah Bolfrey D, Ayim S.O, Aikins G, Pobee R. Pattern of pediatric oral health presentations in Ghana: A year’s retrospective study of a hospital-based clinic. African J. Dent, 2018; Vol.6 (2); 142-147
9. Adu-Poku F, Quartey-Papafio N, Amoah GK, Newman-Nartey MA, Osafo SA. Comparison of shear bond strength of an orthodontic adhesive with a restorative adhesive. West Afr j orthod vol.6 no.1 2017. 37-43
10. Amoah KG, Hewlett SA, Nartey NO. Newman MA. The replacement of an avulsed maxillary incisor using premolar autotransplantation: a case report. Ghana Dental Journal, 2015 vol.12 (1) 28-30.
11. Amoah KG, Newman M, Ekem I: Orthodontic Management of an Adult with Sickle Cell Disease. Ghana Med J 2015; 49(3): 214-216
12. Konadu AB,Newman-Nartey MA, Amoah KG, Ndanu TA. Awareness and Prevalence of Career Associated Medical Conditions in Dentistry among Dental Practitioners in Ghana. Afr.J.Dent.2015; 3(1): 32-35.
13. Amoah KG, Moola S, Newman-Nartey MA. Treatment of primary teeth using formocresol pulpotomy for patients attending a University Dental School Clinic: best practice implementation project. JBI Database of Systematic Reviews & Implementation Reports 2014;12(6) :477 – 491
14. Hewlett S.A, Amoah G.K, Donkor P, Nyako E.A, Abdulai A.E, Nartey N.O, Parkins GA, Amponsah G: Postgraduate Dental Education in Ghana: past present and future. Postgraduate medical journal of Ghana. 2014; 3 (1): 50-55
15. Starkle N, Amoah KG, Newman-Nartey MA. Bracket failure among Orthodontic Patients in Ghana West Afr J Orthod 2013;2(2):12-17
16. Amoah KG, Nartey N.O, Hewlett S.A : Autotransplantation of a central incisor associated with a compound odontome. A five-year follow up report. Ghana Dental Journal 2013; 10 (1): 16-17.
17. Ayettey-Adamafio M, Newman-Nartey MA, Amoah KG. Assessing the difference in the Hours worked between Male and Female Dentists in Ghana ( A Pilot Study) Ghana Dent J 2013;10(1):30-31
18. Fadeju AD, Otuyemi OD, Ngom PI,Newman-Nartey MA, Amoah KG. Cepholometric Comparisons of dento-occlusal and skeletal patterns of Adolescents from three West African countries of Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal. West Afr J Orthod 2012; 1(2):20-29
19. Kakrabah-Quarshie CA, Newman-Nartey MA, Amoah KG. Radiographic Assessment of Pattern and Distribution of Anomalies in tooth Number among Ghanaian Patients. West Afr J Orthodon 2012; 1(1):26-32
20. Amoah K.G, Addo M.E : Natal Molar tooth, a case report. West African Journal of orthodontics. 2012; 1 (1): 41-42.
21. Newman MA, Nyako EA, Amoah KG, Nartey NO. Combined Surgical and Orthodontic Management of Impacted teeth associated with Odontomas. Ghana Dental Journal 2010; 7(1): 7-9.
22. Steven P. Jones and K. Gyaami Amoah: Static frictional resistances of polycrystalline ceramic brackets with conventional slots, glazed slots and metal slot inserts. Australian Orthodontic Journal, 2007; 23 (1): 36-40
23. Amoah KG, Newman-Nartey MA. Interceptive Orthodontics. Dentistry in Ghana. In NO Nartey, EA Nyako Editors. Dentistry in Ghana, the Journey so far and Challenges Ahead 2015.
24. G Parkins, IK Nuamah, KG Amoah, F Kwamin, D Tormeti: Dentistry: past present and the future of the profession. In NO Nartey, EA Nyako (editors)- . Dentistry in Ghana, the Journey so far and Challenges Ahead. Published by digibooks, Ghana Ltd, p80-97
Published abstracts
Amoah KG Newman M: Orthodontic management of sickle cell patients in Ghana. Abstract presentation. World sickle cell congress, Accra 2010. Abstract A:040.
- Addo ME, Amoah KG, Matharu LL :Natal Molar tooth – a case report. 2010 European archives of Paediatric dentistry,Harrogate-UK
3. Amoah KG , Newman M , Matondo PM : Prevalence of the cusp of carabelli in Ghanaian school children. European orthodontic congress, SP 258. june 2012, Santiago de compostela, spain