Vice Dean Graduate Studies and Lifelong Learning Raymond Wong Chung Wen
ACCEPTING PHD STUDENTS
Faculty & Department
Joint Appointments
Associate Professor, Dean's Office (dentistry), Dentistry
Vice Dean, Dean's Office, Dentistry
Cluster Lead, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, , National University Health System
Senior Consultant, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Bachelor of Dental Surgery, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Master of Dental Surgery (Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery), National University of Singapore, Singapore
Fellow, Academy of Medicine Singapore, Academy of Medicine Singapore, Singapore
Bio
Raymond Wong Chung Wen is the Vice Dean, Graduate Studies and Lifelong Learning; Associate Professor (tenured) and Director, Discipline of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS), Faculty of Dentistry, National University of Singapore (NUS). On the clinical side, he is the National University Health System (NUHS) Cluster Lead (OMFS) and Senior Consultant, Division of OMFS, National University Centre for Oral Health Singapore.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree in 1997 from University of Malaya. He was awarded the University Entrance Scholarship and Book Prizes for Excellence for the First, Second and Final (Part 1) Professional Examinations. He was then awarded the sole Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Scholarship to pursue his Master of Dental Surgery (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) at the National University of Singapore, graduating in 2003.
He went to the United Kingdom on a Health Manpower Development Program award from the Singapore Ministry of Health in Advanced Orthognathic Surgery, working as a Specialist Registrar in Trauma and Orthognathic Surgery in the Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, England and as a Clinical Fellow in Cleft and Orthognathic Surgery at Morriston Hospital, Swansea, Wales from 2007-2008. He obtained his PhD (Medical Sciences) from the Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands in 2011, after which he joined NUHS 2012 and then NUS in 2015.
Current Leadership Positions:
- Councilor to the International Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (IAOMS)
- Member, Education Committee, IAOMS
- President, International Conference of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ICOMS)Singapore 2025
- Executive Councilor at Large, Asian Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
- Regional Affairs Officer, and Country representative for Singapore, Asia Pacific Board of the AO CMF * (the Association for the Study of Internal Fixation, Craniomaxillofacial Surgery).
Previous Positions held:
- President, Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Singapore. As President, he led the winning bid to host the Asian Congress on Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery for the first time in Singapore in 2020, serving as Organizing Chair
- Chair, Chapter of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, College of Dental Surgeons Singapore
- Councilor for Singapore, and Executive Councilor at large, Governing Council, Asian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
His area of research interests are in technological implementation of the 4th Industrial Revolution in surgery e.g. patient specific implants, 3D printing; obstructive sleep apnea and clinical research outcomes. As a Regional and International Faculty for AO CMF, he travels frequently to speak and educate budding and mid-level surgeons primarily within the Asia Pacific region and occasionally, outside of it. He has published more than 50 internationally indexed high impact peer reviewed publications and is on the Editorial Board of Nature Scientific Reports and BMC Oral Health.
Contact Information
Welcome! Let us work together to maximise your time in research training. My style allow a lot of student autonomy, treating you as an adult, as I believe that is the best way to achieve independence in research.
My research interests align with my clinical interests and practice. As an active Academic Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, I aim to find better ways to treat my patients’ disease and deformities with the principles of improving accuracy, personalising surgery for patients, minimising harm and discomfort and lastly, ensuring that the results last.
Most of my earlier work was on a better way for mandibular reconstruction, with a focus also on jaw biomechanics, which is an aspect often overlooked. The ability to withstand function is key to successful longevity and in this day and age, it is no longer acceptable to just put some tissue into a defect. We should aim for full functional rehabilitation.
My subsequent work was on patient specific implants in craniomaxillofacial surgery, using first printed titanium, and then looking at using resorbable magnesium osteosynthesis in surgery. The most common application is in orthognathic surgery , which is elective and allows time for planning and fabrication of guides and plates. I also worked on a better way to grow back bone, for example in regenerative implants and biologics that improve bone healing.
Lastly, I am working on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which afflicts many Singaporeans as that is a disease profile where the techniques of orthognathic surgery are applied in maxillomandibular advancement. It is also apparent that we cannot always treat this disease with a mechanistic manner as there are many factors that affect surgical success and potential cure of OSA. My aim is to: 1) find a better way to identify, diagnose this disease in patients of all age ranges; 2) evaluate if what we are doing is effective and 3) if surgery is needed, how can we better improve it with techniques like minimally invasive surgery, using computer aided surgery, utilising patient specific implants, that can potentially resorb after the bone has healed, without either having to leave it alone for the rest of the patient’s life or having to undergo another surgery to remove these implants and if bone grafting is needed, how best to graft any defects from surgery.
My Mentoring Style
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Selecting Research Topics?
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Setbacks / Challenges
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Feedback
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Consultation Frequency
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Research Group Meetings
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You go to university for an education and to learn how to think. Throughout the world, higher education involves learning how to think and to learn how to think is to learn how to write.
If you can learn to put your thoughts down on paper or in this modern world, on the Word document, evaluate evidence critically and argue your case for and against, and defend your case against your peers (peer review), that is not just research but sharpening your mind to be ready for the future. Don’t do research for the sake of just research, although that is also important but to answer questions that trouble you in your field of work. I give a lot of autonomy to the students who thrive best by being independent and try to nurture and guide those who need more hand holding.