Rate My Professor Sunyoung Ma

Professor Sunyoung Ma is a Professor in Prosthodontics in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, at the University of Otago. A DCNZ registered specialist prosthodontist, she holds the qualifications BDS, DClinDent (Prosthodontics), PhD, and MRACDS (Pros). She has served as Associate Dean (Postgraduate Studies) in the Faculty of Dentistry since 2020. Previously an Associate Professor, she was promoted to full Professor effective 1 February 2024. She is President of the Academy of Australian and New Zealand Prosthodontists, serves on the International College of Prosthodontists Education and Research Committee, and is a member of the New Zealand Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Her clinical expertise encompasses fixed and removable prosthodontics, oral implantology, and digital dentistry. She teaches courses including CLDN920 Clinical Practice - Research Evidence, DENT531 The Dentist and Patient Care, and DENT570 Clinical Dental Practice for Honours, and has supervised more than 70 undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

Professor Ma's research interests center on oral implantology, CAD/CAM, digital dentistry, removable prosthodontics, and gerodontology. She conducts clinical trials evaluating various treatment modalities using dental implants, particularly for older patients needing tooth replacement, assessing biological success, long-term maintenance, complications, and impacts on oral health-related quality of life. She is co-primary investigator for a two-center clinical trial on narrow implants for posterior missing teeth, funded by the International Team for Implantology Research Grant, and leads studies on zirconia and titanium implants, as well as crowns and partial denture frameworks using digital technologies. She maintains ongoing national and international collaborations with continuous external research funding and has received international invitations to present her work. Key publications include 'Marginal bone loss with mandibular two-implant overdentures' (2010), 'Prosthodontic maintenance of maxillary implant overdentures' (2012), 'Patients' perspectives on zirconia and titanium implants' (2014), 'Maxillary Three-Implant Overdentures Opposing Mandibular Two-Implant Overdentures: 10-Year Prosthodontic Outcomes' (2016), and 'Correlation of three wear testing methods and surface roughness analysis in 3D-printed crown materials' (2025). Her awards include the SJWRI Undergraduate Research Supervisor Award (2018, 2021, 2022), J. Morita Junior Investigator Award for Geriatric Oral Research from the International Association for Dental Research (2016), and University of Otago Award for Excellence in Teaching (2023). She reviews for international peer-reviewed journals and grant applications.