We’re delighted to announce the winners of the South Africa and Namibia Dental Competition.

They were presented with their awards during a virtual ceremony on 13 November 2025 organised by The MPS Foundation and Dental Protection, with support from Professor Dini Mawala. The awards were presented by Dr Yvonne Shaw, who congratulated the students on the quality of their work. 

The competition is open to final year dental students from all six dental schools across South Africa and Namibia. Each participating university can have a winner and commended projects if submissions meet the competition criteria, with university-level winners then going on to compete for the national prize.

The national winning project came from a team of final year dental students at UWC. Their research looked into waiting lists at a tertiary oral health centre in the Western Cape, identifying key challenges in the system and proposing practical strategies to improve access to care and service delivery.

At WITS, the university-winning project was led by a team of final year dental students who evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nursing students in the management of oral complications arising from cancer therapy at an academic institution in Johannesburg​. The judges also commended a WITS project by final year dental student Renata Romanini, whose research looked at how effective cigarette warning labels are​ in informing nursing students about the risks and effects of smoking. 

The Dental Protection research competition will return next year, so keep an eye out if you want to submit an application.