culture

Pae Jae Son, PhD, Associate Professor and head of the orthodontics department of the Ryugyong Dental Hospital, has worked as a health worker for nearly 40 years. In the period he made significant achievements in the research into advanced medical science in the field of orthodontics and cured a large number of patients including several cases of orthodontics whose medical conditions were rare in the world, thus making a great contribution to the development of the country's dentistry.

Pae had taught students at Pyongyang University of Medical Sciences for 25 years before being appointed as head of the orthodontics department of the newly-built Ryugyong Dental Hospital 11 years ago.

Looking at the hospital furnished with costly ultra-modern medical equipment, he made up his mind to become a true medical worker devoting himself to the people with high medical skills.

He felt the need to develop a new technology more keenly in the course of his daily clinical practice for many patients and buckled down to the study of orthodontic microimplant anchorage he had begun several years back.

Orthodontic, or dental correction treatment with microimplant anchorage was a new technology that can produce high therapeutic benefit as it is not only convenient and reliable but also provides an absolute anchorage. But a few medically advanced countries in the world still had a monopoly on it, he said.

Through creative thinking and extensive exploration for developing a microimplant anchorage in Korean way, he completed the structural design of a microimplant anchorage that suits the constitutional characters of the local people and all of whose characteristics indexes reached the advanced level.

He met many scientists, technicians and skilled workers of Kim Chaek University of Technology and several other units to solve the technical problems arising in making the microimplant anchorage.

As he finally succeeded in making the microimplant anchorage for dental correction after making painstaking efforts, many people congratulated him on his success and advised him to write a PhD dissertation.

"I could write a thesis, but my conscience did not allow it. I thought I’d do it when patients would really benefit from the new technology,” recalled Pae.

He was awarded a doctorate several years later in September 2019.

During these years he developed more than 20 advanced treatment methods and over a dozen kinds of materials badly needed for orthodontic treatment and wrote dozens of textbooks, reference books and guidebooks.

His research findings were published by the prestigious international academic journals and national magazines.

His colleagues attribute Pae’s successes in scientific research to his heartfelt sincerity based on conscience and devotion.

He, who continues his medical treatment with utmost sincerity for the people, does not allow the word impossible.

Therefore, he has cured a large number of patients including more than 100 whose conditions had been recognized as incurable by the existing techniques, together with medical workers of his department over the past 10-odd years.

The country has put him forward as a meritorious person of socialist patriotism for having made a contribution to the development of dentistry and the promotion of public health.