Rate My Professor David Antunovic

David Antunovic is the Head of Discipline for Special Needs Dentistry in the Department of Oral Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Otago, Health Sciences Division. He earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from the University of Otago in 1982 and a postgraduate diploma in periodontology in 1992 with distinction. Antunovic holds the inaugural Fellowship in Special Needs Dentistry (FRACDS SND) from the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons awarded in 2002, as well as fellowships with the RACDS and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). He serves as a Professional Practice Fellow at the University of Otago and acts as an external examiner for both the university and the RACDS.

Antunovic's extensive career includes general dentistry practice in New Plymouth, Auckland, and central London, UK. He currently maintains a private practice in New Plymouth focused on gum health, prevention, implants, and CAD-CAM technology, while holding the position of Clinical Leader-Dental at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Taranaki and serving as an external advisor to ACC Treatment Injury. A founding member of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Special Needs Dentistry (ANZASND), he was a member of the New Zealand Society of Forensic Odontology from 1998 to 2022 and was elected Chairman of the RACDS New Zealand Regional Committee in 2022. He has lectured on various dental topics in New Zealand and the Pacific Rim and presided over multiple dental societies. In forensic odontology, Antunovic contributed to disaster victim identification efforts with the New Zealand Police, including deployments to Phuket, Thailand, after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami—for which he received the New Zealand Special Service Medal in 2006—the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, and the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.