About Us

Our passionate commitment to oral health care is easy to see. It’s on display daily inside sophisticated classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratories and bustling practice clinics. The UMKC School of Dentistry is serving the community by delivering a world-class education to the next generation of dental leaders.

Academics

We offer a comprehensive range of oral health care degrees including a Doctor of Dental Surgery, continuing education, several options for dental hygiene and specialty advanced degrees that situate our graduates as industry leaders. Our nationally recognized faculty includes scholars, scientists and specialists. Their dedication allows the institution to stand out for its high-quality instruction and personal attention to student needs.

Our program is the only public dental school in Missouri. Our alumni account for roughly half of all practicing dentists in Missouri. But our reach goes further. We also provide a critical education outlet for Kansas and several other states without a dental school. UMKC is the only institution in Missouri offering advance educational programs and clinical training in General Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Periodontics, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and Endodontics. Click here

The school is small enough to offer students personal attention. Yet it also enjoys the benefits of being part of the University of Missouri system and its four publicly funded state universities. The other schools are located in Rolla, St. Louis, and Columbia.

The School of Dentistry is situated in UMKC Health Sciences Campus on Hospital Hill, a few miles north of the UMKC Volker campus. Hospital Hill is home to a nexus of health care and educational institutions. The prestigious neighbors include Children’s Mercy Hospital, Truman Medical Center, several private and public medical facilities and the UMKC Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Studies and Pharmacy. Students benefit from shared partnerships with the world-class medical and educational facilities. It provides a vast opportunity to learn and interact with scholars, researchers, and professionals across the health care spectrum.

Lifelong Learning

Our work doesn’t stop after graduation. We are committed to lifelong learning. The school hosts the Midwest Dental Conference annually. It brings together more than 3,000 dentists, dental hygienists and oral health care leaders from across the country. It offers a chance to connect with industry professionals, hear the latest scientific advances and utilize the school’s continuing education classes so clinicians can learn about emerging practice changes and trends.

UMKC has eight programs fully accredited by the American Dental Association’s Commission on Dental Accreditation: Doctor of Dental Surgery, Dental Hygiene, Advanced Education in General Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Periodontics, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and Endodontics.