The University of Tennessee College of Dentistry is the

dental school A dental school (school of dental medicine, school of dentistry, dental college) is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dental medicine to prospective dentists and potentially other dental auxiliaries ...

of the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th sta ...

. It is in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

, United States, and its facilities are part of the

University of Tennessee Health Science Center The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is a public medical school in Memphis, Tennessee. It includes the Colleges of Health Professions, University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Univer ...

. The college has a four-year program and approximately 320 students.

History

The college was founded in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

, TN in 1878, making the college the oldest dental college in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

and the third oldest public dental college in the country. The college was moved to Memphis, TN in 1911 and was located in Rogers Hall on Monroe Avenue until 1978, when it was moved to the newly constructed Dunn Building, named after Governor Winfield C. Dunn, a 1955 graduate of the school. In 2002, the DentSim laboratory was added to the preclinical academic curriculum in an effort to include advanced computer technology to enhance learning. The DentSim is a group of 40 workstations, each containing high-speed handpieces, suction tips, a patient manikin, and a computer. With the use of several sensors, computers monitor the actions of students and return feedback.

Today

The UT dental college is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Curriculum for the college includes courses on the basic sciences, including

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures v ...

, and

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...

. Dental courses include advanced pain control,

oral pathology Oral and maxillofacial pathology refers to the diseases of the mouth ("oral cavity" or "stoma"), jaws ("maxillae" or "gnath") and related structures such as salivary glands, temporomandibular joints, facial muscles and perioral skin (the skin arou ...

, and advanced oral radiology. Several optional courses are also offered. On October 12, 2005, a Shelby County

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

indicted 68 people alleged to be part of an

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

scheme which targeted the UT dental college. Agents for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation found that about $130,000 was embezzled by three former employees of the college via reimbursement checks, which is reserved for patients at the college. The crime occurred between August 15, 2002 and November 3, 2003. To date, two of the former employees, Connie Ackerson and Alberta Paylor, have been arrested.

Graduate programs

The UT dental college offers several graduate programs in specialty fields of dentistry. These programs include oral and maxillofacial surgery,

periodontology Periodontology or periodontics (from Ancient Greek , – 'around'; and , – 'tooth', genitive , ) is the specialty of dentistry that studies supporting structures of teeth, as well as diseases and conditions that affect them. The supporting ...

pediatric dentistry Pediatric dentistry (formerly pedodontics in American English or paedodontics in Commonwealth English) is the branch of dentistry dealing with children from birth through adolescence. The specialty of pediatric dentistry is recognized by the Ameri ...

, prosthodontics and

orthodontics Orthodontics is a dentistry specialty that addresses the diagnosis, prevention, management, and correction of mal-positioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns. It may also address the modification of facial growth, known as dentofacial ...

. The college also offers a program in Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD).

References

The Tennessean
as listed by the University of Tennessee's website

also on UT's website
Homepage
of the UT Dental College {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Tennessee College Of Dentistry Dentistry, College of Universities and colleges in Memphis, Tennessee Dental schools in Tennessee

History

Today

Graduate programs

See also

References