History

The School of Dentistry was founded in 1932, graduating its first class of students in 1935. It was originally located in the path of what became the Chrysler Freeway and moved in 1963 to East Jefferson Avenue, one mile east of the core of Detroit. In 1997, the School relocated into a new teaching and patient care facility on the University of Detroit Mercy's Outer Drive Campus. In January 2008, the School relocated to the Corktown Campus. The new facility is comprised of two, four-story buildings, containing 190 clinical operatories, state-of-the-art classrooms, and a simulation laboratory with a seating capacity of 100. The dental hygiene program was initiated in 1950, the postdoctoral endodontic program in 1959, and the postdoctoral orthodontic program in 1963. In 2004, advanced education programs in general dentistry and periodontics were initiated.

In 1981, a 42-chair clinic was opened in the University Health Center at Detroit Receiving Hospital in the Detroit Medical Center complex. This hospital-based clinic, the largest of any dental school in the United States, provides fourth-year students with the opportunity to care for medically-compromised patients, and offers a rich learning experience which is unique in American dental education.