Melbourne Dental School

The Melbourne Dental School is proud of its strong tradition in Oral Health education and research, with an established international reputation in several research areas and professional pathways. In addition to the 4-year graduate dental program the Doctor of Dental Surgery, the school offers specialty training programs combined with the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry degree, advanced training programs, and research degrees including M.Sc. and Ph.D. programs. Professor Alastair J Sloan has been head of the Melbourne Dental School since January 2020. In 1884, a group of dentists formed the Odontological Society of Victoria with the aims of the regulation and education of dentists in the state of Victoria. Mr. John Illife (1847–1914), a member and later president of the Odontological Society of Victoria, was the driving force in negotiations for the regulation of dentistry in Victoria and the establishment of a hospital and college in Melbourne. Thanks largely to his efforts, the Melbourne Dental Hospital opened its doors in 1890 and was followed in 1897 by the Australian College of Dentistry, devoted solely to the education of dentists. In 1904, a Faculty of Dental Science was established and the College was affiliated with the University of Melbourne. In 1963, the Faculty and the hospital moved from 193 Spring Street to the new Royal Dental Hospital at 720 Swanston Street, Carlton. In 1989, the Faculty of Dentistry merged with the Faculty of Medicine (established 1876) to create a new Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry consisting of a School of Medicine and a School of Dental Science. To reflect additional responsibilities, the faculty expanded in 1991 to become the present Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.