The University of Rochester will open a dental school come Jan. 1.
The Eastman School of Dentistry will be the university's first new school in more than 50 years. Officials said the current dentistry program has reached a size and capacity that justifies an independent academy.
The current URochester School of Medicine and Dentistry will become the School of Medicine.
"It will allow us to develop new educational programs, predoctoral programs, more research programs, and so on," said Eli Eliav, the school's inaugural dean. " All those things we couldn't do independently without becoming a school."
Eliav said this also includes conferring dental degrees, applying for grants, and being part of university ranking systems.
"We’re confident that our new Eastman School of Dentistry will build on our existing strengths while creating new opportunities to educate future dentists, advance discovery, and strengthen patient care," URochester president Sarah Mangelsdorf said in a newsletter.
University officials said this school comes at a "critical time for oral health care," when people with chronic health conditions, and intellectual and developmental disabilities are seeking quality dental treatment. There are not enough dentists to meet the current demand.
Researchers at Common Ground Health have identified four designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas in the region. This includes the city of Rochester, the eastern portion of Wayne County, and all of Steuben and Schuyler counties, based on geographic guidelines provided by the Health Resources & Services Administration.
"Having the school will allow us to train dentists who will be qualified and equipped with all the tools needed to treat patients with these chronic and complex medical conditions," Eliav said.
Eliav said the oral health institution has a waitlist of roughly 35,000 patients, including those needed to be treated under general anesthesia due to neurodegenerative diseases. He said current wait times are sometimes as high as three to four years.
"We want our dentists, who are trained in our school, to have exposure to overall health and not only oral health," Eliav said. "So we're trying to train the next generation of leaders, not only of the providers."
The school anticipates producing about 20 new dentists a year.
