The School of Dentistry admitted its first dental class in September, 1957. Four years later twenty-three
individuals received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery.In 1961 the School introduced a
four-year program in dental hygiene.
Advanced training programs were initiated as follows: the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Program in 1961; the General Practice Residency Program in 1963; the Orthodontic
Graduate Program 1968; the Endodontic Graduate Program in 1979; the Master of
Science Program in 1987; and the Prosthodontic Graduate Program in 1996. In addition, a dental hygiene degree
completion program has been offered since 1985.
Since the School’s inception, 2014 dentists have earned the degree of Doctor of
Dental Surgery; 841 hygienists have earned the degree of Bachelor of Science in
Dental Hygiene; 25 dental hygienists have received a Master of Science Degree in
dental hygiene; and 414 individuals have completed postdoctoral programs. More than half of all residents
admitted to the School of Dentistry have remained in West Virginia after
graduation, and approximately 81% of the practicing dentists in the State are
WVU alumni.
To provide students in Dentistry with the necessary clinical experience, the
School of Dentistry maintains and operates dental clinics in the Robert C. Byrd
Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The WVU School of Dentistry is the
States only dental school. It has a
national reputation for producing excellent clinicians. The School’s student clinics became
operational in the late 1950’s, and an intramural faculty practice clinic was
introduced in 1975 with the opening of the Family Practice Dental Center. Some clinical facilities have been
upgraded to provide a modern, fully equipped environment for clinical practice
and teaching. There is a long term
plan to renovate all other areas of the School. Many technological advances that support state-of-the-art patient care
have been implemented or are in progress.
A state-wide
remote-site program, initiated in 1976, provides students experience in hospital
and community based dentistry. In spring 1991, West Virginia initiated dialogue
with the W.K. Kellogg foundation about needed changes in health profession
education. Also, in 1991, the governor called a special legislative session and
passed the Rural Health Initiative Act (RHI). In the early fall of 1992, the university system received a four year
Kellogg Community Partnership grant to develop a community based academic
program. Based upon the Community Partnerships, the first students began rural
placements at the Kellogg sites in the fall of 1992 and at the RHI sites in the
spring of 1993. By April 1994, the RHI and Kellogg Community Partnerships had
developed strong ties and the community and program leaders began the process of
integrating both programs into one statewide program. In 1995, the West Virginia
legislature renamed the program “The West Virginia Rural Health Education
Partnerships”. The principal goal of the RHEP program is to instill an
understanding and appreciation of rural and primary care in health profession
students and to achieve greater retention of WV trained health science graduates
in underserved rural West Virginia communities.
Due to the combined efforts of dedicated and skilled faculty and staff, the
School of Dentistry has grown and flourished. The School has gained national prominence under the direction of deans
Dr. J. Ben Robinson, who served as consultant from 1953 to 1957 and dean from
1957 to 1958; Dr. Kenneth V. Randolph, who served from 1958 to 1968; Dr. W.
Robert Biddington, who served from 1968 until 1991; Dr. James E. Overberger who
served as interim dean from 1979 to 1980 and 1981 to 1982; Dr. Henry J. Bianco,
Jr. who served as interim dean from 1991-1993; Dr. Robert Moore who served as
dean from 1993-1997; Dr. Robert H. Hornbrook who served as interim dean from
1997-1999; Dr. James J. Koelbl who served as dean from 1999-2007 and current
interim dean Dr. Louise T. Veselicky who has served since 2007.