Melbourne Dental School

The Melbourne Dental School has a proud tradition of excellence in oral health education and research, with an established international reputation across multiple research areas and professional pathways. In addition to the four-year Doctor of Dental Surgery and the three-year Bachelor of Oral Health, the School offers specialty training leading to the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry, as well as advanced training and research degrees including MSc and PhD. The School was the first in Australia to establish Oral Health Therapy training in 1996, and later introduced the first clinical postgraduate programme in Oral Health in 2013. A range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses are also available, including Adult Dental Therapy and more: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ben2 In 2020, DentAlliance was formed — a global partnership between University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, King’s College London, the Melbourne Dental School, and National University of Singapore. Professor Petros Papagerakis has been Head of School since September 2025. The School’s origins date to 1884, when a group of dentists formed the Odontological Society of Victoria to advance dental education in the state. Mr John Iliffe (1847–1914), a member and later President of the Society, played a pivotal role in establishing both the Melbourne Dental Hospital (1890) and the Australian College of Dentistry (1897). In 1904, the Faculty of Dental Science was established, affiliating the College with the University of Melbourne. In 1963, the Faculty and Hospital moved from Spring Street to the Royal Dental Hospital at 720 Swanston Street, Carlton. In 1989, the Faculty of Dentistry merged with Medicine (est. 1876) to form the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. Reflecting its broader scope, it became the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences in 1991, a structure that continues today.