Established in 1897, the dental school operated under the auspices of the USC School of Medicine. From 1905 to 1947, it was affiliated with USC as the College of Dentistry and became the School of Dentistry in 1948. Its current home on the University Park Campus opened in 1952 and was rededicated with the 1969 three-story addition. In 1990, the school established the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology on the university’s Health Sciences Campus. During the 1997 centennial year, the school completed a 40,000-square-foot renovation creating new preclinical laboratories, orthodontic facilities, and a library-learning center that take advantage of emerging technologies to enhance education, research and patient care.

In 2006 the Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy and the Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, both ranked #1 in U.S. News & World Report, were administratively aligned at the School of Dentistry.

1897 — USC established the first dental school in Southern California, and, for 56 years, the only dental school in the Southwestern United States.

1924 — Floyde E. Hogeboom published the first textbook on the treatment of children. The book was subsequently issued in six editions.

Beverly McCollum, a pioneer in the field of gnathology, conducted research that proved the existence of a hinge axis within the temporomandibular joint. Later, he worked with Charles Stuart to develop the first device to accurately record the complex movement of the jaw. 

1928 — Cora Ueland was the first director of the newly formed certificate program in dental hygiene and held the post for 28 years.

1933 — Dr. Hogeboom established the school’s Department of Children’s Dentistry.

1939 — The dental hygiene program first offered a bachelor’s degree.

1954 — Oral surgeon Marsh E. Robinson, who developed the vertical osteotomy for correction of mandibular deformities, established the school’s oral surgery program, the first in Southern California.

1965 — Founded as the Dental Ambassador Program, the USC Mobile Dental Clinic is the most enduring and most extensive, self-contained facility of its kind—and one of the earliest. During its 40-year history, it has treated more than 80,000 underserved children.

1966 — Clifton O. Dummett established the school’s first community dentistry department and served as its chairman for 21 years.

1975 — The school’s graduate program in craniofacial biology was the first of its kind in the country.

1983 — USC researcher Malcolm Snead and his team were the first to identify, characterize and clone the dental gene amelogenin.

1995 — A problem-based-learning program offered 12 students a different approach to the doctoral dental curriculum, emphasizing integration of basic and clinical science through inquiry-based learning. This pedagogy was inaugurated for all entering doctoral dental students in 2001.

2000 — USC, in partnership with the Union Rescue Mission, opened a dental clinic to serve the needs of the homeless in downtown Los Angeles.

2001 — The school was rewired for high-speed Internet access as a first step in a futuristic information technology plan.

2004 — The School of Dentistry received one of the very first installations in the United States of a NewTom 9000 3-D imaging system that enables three-dimensional analyses of craniofacial-oral-dental structures.