Medical College of Georgia breaks ground on new dental school

Sep 22, 2009

The Medical College of Georgia (MCG) School of Dentistry, the state's only dental school, will break ground next week on its new facility at a ceremony that will include Gov. Sonny Perdue, University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll Davis Jr., and Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver.

"Construction of the new School of Dentistry facility is one of MCG's top priorities," MCG President Daniel Rahn said in a news release. "The state needs more dentists, and this facility will allow us to expand our educational capacity to better keep pace with state need."

The building is expected to be completed in two years and occupied by early 2012.

"The new building will help us fulfill our mission to improve oral and craniofacial health through scientific discovery, patient care, and educating future oral healthcare providers," School of Dentistry Dean Connie Drisko said in the release. "We need a facility that reflects the quality of our faculty, staff, and students."

The $112 million, 268,788-sq-ft building will be more than 100,000 sq ft larger than the existing building, which opened in 1970. The expanded space will allow the school to increase its class size incrementally from 63 to 100 by 2016 and its residency positions from 44 to 72. The increase will make the dental school among the largest in the U.S.; only 13 of the country's 58 dental schools have a class size of 100 or more, according to the ADA.

The expansion should help alleviate the dentist shortage in the state, which has 41.4 dentists per 100,000 citizens -- considerably fewer than the nationwide ratio of 54.3 per 100,000, according to the ADA. Approximately 80% to 85% of MCG School of Dentistry graduates practice in Georgia, the school noted.

The new facility will house the dental school's nine specialty clinics, two large student clinics, simulation labs, the School of Allied Health Sciences' dental hygiene program, an administration area, an expanded faculty practice, and a new Center for Esthetic and Implant Dentistry.

Financing for the facility's construction includes $5 million appropriated by the state in the 2008 budget, $97 million in bonds approved by the Georgia Legislature in the 2009 and 2010 budgets, and nearly $7.5 million in private gifts and pledges.