The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has announced a new name for its oral health clinic, the Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation Oral Health Clinic, in honor of the $2 million gift from the foundation.
The Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation announced in January 2013 a pledge of $2 million toward the clinic that had just opened on the UAMS campus. The clinic, a part of the Center for Dental Education in the UAMS College of Health Professions, will host a postgraduate dental residency program under development. The Center for Dental Education was established in 2012 as a hub for dental education programs at UAMS. The center's goal is to improve oral health in Arkansas through expanded access to dental care and establishing education programs that increase the number of dental professionals in the state.
The dental residency program will welcome its first dental residents in July 2015, according to UAMS. The clinic, where two faculty dentists now provide comprehensive dental care, also began hosting senior dental students from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry for clinical rotations in early 2014. New groups of fourth-year students will begin arriving in August with the start of the fall semester for two weeks of clinical experiences with patients under supervision of faculty dentists.
The 7,500-sq-ft clinic includes nine general dental rooms with one more to be finished by the end of the year, one sedation suite for more complex procedures, and two overflow exam rooms shared with the adjacent clinic for the college's dental hygiene program.
