1949-1968 | 1969-1975 | 1976-1990 | 1991-2004 | 2005-Present
2005
Replacement therapy, a novel caries-prevention therapy developed by UFCD oral biologist Jeffrey Hillman, Ph.D., receives the green light for human trials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Replacement therapy inoculates the oral cavity with a genetically engineered strain of Streptococcus mutans bacteria which outcompetes the wild-type, caries-causing S. mutans strains.
The laboratory of UFCD microbiologist Ann Progulske-Fox, Ph.D., announces that it has isolated live P. gingivalis bacteria from human atherosclerotic plaque. Though periodontal disease has long been associated with cardiovascular hardening of the arteries, this is the first time P. gingivalis bacteria have been dredged alive from human arterial tissues.
Dr. Clark and B.J. Hodge donate $600,000 to establish the Clark and B.J. Hodge Endowed Professorship in Orthodontics.
The college graduates its 30th D.M.D. class.
As part of the HRSA Teledentistry Grant implementation, digital radiography is installed enterprisewide in all college clinics.
January » UFCD Charter Class member Alan Hays takes office as state representative in the Florida Legislature. He is the first UFCD graduate elected to Florida’s Legislature.
April » The University of Florida and University of Alabama at Birmingham receive $25 million from NIDCR to establish a practice based research network in the southeast U.S. region (named the Dental Practice Based Research Network) to recruit private dentists as “practitioner-investigators” to investigate with scientific rigor the everyday clinical issues dentists face in their own practices.
October » In partnership with University Partnership Center of St. Petersburg College, the College of Dentistry opens a new 14,000 square-foot clinical and teaching facility on the campus of SPC in Seminole. The new clinic replaces the downtown St. Petersburg clinic and nearly triples the college’s patient visit capacity in Pinellas County, to 20,000 patient visits annually.
2006
The NIDCR awards the college a five-year, $3.5 million grant to continue the research training program in oral biology.
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine ranks UF College of Dentistry the No. 3 producer of Hispanic dentists out of 56 dental institutions in the U.S.
March » Through an anonymous donation, an I-CAT cone beam computed tomography machine is installed in the college’s main campus radiology suite.
May » The college is one of the first dental institutions to participate through signed agreement with the Biolase University Program, enabling six Waterlase MD units to be installed throughout the college in Faculty Practice and the departments of endodontics, pediatric and operative dentistry.
December » The Naples Children and Education Foundation (NCEF) donates $5.5 million to the College of Dentistry to fund the construction and operation of a state-of-the-art pediatric dental facility in Collier County. The $8 million clinic will be built on the campus of SouthWestern Florida State College and will will offer specialized treatment for the county’s Medicaid-eligible and at-risk children.
2007
The new position of Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs is created to advise the dean, chairs, center directors and individual faculty and administrators on matters affecting faculty. William P. McArthur, Ph.D., is appointed.
Entrepreneur Edward T. Quinn of Longwood, Fla. makes a $2 million gift (eligible for matching funds from the state) to the College of Dentistry to create the M. Franklin Dolwick University Chair, the largest ever established within the college.
2008
Linda Bartoshuk, Ph.D., a professor of Community Dentistry and Behavioral Science, is elected to a three-year term on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Samuel Low, D.S.S., M.S., M.Ed., receives the 2008 Florida Dental Association’s J. Leon Schwartz Lifetime Achievement Award. Given during the annual Florida National Dental Convention held in June in Orlando, this is the highest achievement award bestowed by the FDA and is presented to someone who has displayed a lifelong commitment to enhancing dentistry.
August » The college implements the new Team Clinical Education Model, providing increased flexibility in patient scheduling.
December 3 » The NCEF Pediatric Dental Center, a collaboration between the Naples Children and Education Foundation, UF College of Dentistry, SouthWestern Florida State College and Collier Health Services Inc., opens. The building includes a state-of-the-art pediatric dental facility and educational space.The clinic will provide specialized pediatric dental treatment to Collier County’s Medicaid-eligible and at-risk children during an estimated 15,000 patient visits each year.
2009
The college’s D.M.D. program is granted accreditation status of “approval without reporting requirements” by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). This status indicates that the program achieves or exceeds the basic requirements for accreditation. The next site visit for the pre-doctoral program will occur in 2015.
A new department, the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diagnostic Sciences, is created. Dr. Madhu K. Nair is appointed chair.
The D.M.D. Class of 2011 achieves a 100 percent first-time pass rate on the National Board Dental Examination Part I, and the class’s collective performance far exceeds the overall national average as well as the section averages.
Despite the economic challenges of the recession, the College of Dentistry garners over $18 million in research awards, exceeding previous years’ funding.
2010
The American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) charters a student chapter at the UF College of Dentistry. This is only the third student chapter chartered by the national association.
March » The Department of Pediatric Dentistry dedicates their newly renovated clinic the “Dr. Robert E. Primosch Clinical Education Center.” The $700,000 clinic renovation was paid for entirely by donations from alumni and friends of the college.
The departments of Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry are combined into a new department, the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences. Dr. Jean-François Roulet is appointed chair.
The UFCD chapter of the Student National Dental Association is recognized as “Chapter of the Year” at their annual convention.
2011
The college’s clinical management system changes from Quick Recovery to AxiUm, moving us closer to an electronic patient record.
The Florida Board of Governors considers proposals from Florida A&M University and the University of Central Florida to establish new dental schools in the state, as well as one from UF to expand enrollment at the College of Dentistry. Due to budget constraints and questions about whether another dental school is needed in Florida, none of the proposals are approved.
A new School of Advanced Dental Sciences is created to facilitate the integration of the college’s advanced education programs in endodontics, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontology and prosthodontics.
2012
The college participates in a visioning and conceptual planning activity to address space planning and future facility needs to support new ways students learn, how patients experience the clinics, community space and other future college needs.
Major renovations of the dental tower lobby are completed, making the lobby a more inviting space with improved signage to make wayfinding easier for our patients.
A new School of Advanced Dental Sciences is created to facilitate the integration of the college’s advanced education programs in endodontics, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontology and prosthodontics.
2013
Teresa A. Dolan, D.D.S., M.P.H., retires in May 2013 following 11 years serving as dean of the college. Boyd Robinson, D.D.S., M.Ed., is appointed interim dean and begins serving on June 1, 2013.
2015
The college welcomes A. Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.P.H., as its seventh permanent dean on February 15, 2015.
In September, the predoctoral program and eight advanced education programs are evaluated by the Commission on Dental Accreditation during a three-day site visit. In February, the college received word that all programs have been granted continued accreditation without reporting requirements.
2018
May » After reaching its highest ever research funding ranking to date — No. 5 — among all dental schools in the U.S. in 2017 for receiving more than $13 million in contracts and grants, with 81 percent coming from the National Institutes of Health, the college secures its second-straight No. 5 ranking in 2018. The college extends its tenure of ranking the top 15 in NIH funding for 26 consecutive years.
August » The college is selected to be a part of a new comprehensive medical office building in the master-planned community of Wildlight, a new development in Nassau County in Yulee, Florida, north of Jacksonville. UF Health Wildlight features 40,000 square feet of office and medical space for primary care using a patient-centered model focused on prevention and early diagnosis, urgent care staffed by emergency medicine faculty, imaging services, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, mental health services, dentistry and a laboratory. Ground breaks on UF Health Wildlight in August 2018. UF Health Dentistry — Wildlight is slated to open in January 2020.
October » UFCD is recognized in 2018 with one of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s Health Professions in Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award for the fourth straight year. The college was first recognized in 2015, and is the only college at the university to be honored. The award measures an institution’s level of achievement and commitment to broadening diversity and inclusion through initiatives, programs, and outreach; student recruitment, retention, and completion; and hiring practices for faculty and staff.
Under the guidance of Dean Isabel Garcia, D.D.S., M.P.H., the college curates, drafts and finalizes its next five-year strategic plan for 2019-2024.
2019
January » Beginning January 1, 2019, the college takes over complete administration of the NCEF Pediatric Dental Center in Naples from Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida. From 2008-18, the center’s operations were coordinated through a collaboration between Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida and the UF College of Dentistry, with Healthcare Network handling operational and clinical administration and UFCD faculty directing the educational and clinical program. Under the college’s administration, the clinic continues to provide the same comprehensive oral health care services and educational programs, while taking over the operational aspects of the center.
June » During its June 2019 meeting, the UF Board of Trustees approves a 10-year, $2.2 billion capital improvement plan that includes $183 million for a new College of Dentistry building. This is a “concept approval” without specific plans for funding. UF Environmental Health & Safety contracts with outside consultant, Terracon, to conduct an environment assessment of the dental tower.
2019
UF Health Dentistry — Wildlight is slated to open in January 2020 as part of UF Health Wildlight in Yulee, Florida. The practice offers general dentistry, children’s dental care, oral & maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics and endodontics.