SIU School of Dental Medicine hosts Open House on SIUE campus

EDWARDSVILLE - The Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine (SIU SDM) is hosting an Open House from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16 to showcase its renovated clinic on the Edwardsville campus.

The clinic is equipped to provide a full scope of dental services, including preventive dentistry, cleanings, fillings, crowns and bridges, dentures, surgery, root canals and implant procedures. The clinic also is equipped to perform simple and complex pediatric dental care. It provides additional training laboratory space in support of the Clinical Certification Course of the SDM’s International Advanced Placement Program.

 “We are excited to embark on the next advancement for the School of Dental Medicine,” said Dr. Bruce Rotter, dean of the SIU SDM. “By reopening the Edwardsville clinic, we will be able to expand the scope of our available care, provide that care to a greater demographic and provide an even higher level of training to our students.”

The Edwardsville clinic was originally built in 1997 to add additional program capability for the SDM. However after 10 years, it was necessary for the school to give up occupancy of the building for several reasons including rental costs, increased space availability in Alton and a need for consolidation. Following several years of leased occupancy by various businesses, the University reacquired the building.

Rotter pointed to many benefits to reopening the clinic at SIUE:

• Ability to provide services to the Edwardsville campus – students, staff and faculty will have the option of choosing the School of Dental Medicine for their treatment needs without the commute to Alton
• Expanding children’s access to dental care programs
• Expanding specialty training programs with greater access to specialty care
• Providing a referral service for complex cases that require faculty expertise, while providing training for students and residents

The $3 million project was funded from private donations, SDM Clinic Operation, SDM equipment use fees, Parking Services revenues for repairing and surfacing the parking lot, and University Plant funds.

The clinic will open to the public beginning March 1. It is located at 195 University Park Dr.  

The SIU School of Dental Medicine students manage approximately 35,000 patient visits each year at its patient clinics in Alton and East St. Louis. In addition, students offer oral health treatment, screenings and education to more than 10,000 people annually through a wide variety of off-campus community outreach events. These opportunities provide students the training they need to graduate and become highly skilled dentists. The School of Dental Medicine is a vital oral health care provider for residents of southern and central Illinois, and the St. Louis metropolitan region.

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