Dental Schools in California

University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry

• A public institution, the University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry is a part of the University of California system of colleges. Each year, more than 1,200 students apply for the 88 available places in the school's Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) dental medicine program. The program takes 45 months to complete, 34 of which are spent on campus. Off-campus clinical rotations are held at the Wilson-Jennings-Bloomfield Venice Dental Center and Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. To be considered for admission, students must show evidence of college-level coursework in general and organic chemistry, physics, biology, composition, psychology and biochemistry and 90 total credits of undergraduate education. Although the university will accept students who have not earned a bachelor's degree, most students who receive admission are graduates from such programs.

  University of California at Los Angeles School of Dentistry
  10833 Le Conte Ave. CHS
  Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668
  310-825-2337
  dent.ucla.edu

University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry

• Founded in 1896, the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry is part of the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. The school offers the only three-year D.D.S. program in the United States, explains the university's website. Approximately 3,000 students apply for the 140 positions in the program. Students interested in attending the school must complete 90 credit hours of undergraduate education in subjects like biology, physics, inorganic and organic chemistry and communications or speech. The school also tends to prefer applicants who have worked or volunteered in a dental office for at least 40 hours. In addition to clinical and laboratory coursework, students study social sciences and human behavior to gain a deeper understanding of patients. The school also offers graduate programs in orthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery for dentists who wish to work in a specialty.

  Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry
  University of the Pacific
  2155 Webster St.
  San Francisco, CA 94115
  415-929-6425
  dental.pacific.edu

Loma Linda University School of Dentistry

• Located approximately 60 miles east of Los Angeles, Loma Linda University School of Dentistry is a Seventh-Day Adventist institution. The school opened in 1953 and grants degrees in endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral pathology, orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics and prosthodontics as well as in general dentistry. Required courses for admission to the school's D.D.S. program include biology, general and organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics and composition. Students must also complete 96 hours of total undergraduate education and are also encouraged to take classes in accounting, anatomy, genetics, neuroscience, psychology, religion and statistics. Preference is given to students who have experience in dental assisting. The school also has an international dentistry program that helps foreign dentists obtain degrees to practice in the United States.

  Loma Linda University School of Dentistry
  11092 Anderson St.
  Loma Linda, CA 92350
  909-558-4222
  llu.edu