Four of the world’s premier dental schools form historic alliance

Photo of University of Melbourne Professor Alastair Sloan, Head of the Melbourne Dental School
University of Melbourne Professor Alastair Sloan, Head of the Melbourne Dental School, taking part in the DentAlliance virtual launch event.

Four prestigious dental schools are joining forces to advance and transform research, education, and practice in dentistry and the oral and craniofacial health sciences.

The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill Adams School of Dentistry; King’s College London’s Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences; National University of Singapore Faculty of Dentistry; and the University of Melbourne, Melbourne Dental School, are partnering to advance and transform research, education, and practice in dentistry and the oral and craniofacial health sciences.

The initial five-year agreement, known as DentAlliance, provides the structure for creation of a partnership between the four schools and builds upon collaborations and exchanges already established.

The DentAlliance partners will collaborate globally to improve  education and curriculum development, to pursue new and transformative research and discovery initiatives, and to enhance professional practice in dentistry and the oral and craniofacial health sciences.

University of Melbourne Professor Alastair Sloan, Head of the Melbourne Dental School, said the partnership will inspire and train future leaders and practitioners of the profession on a global stage, creating new and innovative  training, development and exchange opportunities and for students and employees.

“This partnership allows us to really re-imagine how we can teach dental and oral health students and professional clinicians in a global way,” he said.

“Collaboration is the best way to advance our understanding through research, it also supports students with the opportunity to be taught by recognised world leading experts in their field. Each School can learn from each other to tackle the education and research challenges that lie ahead with a shared approach and shared outcomes.”

University of Melbourne Professor Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International), welcomed the new alliance.

“The DentAlliance means global knowledge can be collated and disseminated as this collaboration brings exciting research and teaching initiatives to light,” Professor Wesley said. “We know that complex oral health problems need insights from a combination of perspectives.”

In celebration of the launch, a virtual event featuring all partners took place recently.

Dr Scott S. De Rossi, Dean of the UNC Adams School of Dentistry, said: “This strategic partnership brings together four of the world’s top dental schools in a new and transformative way. I am excited for the new opportunities that this agreement opens for our institutions and for all the ways we will work together in the coming years to improve oral health care across the globe.”

Professor Mike Curtis, Executive Dean of the King’s College London’s Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, said: “I am delighted that King’s Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences is joining forces with three other outstanding dental faculties across the globe with highly complementary programs in research and education. Our experiences over the last year have demonstrated how it is entirely possible to conduct truly meaningful and productive collaboration and teaching in a virtual format and we are therefore really well placed to make rapid progress in achieving the goals of this unique partnership.”

Professor Finbarr Allen, Dean of  the National University of Singapore Faculty of Dentistry, said: “The partnership will allow some of the world’s most prestigious dental schools to draw on each other’s strengths to bring about better clinical care, high impact research and education to nurture the future generations of oral health professionals.”