History of the Faculty

An early sketch of the Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building.

The history of dental education in Quebec goes back to 1892 when the Association of Dental Surgeons of the Province of Quebec founded, in Montreal, a dental school known as the Dental College of the Province of Quebec. Instruction in this College was in both English and French and the College was located on Phillips Square. This College became associated with Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec, four years later as a department in the Faculty of Medicine of that University, but remained situated in Montreal. In this way the clinical training was provided by the College and the academic training by the University. The first Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree in the province of Quebec was granted by Bishop's University.

The McGill Dental School was established in June 1904 as a department in the Faculty of Medicine and continued as such until 1920 when it became known as the Faculty of Dentistry. The Faculty of Dentistry has always been closely associated with the Montreal General Hospital, where the clinical teaching in the Faculty is mainly carried out along with rotations to other teaching hospitals. The preclinical teaching laboratory is housed in the Strathcona Anatomy and Dentistry Building on campus.

With the introduction of the "New Curriculum" in 1996, basic science subjects are taught in conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine during the first 18 months of the program. To reflect the increase in curricular content of basic science and medical courses in recent years, the Faculty requested that the degree program be renamed. The change, to Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), received University approval in the Spring of 2000.

In 2022, the Faculty of Dentistry was renamed as the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences to better reflect the Faculty's vision for innovation in the health sciences.

Back to top