Within the DMD program, Penn Dental Medicine students build their skills and competence as practitioners with a depth of clinical experiences. Students learn to apply the latest techniques and technologies within general dentistry, and are also exposed to the leading advances in specialty care through rotations in each of the School’s six specialty clinics, the training ground for the School’s postdoctoral programs.

Clinical experiences begin upon entry into the DMD program and build with each succeeding year. In the first year, students are assigned to a Primary Care Unit within the clinic and are trained to assist D3 and D4 students on the clinic floor. Students and faculty handle approximately 22,000 patients each year in the School’s teaching clinics, with a diverse patient population that ensures a wide range of clinical cases. In addition, halfway through the D3 year and continuing through the D4 year students practice comprehensive community-based care through our extramural clinics located throughout the city and in partnership with other schools of the University.

In preclinical instruction, students develop their manual dexterity skills on high-tech, virtual reality stations that simulate a dental environment. Students begin to learn the full digital workflow utilizing 3D imaging, treatment planning, and CAD CAM manufacture in our pre-clinical and clinical programs.

Equally important to the technical skills are the intangible skills students gain through their clinical education – an ability to work as part of a dental care team with patients of all backgrounds and needs, including those with complex medical and special needs, and the judgment to tell what is called for in each unique situation.

Teaching Clinics

  • Brainerd F. Swain Orthodontic Clinic
  • Syngcuk Kim Endodontic Clinic
  • General Restorative – the Schattner Clinic and Edward & Shirley Shils Clinic
  • Care Center for Persons with Disabilities Personalized Care Suite
  • Oral Surgery Clinic
  • Saito Pediatric Clinic
  • Walter Cohen and Morton Amsterdam Periodontal Clinic
  • William W.M. Cheung Advanced Dental Care Clinic