History
The faculty has a highly distinguished history building on over two hundred years of clinical care, research and education in our parent institutions, including the London School of Dental Surgery (Royal Dental Hospital of London), Guy's Dental Hospital and King's College Hospital Dental School. The establishment of the faculty as a single Institute in 1998 resulted from the merger of the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals with King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry.
The core of what we have done for over 150 years is bringing together clinical care, particularly for those who are poor or vulnerable, with the training of future generations of skilled dentists, surgeons and researchers. This was the founding principle of the Royal Dental Hospital of London in 1858 which trained dentists and treated impoverished patients continuously until its merger with Guy's in 1985, even through the Blitz during the Second World War.
The roots of our clinical activity go back even further: Guy's appointed its first dental surgeon in 1799 and, under Fredrick Newland-Pedley, established Guy's Dental School in 1889. King's College Hospital had a Dental Department from its foundation in 1839, initially in Portugal Street, Holborn serving the poor and disadvantaged and from 1913 onwards at Denmark Hill. King's College Hospital Dental School opened in 1923.
This history partly explains the deep roots of service and service-led education in the faculty: it has been a core part of our pedagogy and our mission since we began. It also speaks to a distinct and deep relationship with London and the communities within which our faculty grew, and which we still serve. This has grown into close co operative relationships with our NHS partners, particularly the two NHS Foundation Trusts: Guy's & St. Thomas', and King's College Hospital.
Since 1998, we have continued to innovate in our educational provision. The faculty has been a pioneer in the use of blended learning since 1998 and has been at the forefront of the use of haptics in dental education. LonDEC (The London Dental Education Centre) was founded in 2009 to provide high-quality clinical skills facilities for Continuing Professional Development and blended learning. Additionally, we have developed outreach centres with the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy and West Norwood Health and Leisure Centre in Lambeth .
Our research activities stretch back over 100 years and have become no less central to our mission to serve our communities. From its creation, the faculty has been the leading centre in the UK for oral and dental research.
Since 1998, the faculty has developed into a world-leading centre for research into craniofacial biology, as well as continuing very significant research in mucosal and salivary biology, and population and patient health, and in dental education. The faculty has deep historical strengths on which to build - service at the core of our self-identity, a history of education innovation, and strong and embedded relationships with our NHS Trust partners, and a longstanding commitment to research.