School of Dental Medicine

The second largest private dental school in the country, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine is committed to education, research, and patient care, and its graduates are among the best prepared clinicians with strong biomedical backgrounds. For more than a century, the school has responded with imagination and resolve to advance the dental profession.

Tufts University Dental School

Now the Tufts University Dental School has a total Beyond Boundaries campaign target of $40 million to support teaching and learning and meet its goals to strengthen and increase research activity.

Facilities $16M

New space: $8M
Renovations: $6M
Technology: $1M
Campus life: $1M

The school’s facilities seriously limit our teaching and clinical work. Campaign support will allow an envisioned vertical expansion and renovation that will increase research, office, and clinical space by 100,000 square feet. This additional space will:

Add four floors and mechanical areas, for an estimated 100,000 square feet of new space
Increase clinical space to impact access to care and community programs
Expand the school’s simulation lab
Provide expanded space for the Continuing Education program
Create new teaching space on existing floors

Faculty $6M

Endowed chairs: $5M
Salary competitiveness: $1M

A reported 270 full-time and 26 part-time faculty positions are unfilled in 56 dental schools across the country. According to recent studies, 46 percent of faculty who leave schools choose to enter private practice or industry because of the lack of competitive salaries in academia. The Tufts University School of Dental Medicine can significantly improve its ability to recruit and retain talented faculty by increasing its investment in endowed chairs and salary competitiveness.

Student Financial Aid $3M

Demand for admission is stronger than ever, yet numbers alone do not make a successful dental class. The cost of a dental education has escalated dramatically in recent years. Seventy-five percent of Tufts Dental students graduate with an enormous debt load. This is a pervasive and national problem, but it is not insurmountable. The school seeks to reduce student dependency on tuition and to lower student indebtedness.

Educational Programs and Access to Care $3M

Each year some 16,000 adult patients and more than 3000 children seek out the School of Dental Medicine for quality clinical care. TUSDM also brings oral health services to low-income populations and offers community outreach services in more than 21 externship sites. In addition, the Tufts Dental Facilities for Persons with Special Needs now include eight satellite clinics that serve 15,000 patients each year. Other efforts include a pioneering program serving area victims of domestic abuse. Tufts' record of broad community service remains as strong as ever; ongoing funding is required to continue providing comprehensive patient care, to maintain these critical outreach activities serving those in need, and to teach students the responsibility of caring for the underserved.

The Tufts Dental Fund $12M

For TUSDM, annual giving creates the difference between the adequate and the exceptional. Annual gifts collectively provide critical resilience against unknown contingencies and stabilize day-to-day operations. Funds go directly into the operating budget, providing current-use dollars that immediately support teaching and learning. Gifts from alumni and friends to the Tufts Dental Fund are greater than $1 million each year, and fuel the areas of greatest need.

Your gift to the Tufts Dental Fund has an impact. Your gift can support:

Financial aid, since more than 85 percent of students receive some form of financial support or loans
Faculty positions, further reducing the student to faculty ratio
Innovative academic programming, like the addition of the joint DMD/MPH program

Learn more about the Fund by contacting Maria Tringale, Senior Director, Dental Fund and Alumni Relations, at 617-636-6773 or maria.tringale@tufts.edu. You may also make a gift online today.

Other Giving Opportunities

While Tufts Dental is widely recognized as a leading dental school, it is significantly under-endowed. Endowment is the formal name that not-for-profit organizations, such as the Dental School, use for their savings accounts. Endowment funds are invested with only the annual dividend used to fund the purpose of the endowment. The principal of an endowment can never be spent. Twenty-five, 50, or 100 years from now, an endowment fund created today still will be producing income to support the school. Many have found naming an endowment a fitting way to recognize and show appreciation for great dentistry providers. Learn more about giving opportunities by Maria Tringale, Director, Dental Fund and Alumni Relations, at 617 636-6773 or maria.tringale@tufts.edu.

Did you know?

Did you know that annual tuition covers only 45-50% of the actual cost of attending Tufts Dental?