UNLV celebrated the grand opening of its newest facility today: a new combined advanced and predoctoral dental education building at the UNLV School of Dental Medicine. Located on the university's Shadow Lane Campus, the building expands existing space for advanced dental education programs, including the orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics program. Future planned advanced dental education uses include, pending approval from the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), programs in pediatric dentistry, periodontics, endodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery. If approved at CODA's July meeting, the inaugural pediatric dentistry residency program will begin August 1.

"We are excited about the opportunities that the space provided by this building will bring," said Dr. Karen West, dean of the UNLV School of Dental Medicine. "In addition to supporting our advanced dental education, continuing education and faculty practice programs, the building will allow us to bolster predoctoral dental education as well."

The new dental education building includes additional classrooms and office space, a clinical treatment area with over 60 operatory stations, and truly state-of-the-art technology and equipment such as an operatory with a wheelchair lift designed to help treat the special needs patient.

For additional information on the UNLV School of Dental Medicine, please visit http://dentalschool.unlv.edu.