Approximately 9,000 patients, including medically compromised and geriatric patients, as well as those with AIDS and Hepatitis, make more than 30,000 visits to the College of Dental Medicine each year. The school is the largest provider of dental Medicaid services in the South Carolina. Dental education has traditionally focused on providing a high quality educational environment for dental students in a school setting. Students spend approximately four years learning philosophical and factual information as well as developing technical skills to become a competent practitioner. Although the school strives to serve the entire community, it is very difficult to do this in the confines of a dental school facility.
Many students volunteer for community activities.
In the past four years the CODM has revised its curriculum and provided for outreach opportunities as well as requirements for students in each year of their educational experience. Freshman and sophomore students go into community schools to teach children proper oral hygiene care. In the junior and senior years, students engage in a clinical rotation in an underserved community setting. A partnership between the College Community Health Care programs has provided an outstanding opportunity to meet the dental needs of the underserved in local communities. Faculty and students in a Mobile Dental Clinic provide the manpower to provide total dental services to a population with limited access to care.