About the School of Dentistry

Goldschleger Building

The Dental School at the Tel Aviv University formally came into existence in 1972, with the arrival of a relatively large number of immigrants from the (then) Soviet Union. Among them was a sizable group of dentists, whose qualifications were judged by the Ministry of Health not to conform with Israeli Standards. A group of well-known local dentists under the leadership of Prof. Max Weinreb were approached to set up a retraining program. Within a very short time the program was prepared and clinics at the Tel Aviv University Campus put into operation. Facilities in the Israel Defense Force, National Health Insurance were used, often at night, in order to carry out the program. 

 

After a few years it became apparent that a nucleus had developed for establishing a second dental school in Israel, and early in 1978 a donor was found to build a small building on the campus, which would house both the retraining program and the first undergraduate students. Within a very short time there were many applications by students and we were able to start classes of 24 students. From the outset there were not enough dental units in the school and we had to find other facilities in Tel Aviv. To this end a partnership was established with the National Health Service ("Kupat Holim") and the deal was that all the graduates from the Tel Aviv University had to serve for 3 years in outlying and/or underprivileged areas. This system worked brilliantly for some 10 years, and distant towns like Dimona and Eilat in the South and Afula and Kiryat Shmona in the North had well-trained dentists to serve their communities for the first time. This whole undertaking was coordinated, guided and encouraged by the International Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity. 


It soon became clear that in order to become a full-fledged dental School, with a complete 6-year undergraduate program as well as commence specialization programs and an ability to train MSc. and PhD. students, we would need a new building.  In 1985, the new school was completed and equipped with modern and efficient equipment for clinical training and research as well as provision for lecture halls and office space for the administration. The school has since progressed and has taken its place alongside the leading dental achools in the world.  The research at the School has also received world wide attention and many of our senior faculty have international reputations and are invited to lecture and present their research findings at leading universities and scientific meetings everywhere. 

 

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