Our School

The ECU School of Dental Medicine educates North Carolinians to be tomorrow’s solution to the oral healthcare shortfall in our state. We prepare students who are inclined to serve rural and underserved populations, and we teach them using a national model that includes the most modern technology, intensive classroom instruction and hands-on experience at our statewide community service learning centers.

Faculty, students, and residents strive to meet patients where they are, to provide access to care close to their home communities. Our clinics at ECU and centers across the state offer solutions to patients who might otherwise not have access to dental care.

At ECU

Our school’s main teaching facility is Ledyard E. Ross Hall on ECU’s Health Sciences Campus in Greenville. This 188,000 square-foot facility is named for its benefactor and retired Greenville orthodontist, Dr. Ledyard E. Ross, ECU class of ’51. Ross Hall houses state-of-the-art learning halls, simulation labs, patient clinics, clinical research areas, and faculty and administrative offices.

ECU School of Dental Medicine Facilities

Preclinical Technique Lab - Our Preclinical Technique Lab contains 56 student stations with electric lab motor, task light, built-in dust collection, natural gas hookup, and instructor station with the latest in teaching technology.

Clinical Simulation Lab - Our Clinical Simulation Lab replicates patient care as closely as possible for students using the latest in teaching technology. Instructor stations broadcast to individualized lab stations for students.

Comprehensive Dentistry Suite, 2200 Ledyard E. Ross Hall - Our Comprehensive Dentistry Suite, sometimes call the "student clinic," accommodates 48 dental chairs, each replicating an operatory in a private practice. Students provide care for patients in this suite and refine their skills and knowledge in general dentistry under the close supervision of our outstanding ECU faculty dentists.

Electronic Learning Halls - Electronic learning halls offer students a window to the world of dentistry through teleconferencing. Students can make virtual visits to labs and conference rooms in Ross Hall, to our community service learning centers across the state, or to any location in the world with reciprocal technology.

Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics Suite, 1201 Ledyard E. Ross Hall - Students and pediatric dentistry residents advance their skills and knowledge in general dentistry and orthodontics for children and adolescents up to 15 years old under the careful supervision of faculty.

Advanced Dentistry Suite, 1101 Ledyard E. Ross Hall - In the Advanced Dentistry Suite, Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residents increase their knowledge and clinical skills. The suite contains 20 open operatories, 14 closed operatories, and 3 oral surgery operatories. Our Emergency Care Clinic is also within this suite.

Community Service Learning Center (CSLC) Presentation Room - Our CSLC Presentation Room in Ledyard E. Ross Hall is equipped with video teleconferencing, which allows for constant sharing and innovative discovery among faculty, residents, students, and staff on campus, at our Community Service Learning Centers across the state and at other institutions.

Hospital Dentistry, 600 Moye Blvd., Greenville, NC - Our Hospital Dentistry clinic is a full service dental facility capable of treating medically complex patients requiring dental care. The facility is staffed by ECU faculty dentists, General Practice Residents (GPR), and dental staff, who specialize in treating medically compromised patients. The facility is open to all patients in need of comprehensive and emergency dental care.

William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library

ECU School of Dental Medicine Research Center Virtual Tour

The ECU School of Dental Medicine Research Center was opened in 2016 to provide 15,000 square feet of laboratory space for approximately 13 principal investigators and associated students.

A large multipurpose meeting/training area and contiguous mobile equipment operatory provide an exceptional continuing education environment for dental and other medical professionals.

An open lab design contains space for a biorepository and an incubator lab for the development of new projects. The Research Center lab contains core equipment available to all faculty.

The Research Center provides opportunities for students to gain research experience and interact with faculty.

The Research Center hosts the school's annual Celebration of Research and Scholarship, which provides a platform for students and faculty mentors to present their research. Students are selected at this event to represent the ECU School of Dental Medicine at national conferences.

CSLCs Across North Carolina

The State of North Carolina has funded the ECU School of Dental Medicine in building stand-alone dental facilities called community service learning centers (CSLCs) in eight rural and underserved locations, including Ahoskie, Brunswick County, Elizabeth City, Davidson County, Lillington, Robeson County, Spruce Pine, and Sylva.

The centers are staffed by full-time and part-time faculty, residents, fourth-year students, dental hygienists, dental assistants, and business staff. The centers provide hands-on experience for advanced students and residents while also providing access to oral health care for more North Carolinians.

Outside of a brick building with ECU School of Dental Medicine on it

A waiting room with dental staff sitting at a desk and a patient checking in

Distinctions

Apple Corporation named the ECU School of Dental Medicine an Apple Distinguished Program due to the innovative implementation of technology in student learning and teledentistry. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) presented the school with the 2019 William J. Gies Award for Innovation.