In 2011, the University of Iowa College of Dentistry dedicated a 35,000-square-foot addition to the Dental Science Building, which originally opened in 1973. Over the next three years, renovations will fully modernize all the clinics in the building's south wing.

Collectively, the projects promise to enhance dental education — which requires real-life, hands-on interaction between students and patients — and to continue giving Iowans and others some of the best dental care in the world.

Funded by donors, the college, and the university, the new addition houses a faculty-staffed general dentistry clinic, facilities for clinical research, and the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation Geriatrics and Special Needs Clinic, the latter made possible by a $1.5 million gift from the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation. The college also recently received a $1 million gift from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust to renovate research space in the building's north wing.

The college schedules about 500 patient visits each day. Some patients receive care from students who are polishing their skills under the close watch of seasoned clinicians. Others see dental residents or College of Dentistry faculty — often world-renowned experts in their fields.