|
About The LSU School of Dentistry
Our History
Dental education
has a long history in Louisiana, dating as far back as 1867, with the
establishment of the New Orleans Dental College, followed by the School
of Dentistry at Tulane University and then the Loyola University School
of Dentistry.

When Loyola could not afford to continue its dental program, the
Louisiana Legislature authorized the building of a dental school as
part of the LSU System. Over the span of four years, operations at
Loyola were transferred to the new LSU School of Dentistry. The last
class of Loyola dentists graduated in 1971. The first class of 27 LSUSD
dentists graduated on June 3, 1972.
Since that first graduation, over 4,000 dentists, hygienists and lab
technicians have been educated here. Today, this means that 70% of the
dental health care workers in Louisiana have been trained at LSUSD. We
hope these statistics serve as a source of pride for you, our alumni.
We are very proud of every one of our graduates.
The 60 students who make up the incoming freshman class
were chosen from a field of 250 applicants. The grade point average for
the class is 3.6. Their DAT scores averaged 19 which translates to the
86th percentile.
The school is located on a 22-acre tract of land, commonly called the
City Park campus, that was acquired from the federal government. The 30
frame buildings on the site at that time were used during World War II
as housing for the Navy.
In order to construct a permanent physical plant for the school, a
grant was obtained from the United States Department of Health,
Education and Welfare. The 344,000 square foot project cost $15,500,000
to build. Of this total, $10,500,000 came from the federal government
and $5,000,000 came from the State of Louisiana. It was arguably the
best bargain the State of Louisiana ever received in a building. Formal
dedication of the new school took place on Friday, February 18, 1972.
The flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina caused the school to
relocate to Baton Rouge. Specifically, three buildings used for storage
on the south campus of LSU were quickly transformed into classrooms,
laboratories and offices. Tapping into 40 years of goodwill among the
alumni, a network of 182 dentists, surgeons and hygienists in the
community agreed to provide the clinical training and experience for
our third-year students, four-year students and residents that were
provided in our regular clinics and residency programs before the
storm.
A major milestone towards normalcy came in August of 2007 when we
returned to our City Park campus. The facilities in Baton Rouge are now
being used as a community clinic, which is an addition to the school’s
satellite dental clinics in Lafayette, Independence and Alexandria. As
of October 1, 2008, we have a new dean, Dr. Henry
Gremillion. He succeeds
Dr. Eric Hovland. Prior to Dr. Hovland, our deans were Drs. Jack
Rayson, Allen Copping and Edmund Jeansonne. Drs. Rayson and Jeansonne
are deceased.
Edmund
Engler Jeansonne, DDS (1966-1974)
Allen Anthony Copping, DDS
(1974)
Edmund Engler Jeansonne, DDS
(1974-1976)
Jack Henry Rayson, DDS (1976-1993)
Eric J. Hovland, DDS, MEd, MBA (1993 to 2008)

Dr. Henry A. Gremillion, DDS
(2008- )
|