The development of RCSI’s new Dental Education Centre at Sandyford, Dublin has begun, with a contract signed today between the university and building contractor JSD.

The new Dental Education Centre will provide educational space and a simulation facility for the students on RCSI’s new Bachelor of Dental Surgery, which will have its first intake of students in September 2025. The centre will include an ancillary dental clinic that will provide supervised practical training and cater for up to 70 patient appointments per day. 

A second RCSI Dental Education Centre, at Connolly Hospital, is currently in the planning process. These centres will bring the dental workforce to where patients are, providing training in an authentic environment and encouraging the next generation of dentists to commit to delivering care in the community. 

The Sandyford development, which represents a €12m investment by RCSI, comprises internal alterations to the layout of the existing building together with external alterations and the extension of the existing building. The facility will accommodate the programme’s first- and second-year dentistry students as well as staff.  

The Bachelor of Dental Surgery at RCSI will be the first community-based dentistry degree programme in Ireland. The programme will equip graduates to deliver excellence in dental care for patients in a primary care setting. This community-based approach has particular benefits for people in socio-economically disadvantaged communities who often struggle to access dental care. 

Professor Albert Leung, Head of the School of Dentistry at RCSI, said: “The new Dental Education Centre at Sandyford will provide an innovative and immersive learning environment for the students on our new Bachelor of Dental Surgery. Our programme is designed to give our students an authentic and contextual education which fully prepares them for a career in primary care dentistry and gives them the solid foundations to commence specialist dental training programmes through continual learning.” 

“Thank you to our design team, led by architects MDO, our contractor JSD and the RCSI team who have led this important development project. I look forward to welcoming our first intake of students to Sandyford in September 2025,” added Professor Leung.