UPCD UP Manila College of Dentistry

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY COMMUNITY

The College of Dentistry was first established as a Dept. Of Dentistry of the College of Medicine and Surgery on February 8, 1915 with Dr. Louie Ottofy as the head of the Department. During the school year 1917-1918, the Department of Dentistry was organized into a School of Dentistry, under the wings of the College of Medicine with Dr. Louie Ottofy as the Director.
Due to the extensive damage caused by the war, the School of Dentistry was closed on February 3, 1945. The director of the school then was Dr. Domiciano Sandoval. Shortly, it resumed its operations on August 6,1945 to give completion courses to students whose studies were interrupted by the war. Dr. Victorino G. Villa who was then the Secretary of the School became the officer -in-charge upon the retirement of Dr. Sandoval in 1946 and later appointed Director. It was in October 1946 that the school offered the regular four-year course in Dentistry.
Upon the recommendation of the late Dean Antonio G. Sison of the College of Medicine, the Board of Regents of the University passed a resolution changing the status of the School of Dentistry to an independent unit as the College of Dentistry on October 21, 1948. The College was one of the Pioneer units, which moved to Diliman campus, Quezon City. In Diliman, it occupied a Quonset barracks vacated by the U.S Armed Forces on top of the hill where the student union building; Vinzon's Hall now stands. Due to lack of patients, the Dental Clinic was transferred back to Manila during the School Year 1949-1950.
The year 1952 saw the College moving again, but this time the whole College moved to Manila to occupy the wings of the Rizal Hall in Padre Faura St. This was to be the home of the college unit the First Semester of 1959-1960 when it transferred to its present location, the former UP Infirmary.
On June 1, 1960, Dr. Jose Rodriguez, on the recommendation of the then President Vicente G. Sinco and upon the approval of the Board of Regents assumed the post of the Dean. During his term, an annex to the old building was built new acquisitions for the library and its facilities were improved. At the same time a number of faculty enjoyed scholarship grant in line with the faculty development program.
On December 8, 1967, Dr. Celso A. Bunag became the Dean and undertook several innovations including the air-conditioning of the Oral Surgery and Operative Dentistry areas of the college. During the term of Dr. Avelino A. Macasaet, a two-storey building was built just beside the Dept. of Justice at the Old NEDA Compound, Padre Faura which was designed to house the the proposed graduate program of the College. The Master of Science in Dentistry (Orthodontics) which was proposed even as early as the 1970's came into reality during the 1016th meeting of the Board of Regents held on Sept.22, 1988, when it was approved. It marked a milestone in the history of the College and the program was finally implemented in the Summer 1989 under the term of Dean Aurelio Ramos, Jr. The UP College of Dentistry took the lead to offer the first graduate course in Dentistry in the Philippines. Through the efforts of then Dean Dr. Natividad Gervasio, the College was able to transfer to its new home at Pedro Gil cor. Taft Ave. Manila.


The Deans of the UPCD from 1960 - Present:

Dr. Celso Bunag
Dr. Perez
Dr. Avelino Macasaet
Dr. Aurelio Ramos
Dr. Natividad Gervasio
Dr. Leonor Lago
Dr. Edna M Jimena
Dr. Elizabeth De Castro
Dr. Vicente Medina III
Dr. Danilo Magtanong



LOCATION AND FACILITIES



The building of the College is located at Taft Av. cor, Pedro Gil Street,Ermita, Manila. It is within the same compound as the College of Medicine, College of Public Health and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).Classes for dental and basic medicine are conducted in the Colleges of Dentistry, Medicine and Public Health as well as in the various operating rooms and wards of the PGH. The Dental Clinic of the PGH Out Patient Department is under the supervision of the college, which correlates its teaching and service functions.The hope of the College to have a new home has been realized mainly through the initial efforts of then Dean Natividad Gervasio. It was then during Dean Edna Jimena’s term when the new building finally started its operation in 2003 at the corner of Taft Avenue and Pedro Gil. Since then, many improvements in the building’s facilities and structure were added through the initiatives of Deans Leonor Lago, Elizabeth De Castro, Vicente Medina III and the present Dean, Danilo Magtanong, with the help of the UP Dental Alumni Association.