Makerere Dental School
Located in Kampala Makerere’s School of Dentistry has trained oral health professionals for over 30 years. The school comprises three departments (Preventive & Community Dentistry; Restorative Sciences; Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery) and a faculty of 30, admitting 40 five-year BDS students each year alongside Dental Technology and Oral Surgery trainees. Uganda, a low-income, landlocked country of 48 million people (75% rural, 50% under age 18), faces significant oral health challenges: over half of adults report dental issues, driven by sugar consumption, limited fluoride access, tobacco use, and low routine check-up rates.
Guided by the 2009 national Oral Health Policy and an ongoing WHO-aligned review, Makerere integrates dental services within Uganda’s decentralized health system—emphasizing preventive education and community-based interventions at the district and subcounty levels, with specialized care at national referral facilities. Despite workforce shortages (1 dentist per 150,000 in urban areas) and minimal budget allocation (<0.1% for oral health), the school’s twice-annual dental camps and partnerships with regional and international universities aim to improve equitable access and build local capacity.
Student Opportunities at Makerere:
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Observe preventive and community dentistry clinics
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Shadow restorative procedures in university clinics
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Assist with dental outreach camps
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Support data collection for national oral health surveys
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Learn about integration of dental services in a decentralized system
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Engage in interprofessional collaboration with medical and nursing students
