About Us

Welcome to the Future of Dental Medicine.

For centuries, dentists have worked to combat oral disease by removing and repairing teeth. But big data and new technology put a very different future within reach.

The Center for Precision Dental Medicine aims to improve outcomes for all patients. The Columbia University College of Dental Medicine draws on the intellectual and technological resources to lead change.

We have created a fully digitized environment where we offer the most state-of the-art care and education. In the background, we also collect and pool data for research that will advance teaching, research, and patient care.

What is the Center for Precision Dental Medicine?

The Center for Precision Dental Medicine is a teaching clinic, which meant dental students treat patients under faculty supervision. We have equipped this clinic to also support academic research using de-identified data.

We Are a Center for Patient Care

The Center is a 15,000-square-foot clinical facility with 48 operatories for patient care as well as student instruction. This adds to the 150 pre-existing dental chairs at the school where have approximately 130,000 visit per year from 30,000 patients.

A Hub of Technological Innovation

In the Center, each of the operatories for patient care is outfitted with a series of custom-developed technologies made with Columbia University College of Dental Medicine’s goals in mind. This wide array of devices offer the ability to examine and improve upon every aspect of clinical operations and care, offering large data sets that inform care as well as facilitate new frontiers in research.

A Classroom for Dentists-In-Training

All Columbia predoctoral dental students work in the Center for Precision Dental Medicine for all four years.

In their first year of training, they begin with simulation learning with mannequins in the Center. Because they are practicing in very place and using the exact tools they will as clinicians, the transition to patient care is seamless.

And because even simulation incorporates the state-of-the-art data-collection technology used for care, students and faculty can track progress and improve upon work with a level of precision impossible with traditional methods of instruction.

A Working Laboratory

All the data we collect is de-identified and of use for scholarly research. And because we see our data and act upon it, we are constantly improving our work.

We are creating the most advanced learning healthcare system possible where we build on successes and learning from any mistakes. And given the availability of data for scholarly research collaborations, we can bring advances and new knowledge far beyond our campus to the greater world.