Dentistry

The purpose of an undergraduate education is to provide students with the opportunity to grow personally and intellectually; allowing them the time and resources to discover a breadth of new ideas and topics as well as to build and to explore their own interests and passions in depth.  Therefore, students should seek a broad education during their undergraduate years.  There is no required major for entrance to dental school.  The following courses represent the minimum course requirements for entrance to a Texas dental school.  Students are encouraged to incorporate these requirements into their semester by semester plans for completion of their baccalaureate degree.  It is further recommended that students learn directly from dental schools about their most current, available admissions information.

Students who enter their undergraduate studies with the intention of beginning dental school just after graduation should plan to complete the pre-dental curriculum by the end of their junior year and apply to medical school shortly thereafter.  Such a schedule would permit a student to complete his or her baccalaureate degree requirements over the course of the following year prior to matriculation to dental school.  It is not unusual, however, that a student will decide later in his or her academic career to pursue dentistry.  Arriving at the decision later does not necessarily place a student at a disadvantage.  It will, however, require a student to postpone the application to dental school until pre-dental course requirements are fulfilled.  The dental school application cycle, from application to matriculation, takes approximately fourteen months, so advanced planning is essential.

Click here for a printable PDF

Required Areas of Study	UTSA Course	Grade/ Sem	Prerequisites/ Corequisites
Must receive C or better
English Composition (6 hrs lecture)	WRC 1013
	WRC 1023		WRC 1013
Statistics (3 hrs lecture)	STA 1053 or higher		Satisfactory performance on placement exam
General Chemistry (6 hrs lecture; 2 hrs lab)	¹CHE 1103 or ²CHE 1143		¹Passing grade on Chemistry Placement Exam or C or better in CHE 1073 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in MAT 1073; ²Grade of “B” or higher in MAT 1073 and CHE 1073 or score of 60% or higher on chemistry placement exam
	CHE 1121 Lab and CHE 1120 Lab Lecture		Completion of or concurrent enrollment in CHE 1103 or CHE 1143
	¹CHE 1113  or ²CHE 1153		¹CHE 1103; ²“C” or better in CHE 1143 or “B” or better in CHE 1103 and instructor consent
	CHE 1131 Lab and CHE 1130 Lab Lecture		CHE 1121 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in CHE 1113 or CHE 1153
Continued on Reverse

Organic Chemistry (6 hrs lecture; 2 hrs lab) NOTES:  Since the chemistry labs are worth two credit hours each at UTSA, taking just one organic chemistry lab here will technically fulfill the two credit hour organic chemistry lab requirement for Texas dental schools. CHE 2603 was formerly CHE 2604; CHE 3643 was formerly CHE 2623; CHE 3652 was formerly CHE 2632; CHE 3650 was formerly CHE 2630.	CHE 2603		CHE 1113 or CHE 1153
	CHE 2612 Lab and CHE 2610 Lab Lecture		Completion of CHE 1131 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in CHE 2603
	CHE 3673 or CHE 3643		CHE 2603 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in CHE 2612
	CHE 3652 Lab and CHE 3650 Lab Lecture		CHE  2603 and CHE 2612
Physics (6 hrs lecture; 2 hrs lab)	PHY 1603		MAT 1023 (not recommended for pre-dental students), MAT 1073 or higher
	PHY 1611 Lab		Completion of or concurrent enrollment in PHY 1603
	PHY 1623		PHY 1603
	PHY 1631 Lab		PHY 1611 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in PHY 1623
Biology (12 hrs lecture; 2 hrs lab)	BIO 1404		MAT 1023 (not recommended for pre-dental students), MAT 1073 or higher; CHE 1073 or higher also recommended by UHPO
	BIO 1122 Lab		Completion of or concurrent enrollment in BIO 1404
	BIO 1413		BIO 1404
	BIO 2313 Genetics		BIO 1413 and completion of or concurrent enrollment in CHE 1103 and MAT 1193 or MAT 1214 or STA 1053
	Any upper division BIO course **Beginning with the application for entry year 2014, UT School of Dentistry at Houston will require 3 semester hours of BIO 3713 Microbiology.  This requirement will count toward fulfilling part of the 14 semester hour Biological Science requirement.**		Varies by course
Biochemistry (3 hrs lecture)	¹BIO 3513 or ²CHE 4303		¹CHE 2603 and 2612; ²CHE 3643

The Dental Admission Test (DAT) is a computer-based exam that is administered on an almost continuous basis.  Although, depending on the schools to which they are applying, students may have until December 1st of the application year to take the DAT for the score to be considered during the current application cycle, they are strongly encouraged to take the DAT well in advance of December 1st for their scores to be considered early on during the application cycle.  To be an early applicant to dental school, it is recommended to take the DAT in May or earlier.  An examinee must wait at least 90 days to be eligible to apply to retake the exam, if necessary. 

The DAT is comprised of four sections: Survey of Natural Sciences, Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning.  It is recommended that students plan to complete the majority of the dental school prerequisites prior to taking the DAT.  Scores for the DAT range from 1 to 30 and are based on the number of correct answers; therefore, examinees are not penalized for guessing.  The standard score of 17 typically signifies average performance on a national basis, though students are encouraged to find the average scores for matriculating classes at various schools to gain an idea of what may be considered a competitive score.  Complete DAT information, including test registration and detailed information on the content for each section, is available online (http://www.ada.org/dat.aspx).

Application Process:  To apply to Texas dental schools, students who are Texas residents must apply through the Texas Medical and Dental Schools Application Service (TMDSAS).  Detailed information on the application process can be found at their website: www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas.  The application typically becomes available May 1 and closes on October 1.  Students are strongly encouraged, however, to apply earlier on during the application process rather than waiting until the final deadline.  It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that TMDSAS receives all transcripts, fees, and other required documentation.  Dental schools typically interview candidates between August and January.  The dental schools begin extending offers of acceptance on December 1. Offers of acceptance will continue to be made until classes are filled.  Matriculation is in August. 

To apply to out-of-state dental schools, students should utilize the Associated American Dental School Application Service (AADSAS).  Detailed information about the AADSAS application can be found on the website of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA): https://portal.aadsasweb.org/. 

To better serve future students, we will be establishing a longitudinal database through which we can keep track of our applicants and where they have matriculated.  To facilitate this, we request that students approve advisor access to their application status through TMDSAS and AADSAS.

Student organizations can provide important opportunities for networking, education and service. For additional information please contact the Pre-Dental Society.

Click here for a printable PDF with additional details on the Dental Early Acceptance Program

DEAP is a joint program between The University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Dental School.  Although it may not be a good fit for all students, this program offers those with an interest in dentistry the opportunity to receive early conditional acceptance to the UTHSCSA Dental School and to earn both a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from UTSA and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from UTHSCSA within seven years.  Among other requirements, a student must have earned at least 12 semester hours of college credit at UTSA and no more than 30 semester credit hours all together to be eligible to apply to the program.  A.P. and dual credit hours will be counted toward the 30 credit hour maximum to apply on an individual basis. DEAP Information Sessions are held monthly.  All students interested in the program must attend one of these information sessions to learn more about the program and its requirements prior to scheduling an individual appointment with an advisor to discuss applying to DEAP further.  For information on when the DEAP Information Sessions will be offered each month, please see the UHPO website, call us, or visit our office.