<P> The SIU School of Dental Medicine was established in 1972 to provide a source of dentists in the southern half of Illinois . </P> <P> Its campus was one of two residential centers of SIUE from 1957 until the opening of the Edwardsville campus in 1965 and saw only limited use from 1965 to 1972 . </P> <P> The school graduated its first class of dental practitioners in 1975, and, with the Commencement of the Class of 2016, the School has trained more than 1,800 dentists . </P> <P> The SIU School of Dental Medicine occupies the 26 acres (11 ha) former Shurtleff College campus in the Upper Alton neighborhood of Alton for its primary teaching facilities and clinics . </P>

Southern illinois university school of dental medicine alton