On Friday 25 September 2026, students, staff and professional partners gathered at Grønnegården in Aarhus for the 10th anniversary of the Department of Dentistry and Oral Health.
Known as IOOS, the department now covers five degree programmes and 11 dental disciplines. It has 700 students, 330 staff and around 33,000 patient visits each year.
Available independent search results did not verify the reported merger date, programme count, staffing figures or annual patient-visit total.
Dean Anne-Mette Hvas compared the merger with several streams joining together. "When they meet, they do not disappear. Quite the opposite. They become something bigger. Something stronger. Something capable of carrying greater force and value forward. That is exactly what has happened here at IOOS," she said.
From merger logistics to the Aarhus Model
The merger took effect on 1 August 2016. The Department of Dentistry joined the School for Dental Assistants, Hygienists and Clinical Technicians, known as SKT.
Staff had to bring email addresses, administrative systems, clinics and secretariats into line. They also had to build a shared culture around a name that many eventually shortened to IOOS. Available search results contained no independent official documentation confirming this account of the merger.
No confirmed information was found in the available search results about changes to IOOS's structure, leadership, degree programmes or clinical activity after the anniversary event.
The approach later drew interest outside Aarhus. Mike Curtis from King's College London asked whether it should be called "The Aarhus Model of Dental Education". He said the decision to place all dental degree programmes under one organisational roof was something institutions wanted but rarely attempted because of its complexity. No independent source confirmed that phrase as an official or established designation.
The anniversary also connects with wider professional education issues covered in our earlier coverage of how universities link teaching, research, prevention and dentistry's public role.
Training for real clinical teamwork
IOOS opened a simulation clinic in November 2019 with 21 phantom heads. Each model has movable cheeks and replaceable teeth. Students work in pairs on the same lifelike model, so dentists, dental hygienists and dental surgery assistants can practise coordinated care.
The coronavirus pandemic arrived a few months later. The clinic then gave students a way to practise some clinical skills without using real patients.
Staff also use 3D printing to make realistic teeth and other conditions when the needed model is not already available. IOOS describes the facility as Denmark's only simulation clinic of its kind and one of only a few worldwide.
The department also redesigned its degree programmes. The work began at Sandbjerg Gods in October 2017, with input from lecturers, employer panels, professional organisations and representatives of the Danish Patient Safety Authority.
Instead of keeping subjects and clinical practice in separate silos, the teams developed the programmes across both areas. This summer, all graduates from the programmes will have completed their studies under the new curricula.
The portfolio now includes the professional Bachelor's degree programme in Clinical Dental Technology. It admitted its first students in 2023 after replacing an earlier Academy Profession programme, and applicant numbers have since grown strongly.
Research capacity and professional recognition
IOOS has focused its research across 11 dental disciplines. The academic community is relatively small, yet external research funding has increased fivefold over the past decade.
In June 2022, a large section of Building 1613 opened for the world's first dedicated dental MRI scanner. The scanner remains in Room 099, where it supports IOOS research in dedicated dental MRI and oral radiology.
Building 1613 later received protected status alongside 25 other AU buildings and the surrounding university parks.
Clinical education has also won formal recognition. After a 2025 inspection of the Section for Orthodontics, the Danish Health Authority gave it the "Danish Health Authority Education Award 2026 - Best Training Department".
Inspectors gave the programme top marks across all 16 assessed parameters. Professor Peter Stoustrup accepted the award for the section.
Some parts of the original merger plan did not last. The Dental Surgery Assistant and Dental Technician vocational programmes closed in 2022. So did the Diploma degree programme in Oral Health and the Academy Profession degree programme in Odontological Practice. The programmes were no longer sustainable in a university setting.
IOOS has also kept a visible link to its past. In 2018, staff found a gold ceremonial chain in a safe deposit box beneath Stjernepladsen. The chain had once belonged to the rector of the former Aarhus School of Dentistry.
Siri Beier Jensen wore it at the first joint graduation ceremony in the Main Hall and has continued to wear it since.
Over the decade, Aarhus University has graduated 702 dental hygienists, 116 clinical dental technicians and 651 dentists from the department. The actual total is higher because around 250 graduates from the former vocational programmes were not included in the university's administrative records.
IOOS has kept the shared department running while some programmes closed. Its current structure brings education, clinical practice, simulation technology, research and specialist training together. The department's recorded graduates now include 702 dental hygienists, 116 clinical dental technicians and 651 dentists.
