The first Dean of Dentistry at UWC, serving from the University of Stellenbosch, Prof HS Breytenbach, commenced duty on July 1, 1974.

The Faculty of Dentistry is located over three campuses, and training is undertaken on the Oral Health Provincial Teaching Platform, including the Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children's Hospitals.

Subjects such as public health, physics and chemistry in the dental degree are typically taught on main campus.

The Mitchell's Plain campus at the Melomed Center is a principal teaching hospital, with the state of the art virtual-patient lab.

Groote Schuur Hospital Groote Schuur Hospital, home of the world's first heart transplant, is located in the center of Cape Town, and trains dental students in several disciplines namely oral and maxillofacial surgery, general surgery, internal medicine, etc.