For thousands of Kansas Citians, the dentist’s office isn’t a private practice tucked into a suburban shopping center. It’s a dental chair at UMKC.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry has long served the dual purpose of training the region’s next generation of dentists while providing care to thousands of patients. Now, a massive new facility on the university’s Health Sciences Campus is poised to dramatically change how it does both.
UMKC’s new Healthcare Delivery and Innovation Building, under construction at 25th and Charlotte streets, is scheduled to open in February 2027, according to the university. The approximately 160,000-square-foot building is the largest capital improvement project in UMKC history. UMKC has put the project’s cost at between $120 million and $145 million in various university reports.
The building will bring together a range of health sciences programs, including the School of Dentistry’s patient clinics, School of Medicine simulation labs, the UMKC Health Equity Institute, biomedical engineering and the university’s Data Science and Analytics Innovation Center.
But some of the most visible changes will happen in dentistry.
The building’s third and fourth floors will house 180 operatories for UMKC’s predoctoral dental clinic, according to the School of Dentistry. The facility will also include an acute dental care center, radiology and laboratory space and a high-tech dental design lab capable of producing crowns, bridges and implants.
The new technology will change the way students learn—and potentially what patients experience in the chair.
School of Dentistry Dean Paul Luepke told the School of Dentistry’s Explorer magazine this summer that students will train with digital scanners, 3D milling and AI-assisted radiography while continuing to learn traditional dental techniques as the school expands both its physical size and curriculum.
“We want to be innovators and even beta test new technology,” Luepke was quoted as saying. “You move from traditional lab work to digital design to production. It’s almost like walking through time.”
The expansion is significant because of UMKC’s unusual position in the region. The university says its School of Dentistry is the only public dental school in Missouri or Kansas.
It is also a significant provider of dental care for the region. UMKC’s dental clinics currently account for about 70,000 patient visits annually and provide approximately $500,000 in uncompensated dental care each year, according to both UMKC and the American Dental Education Association.
University officials say the new facility will allow dental students to treat more patients through increased efficiency, advanced equipment, expanded acute-care hours and teledentistry, which could extend dental expertise to patients in places where access to care is limited.
The building is also designed to rethink something decidedly less glamorous but important to anyone who has spent time in a dental chair: how a clinic works.
“This building lets us rethink workflow in a way that’s more seamless for both patients and providers,” Luepke told Explorer. “We’re designing systems so instruments and materials move efficiently without extra steps.”
Patients should notice another difference: the surroundings. The new clinics are being designed with bright, naturally lit treatment spaces rather than the more institutional feel traditionally associated with teaching clinics.
“For patients, I think it will create a more uplifting experience,” Luepke says. “Natural light even helps with clinical work, like matching tooth color more accurately.”
Construction is now in its final stages. According to UMKC’s September construction update, crews are finishing drywall and painting, installing ceilings, casework and countertops and continuing mechanical, electrical and exterior work.
When the doors open next year, the building will represent a new generation of dental education for UMKC. But its impact will extend well beyond the students learning inside it.
For the thousands of Kansas Citians who already rely on UMKC for dental care each year, it promises something more tangible: more capacity, more technology and potentially greater access to treatment.
