Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
It is unthinkable that the dental school and clinic should close without some attempt to avert this tragedy.
Stories like this are made possible by the Creighton University Archives and Special Collections.
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By Micah Mertes
Eighty years ago, in May of 1945, Creighton University closed the School of Dentistry (founded in 1905), seemingly for good.
The reasons were numerous: a lack of prospective dental students (only three applicants for the 1945 fall semester); the difficulty of maintaining an adequate number of full-time faculty and staff; classes already canceled because of war conditions.
“The School of Dentistry has had an enviable career,” said then-Creighton President the Very Rev. Thomas S. Bowdern, SJ, backed by the Board of Trustees. But keeping the dental school open would lead to an “unavoidable and excessive financial debt” for the University.
After 40 years (and nearly 1,000 Creighton dental alumni), the school was no more.
You might have deduced from the state-of-the-art School of Dentistry standing at 21st and Cuming Streets today — home of a clinic that sees 48,000 patient visits per year — that the dental school’s demise didn’t last for long.
Its survival can be credited to the members of the Creighton and Omaha communities who really sunk their teeth into the matter.
The school's closing “stirred a storm of protest” from Creighton alumni and many Nebraskans, who took their complaints directly to University leadership and/or made their case through letters to the Omaha World-Herald and Creightonian.
Clips from various letters to the editor:
“This regrettable move would prove a serious blow to the dental students, to the college itself and to all civic-minded Omahans anxious to establish this city as a metropolis leading in industry, culture and beauty. The Creighton Dental College is a definite asset to our community, and we should do our utmost to keep it functioning.”
“Surely something can be done to avert the closing of the Creighton dental school and clinic. For years, they have been a part of our local tradition and have been one of Omaha’s best health facilities. The care given at the clinic has been of an unusually high standard, and the treatment of patients is excellent. Isn’t there some way the public can get behind this?”
“A lot of us are deeply concerned about the clinic’s closing. So many people who can’t afford dental care will no longer have any options.”
“It is unthinkable that the dental school and clinic should close without some attempt to avert this tragedy.”
About a week after the closing was announced, the Omaha District Dental Society formed a committee to study how Creighton’s dental school could remain open and offered the University a list of recommendations.
Other groups, including the Nebraska State Dental Association, the Chamber of Commerce and various social services agencies, rallied for the school's survival. Alumni groups, meanwhile, pledged aid to keep the school open.
About two weeks after the dental school’s demise, Fr. Bowdern announced it would, in fact, remain open, thanks to the support of alumni and the larger Omaha community. The clinic's operations continued with no interruption to services.
The following summer, dental alumni and friends gave $12,500 (more than $200,000 in 2025 dollars) to a new fund that allowed the School of Dentistry to operate under increased financial burdens and improve the clinic’s equipment and facilities.
Donors continue to drive the success of the School of Dentistry today, enabling the clinic to serve more than 14,000 patients (more than 2,100 of them children) at free or reduced costs annually. Meanwhile, more than 4,500 Creighton dental alumni practice in eight countries.
Since the dental school's second life began in May of 1945, the school's clinic has treated hundreds of thousands of patients in Omaha and the surrounding area.
Learn more about the School of Dentistry and how you can make a difference today.
