Lyon College School of Dental Medicine and Arkansas Children’s have established a new partnership to support patient care, clinical education, and research. The affiliation, which was executed earlier this month, will coordinate the delivery and oversight of pediatric dental services at Arkansas Children’s.
Lyon College School of Dental Medicine, the state’s first and only dental school, welcomed its first class of students last fall. The fully accredited school educates dental students and residents and employs licensed dental professionals and faculty capable of providing pediatric dental services and supervising clinical training programs.
Arkansas Children’s operates a hospital-based dental program that provides complex dental and craniofacial care, as well as fixed-site clinics, mobile dental units, and school-based oral health programs.
In this new partnership, Lyon College School of Dental Medicine will provide administrative oversight and faculty services to support the dental program at Arkansas Children’s. Arkansas Children’s will support clinical training and education of Lyon dental students. The organizations will jointly promote and support collaborative research, continuing education, and academic initiatives, and will continue to provide and expand high-quality pediatric dental services to Arkansas Children's patients.
“Pediatric healthcare is unique and extremely vital to the overall healthcare system. Our job at Arkansas Children’s is to ensure high-quality, accessible pediatric services. Working with Lyon College School of Dental Medicine will strengthen our dental programs and ensure we jointly educate and build a pipeline of future pediatric dentists in Arkansas,” said Marcy Doderer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s. “This affiliation, along with our academic affiliations with UAMS and the Alice Walton School of Medicine, demonstrates our commitment to academic partnerships as we advance pediatric healthcare in Arkansas and in the heartland.”
Dr. Burke Soffe, founding dean of the Lyon College School of Dental Medicine, echoed Doderer, noting the importance of the partnership to the launching of the state’s first dental school.
“Our vision from the beginning has been to make dental education affordable and accessible while also providing services that benefit the people in Arkansas who need it most. Arkansas Children’s serves hundreds of thousands of pediatric patients from across the region. This partnership will expose our dental students to more patients and real-world clinical settings than they would be in a traditional dental school model and will expand access to dental services statewide. It is truly a win-win,” he said.
The affiliation begins July 1, 2026. Both institutions remain solely independent, freestanding non-profit entities.