Dentistry Schools and Programs in Venezuela

Dentistry Studies in Venezuela

Dentistry (odontología) is taught in Venezuela as an undergraduate university degree in its own faculties, separate from medicine. Teaching is in Spanish and combines basic sciences with clinical practice on patients. The two universities with dentistry programmes listed on SpainExchange are both public: one in Caracas and one in Mérida, in the Andes.

Spain's foreign ministry, in travel advice valid on 8 October 2026, recommends extreme caution when travelling to Venezuela. Read the current advice for your nationality before planning a stay.

How dental studies are organised

Dentistry has been a university subject in Venezuela for a long time. According to the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV), the first Venezuelan dentist received his title through the Faculty of Medicine in Caracas in 1853, and the country's first dental school was created within the UCV's Faculty of Medical Sciences. In 1904 the law set dental studies at three years, leading to the title of Cirujano-Dentista. The UCV's dental school has worked without interruption since 1922, and on 24 July 1940 it became a faculty in its own right.

Today the UCV's Faculty of Dentistry has one school and two research institutes. The undergraduate degree (pregrado) is taught by subject departments (cátedras), which show the content of the studies:

• Basic sciences: dental anatomy, biochemistry, human physiology, histology, microbiology
• Pre-clinical and clinical subjects: dental materials, radiology, operative dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry, oral surgery
• Prosthetics: crowns and bridges, partial and complete dentures
• Public health and ethics: public health dentistry, bioethics, psychology applied to dentistry
• An integrated clinic (Clínica Integral)

By law, every undergraduate student in Venezuela must also complete community service before graduating. It lasts at least 120 academic hours, spread over no less than three months.

Postgraduate and technical training

Specialist training takes place after the degree. The UCV's postgraduate commission for dentistry coordinates:

• A doctorate in dentistry
• Master's degrees in dentistry, stomatological medicine, and social practice and health
• Specialisations in oral surgery, endodontics, paediatric dentistry, operative and aesthetic dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics

The faculty also trains auxiliary staff. Its programme for dental prosthetic technicians has 1,370 hours, equal to 68 credit units in 23 subjects, and runs over three semesters of 18 weeks each. It leads to a diploma from the UCV, not a university degree, and is open to school leavers with a science baccalaureate, dentists and other university graduates. The faculty also has a training programme for dental hygienists.

Where to study dentistry

• Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV), Caracas. The Faculty of Dentistry is on the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas campus, which has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 2000. Its institutes are the Instituto de Investigaciones Odontológicas "Raúl Vincentelli" and an institute for dental biomaterials. The faculty runs care centres for patients with disabilities, craniofacial malformations and infectious diseases, where students see clinical work
• Universidad de Los Andes (ULA), Mérida. A national autonomous university financed by the State, with origins that go back to 1785. Odontología is one of its 11 faculties, based in Mérida. Most ULA degrees are taught on a semester system

Admission and recognition

Places at public universities are allocated partly through the national admission system (Sistema Nacional de Ingreso, CNU-OPSU) and partly through each university's own routes. At the UCV the general route is SIMADI, which applies to all degrees. It combines the average mark from the first four years of secondary school with an online test of verbal and numerical reasoning. Applicants who finished secondary school abroad may take part, but their documents must be legalised in Venezuela. The UCV also admits foreign students under cultural agreements with other countries, on condition of reciprocity; each faculty decides on these applications.

Foreign nationals need a visa for stays of more than three months, according to the Spanish travel advice.

Dentistry is a regulated health profession in most countries, so recognition is important. In Venezuela, the recognition of foreign university degrees (reválida) is reserved for the national universities. At the UCV, a foreign degree can be revalidated if its study plan matches a UCV plan by 80% or more and the applicant passes the required exams. Degrees from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Peru follow a separate validity procedure. Dentists who want to practise outside Venezuela with a Venezuelan degree need to follow the recognition procedure of the destination country before they can work.

Careers

Graduates work as general dentists in private practice or in public health services, or continue with one of the specialisations. Teaching and research are further options; the UCV's research institute has laboratories for biochemistry, saliva, oral histopathology and microbiology. For prosthetic technicians, the UCV names commercial laboratories, teaching and research, public health services and dental clinics as fields of work. No current official employment figures for dentistry graduates were found.

Frequently asked questions

Which universities teach dentistry in Venezuela?

SpainExchange lists the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas and the Universidad de Los Andes in Mérida. Both are public universities with their own faculty of dentistry.

Which dental specialisations can be studied in Venezuela?

The UCV offers specialisations in oral surgery, endodontics, paediatric dentistry, operative and aesthetic dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics and prosthodontics, as well as three master's degrees and a doctorate.

Can a foreign dentistry degree be recognised in Venezuela?

Yes, through reválida at a national university. The UCV requires that the study plan matches one of its own by 80% or more and that the applicant passes the required exams.

Is there shorter training in the dental field?

Yes. The UCV's programme for dental prosthetic technicians takes three semesters and has 1,370 hours. It leads to a diploma, not to a dentistry degree.