A $50 million to $100 million project to replace Dunedin's dental school is great news for New Zealand dentistry, New Zealand Dental Association president Geoff Lingard says.
The new school would make for better-trained dentists if approved, he said.
The comments come after Otago University faculty of dentistry dean Prof Greg Seymour revealed last week that the university was in the early stages of a project to build a new clinical facility in the car park of the present dental school. Once that facility was built, the old building would be refurbished.
He was 90% sure the project, which could be completed by 2016, would be given final approval by the vice-chancellor and the university council.
Mr Lingard said the project was welcome news for the association and the dental profession in New Zealand.
A new facility was "well overdue" and would mean dentists in New Zealand would receive better training, Mr Lingard said.
It would also provide a better environment for carrying out dental research and would help attract top-quality academics from overseas.
If the school was not upgraded it would make it more difficult for New Zealand to maintain its reputation for providing dental students with high-quality training.
"It's a real tribute to the staff that they are able to provide quality education in such an outdated, outmoded building."
It had been "widely held view" among the dental profession for a long time that a new facility was needed.
"It's well overdue. We have had rumours of a new school for probably the last 10 years. It is very much time that this happens," he said.
The present building did not have enough clinical space for students, which meant they did not get as much clinical time as they could in a larger facility, he said.
