Though the Government Dental College (GDC), Kottayam was formally inaugurated in 2002, it was active as a Dental Department of the Government Medical College, Kottayam for nearly 40 years. In 1992, the Dental Department was re-designated as Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and it is considered to be the referral centre for minor and major maxillofacial surgical cases of Central Kerala, comprising of Kottayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts. However, as the facilities were not enough to provide every kind of dental treatment to the people of the state, the authorities started thinking about establishing a Dental College.
The main idea of the founders of this college was to establish such a Dental College that will have an annual admission capacity of 40 students at the undergraduate level. After several administrative actions were taken, the State Government of Kerala allowed a substantial amount of fund for the establishment of Dental College in the 2000 State Budget. The Government of Kerala then accorded administrative sanction for the establishment of the Kottayam Dental College in August, 2000. Some of the major teaching and treating departments of the college were decided to be utilized for the new Dental College. The college got affiliation from the Mahatma Gandhi University on 3rd January, 2001. The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India issued the Letter of Permission to the college in August, 2002.
The main objective of the Government Dental College (GDC), Kottayam is to offer quality dental education to the students of Kerala. The college is also working to provide high quality dental treatment to the people of the state. The college mainly offers the undergraduate course of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) to the students and it has an annual admission capacity of 40 students. The students are required to fulfill certain rules and regulations before getting admitted in BDS course in the GDC, Kottayam.
Several departments are working in the Government Dental College (GDC), Kottayam, both as teaching and treating departments. Some of the major departments of the GDC, Kottayam include the department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics, Prosthodontics, Pedodontics, Periodontics, Orthodontics, Oral Pathology and the department of Community Dentistry.
