The Medical University of South Carolina is expanding its dental footprint into northeastern South Carolina, with a new clinic set to open inside MUSC Health Florence Medical Center in July 2026. The expansion marks the first time MUSC dental services have been available in the Florence area and is being paired with a general practice residency program slated to launch at the same location in 2027.
The new practice will be located inside a regional acute care hospital already serving communities across the Pee Dee region. Services will be available to patients of all ages, including a wheelchair-accessible exam room designed to accommodate patients with special health care needs. The clinic will accept BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Medicare, Medicaid, and CareCredit.
Addressing a Documented Care Gap
The expansion is grounded in data. A 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment conducted in partnership between McLeod Health and MUSC found that fewer than 60% of survey respondents in Darlington, Florence, Marion, and Williamsburg Counties had received preventive dental care — such as a cleaning or X-ray — within the prior 12 months
That data underscores a persistent access problem in the Pee Dee region, a largely rural swath of eastern South Carolina where specialty care has historically required long travel times. MUSC's new location places dental services inside an existing hospital infrastructure, potentially lowering barriers for patients who are already navigating the health system for other conditions.
A Residency Built for the Region
The clinic's longer-term significance may lie in the residency program planned for 2027. General practice residencies typically offer newly graduated dentists — or dentists looking to expand the populations they serve — advanced clinical experience while delivering high-quality care to the community.
MUSC senior associate dean Dr. Amy Martin framed the program explicitly as a workforce strategy: "This advanced training program is essential to improving access to care for medically complex patients in the Pee Dee region. The program is also an opportunity to partner with local dentists in advancing care innovations and professional development. In this way, the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine strategically supports the recruitment and retention of dentists in rural and underserved South Carolina communities."
That last phrase — recruitment and retention — is the key signal here. Dental schools have increasingly recognized that where residents train is often where they practice. Embedding a GPR in an underserved community is one of the more direct levers available for building a durable local workforce pipeline.
Part of a Broader Institutional Push
The Florence expansion is not a standalone initiative. MUSC's College of Dental Medicine already requires dental students to complete clinical rotations in six communities across the state, and its Center for Rural Oral Health Research and Community Engagement — opened in 2023 — serves as a hub for research, workforce development, and oral health outreach across the Pee Dee region.
Together, these efforts reflect a model that a growing number of dental schools are exploring: using academic infrastructure not just to train dentists, but to actively shape where and how care gets delivered after graduation.
MUSC is the only dental college in South Carolina and describes itself as the state's only comprehensive academic health system with the broadest range of specialties in the state.
Appointments at the new Florence location will begin in July 2026.
Source: MUSC College of Dental Medicine