A £5-and-a-half million new extension has been opened at the University of Sheffield's School of Clinical Dentistry.

World leaders in dental education and research gathered at the teaching and research facility, opened by Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust.

The extension, which has received funding from the Science Research Investment Fund and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is a joint collaboration between the University and the neighbouring Charles Clifford Dental Hospital.

The new four-storey extension links with the existing school and hospital buildings and provides both partners with extra space for new facilities.

Professor Peter Robinson, who led the project, said: ‘We have been working on this scheme for the last four years and are delighted with the result.

‘The laboratories include new resources for cell culture and tissue engineering, cell and molecular biology, proteomics, neuroscience and advanced microscopy.”

As part of the official opening there was a guest lecture by Professor Deborah Greenspan who is a world leader in dental research and is currently the President of the International Association for Dental Research.