The school was founded in 1896 as the College of Physicians and Surgeons with programs in dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy. In 1918, the college focused its education program solely on dentistry but retained its name as the College of Physicians and Surgeons until it was incorporated into the University of the Pacific in 1962. In 2004 the school was named in honor of
Arthur A. Dugoni, a former president of the
American Dental Association, who served 28 years as dean. The dental school offers a variety of dental services at its clinics in San Francisco and Sacramento. The school formerly operated the Union City Dental Care Clinic, but transferred it to La Clínica, who operates it today as La Clínica Dental Union City. In 2025, the school opened the Pacific Health Care Collaborative Clinic in Sacramento's Oak Park Neighborhood. University of the Pacific still relies heavily upon the
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act funding to provide services for patients with HIV/AIDS; this funding is used to reimburse the school for services provided but has not increased in recent years despite increased costs of providing services. ==Three-year curriculum==