A story to write the future

Dr. German Valenzuela Basterrica is a Medical Doctor, graduate in Paris with the Dentist title, Director of the first Dental Faculty.

Dr. Valenzuela graduate from medicine en the Universidad de Chile in 1882. He was disciple of one of the mentors of chilean contemporary surgery, Dr. Carvallo Elizalde. Together they excelled attending oral diseases.

He workd in San Juan de Dios Hospital, the most important establisment in the history of public health in our country. In this place he became in a pioneer of the chilean public health, the science and art of protecting and improving the health of comunnities.

His extensive knowlegde about oral diseases took him to France in 1897 with a goberment scholarship, to improve in dental science. In this country the forensic dentistry was already developing. Thank to this discipline, years later, Dr. Valenzuela will set apart with the "Becker case". In 1909, the odontology skill of Dr. German Valenzuela and his work in a burned corpse of the fire in the Legacion Alemana in Chile, makes it possible to resolve the mysterious police case, which put in risk the bilateral relation between Chile and Alemania.

With Dr Valenzuela's help it was possible to achieve to clean the reputation of an innocent men and give to the Justice the real guilty.

The Chilean Republic President of this time, Mr. Pedro Montt, reward Dr Valenzuela in appreciation of all he did. He replied he wanted the construction of a modern Dental School. Because the nation needed it so badly.
This is how it was possible that in 10 of september of 1911 the Dental School was opened.

In 1923, under the Nº1650 Decree, the 5 of july, it gave it the name of "Escuela Dental Dr. German Valenzuela Basterrica", name that remains in our Faculty.