Which universities are top of the QS dentistry ranking 2026?

Iveta Ramonaite, Dental Tribune International

Mon. 20 April 2026

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SOLNA, Sweden: Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a leading global higher education analyst, has recently published its annual QS World University Rankings by Subject. This year, Karolinska Institutet has been named the world’s leading university for dentistry.

Karolinska Institutet’s return to the top reflects the importance of combining internationalisation, supportive academic conditions, and research that connects education, clinical practice and broader health challenges, according to Prof. Bodil Lund, who heads its dental school. (Image: Stefan Zimmerman)

The Swedish institution is followed by the University of Hong Kong in China, the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the US and King’s College London in the UK. This reflects strong geographical diversity among the world’s leading dentistry programmes.

That diversity is evident across the institutions ranked among the top 25 for dentistry. Of the top ten, five are located in Europe, three in Asia and two in North America. In the top 25, Europe leads with 11 institutions, followed by North America with seven and Asia with five, while Latin America and the Middle East are each represented with one institution.

In a press release, Karolinska Institutet described attaining top spot as a major achievement built on long-term strategic work by dedicated staff and talented students. The university said that the ranking reinforces the strong international reputation of Swedish dental care and enhances the institution’s appeal for student exchange and research collaboration.

Discussing the qualities that define a university that leads in dentistry, Prof. Bodil Lund, head of the Department of Dental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, told Dental Tribune International: “I think a great university embraces the power of internationalisation, fosters a good working environment and creative conditions for the academic staff, and supports translational, multidisciplinary research with direct relevance to education and clinical practice, and cultivates critical thinking and lifelong learning in students.”

Looking ahead, Prof. Lund emphasised the need to integrate oral health more fully into general health. “My vision for the future of dentistry lies in the true integration of oral health as an important part of general health with emphasis on the bidirectional importance between oral disease and systemic disease,” she said. She added that Karolinska Institutet’s priorities are to shape the future of dental care through state-of-the-art education and meaningful research that improves oral health, prevents oral disease and advances understanding of the biological mechanisms linking oral and systemic health.

Karolinska Institutet ranked first in dentistry in 2019 and 2022. According to Prof. Lund, returning to the top spot is a strong source of motivation for the university to continue improving.

More broadly, the 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject cover 55 subjects across five subject areas and include more than 1,900 institutions. The newest QS ranking for dentistry encompasses 150 institutions and evaluates them using five indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, volume and impact of scientific output, and international research network. The full list of 2026 QS World University Rankings by Subject for dentistry can be found on the website.