The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the influence of the dental school environment upon certain attitudes of dental students. An initial attitudinal profile of beginning first-year dental students was established by means of the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values. Using the same instrument, pre-test and post-test profiles were established for dental students at the beginning of the third year and after eight months of clinical exposure. A cross-sectional comparison was made of the initial profile of the first-year students with the pre-test and post-test profiles of the third-year students. A significant difference, at the .05 level of confidence, was observed in a comparison of the religious values of the first-year students with the pretest of the third-year students. No significant differences were observed in the other five values. In addition, no significant differences in any values were observed when the first-year students were compared to the post-test of the third-year students. A longitudinal comparison of the pre-test and post-test profiles were made. No significant differences were demonstrated for the entire sample and for each quartile in any of the six areas with which the Study of Values is concerned. Additional information was gathered for the third-year students by using a questionnaire. The questionnaire revealed dissatisfaction and frustration with various aspects of the dental school environment. Within the defined limitations of this study, it appears that the sample of third-year dental students at Indiana University School of Dentistry did not demonstrate measurable changes in values despite an indication of dissatisfaction and frustration with the dental school environment. From the answers to the questionnaire, it seems likely that some of this frustration could be reduced by an educational approach which would provide clearly stated course objectives and criteria for evaluation, earlier clinical exposure, elimination of repetitive course content, more individualized instruction, and more informality in the teaching-learning environment.