The next class admitted to the Harvard School of Dental Medicine will be the first to graduate under a new program that requires five years of study toward a doctoral degree instead of the traditional four.

Dr. Gerard C. Kress, assistant dean for admissions at the Dental School, said yesterday that the five-year program will be the first of its kind in the United States. The new program will serve a different purpose from the usual four-year course of study because its more demanding curriculum is designed to attract students who foresee a career that extends beyond private practice, Kress added.

Because Harvard's dental school is so small, with a graduating class of about 20 students per year, administrators designed the rigorous program to preselect students who are most highly committed to learning, Kress said. These students will be trained as scholars as well as elinicians, and will be able to represent dentistry effectively to the public and the media in debates that will shape the future of the profession, he added.

Dr. Joseph L. Henry, professor of Operative Dentistry, said yesterday the faculty voted unanimously in favor of the proposal. "As a small school, we are committed to training leaders for dentistry" he added.

Though the details of the program have yet to be spelled out, students' additional courses will focus on either biomedical research or on studies in public health, Kress said.

Dr. Leon I. Dogon, associate dean for student affairs at the Dental School said yesterday the fifth year would add another essential dimension to the education of the doctoral candidates--an understanding of health care delivery.

Dogon added that a fifth year of required study is a concept unique to Harvard's dental school, though a few other schools offer a fifth year of study as an elective.

The students will not actually have to spend an extra year in school if they decide to go on to specialty training, since the extra study would be counted toward a post-doctoral degree, Kress added.