Objective To explore the effects of experiential teaching model on student nurses in the stomatology department. Methods A total of 71 student nurses who practiced in the affiliated hospital of a medical university from June 2016 to September 2017 were selected by purposive sampling. Totally 33 student nurses who practiced between June and December 2016 were divided into the control group, and another 38 student nurses who practiced between January and June 2017 were divided into the treatment group. Student nurses in the treatment group received experiential teaching, while students nurses in the control group received conventional teaching of the department. The Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version (CTDI-CV) was used to compare the critical thinking ability between the two groups. Results The treatment showed higher total scores and scores in the dimensions of truth-seeking, open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity and curiosity than the control group (P＜0.05) when leaving the department. There was no statistical difference in the scores of self-confidence and cognitive maturity between the two groups (P＞0.05). Conclusions Experiential teaching can enhance the critical thinking ability of student nurses in the stomatology department, which may be put into use in clinical teaching in the future.