Prof Drummond (58), who is an Otago dentistry graduate and has been on the faculty staff since 1988, is "very pleased" to have gained the promotion.
It was a "great reward for a lot of years of work", she said.
On February 1, she will join 13 other leading Otago University academics in becoming full professors.
The promotion was also positive for the Otago School of Dentistry and was a further sign that dentistry was "making its mark" in the wider university, she said.
There were now many female dentists, and many other women studying at the school to become dentists and dental specialists.
The development was also positive for the New Zealand dentistry profession.
She acknowledged it was "important" to show younger women they could also become senior dentistry academics at the university.
Prof Drummond is a specialist paediatric dentist whose research focuses on improving oral health-related quality of life in children, particularly those with teeth anomalies, severe early childhood decay and developmental disabilities.
She is a past president of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Paediatric Dentistry.