The University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) is the world’s first dental college located in Baltimore County. UMSOD was originally establishment as the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1840.
The first college to prepare students to become dentists was the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. It was charted by the General Assembly of Maryland in 1840 through the efforts of Dr. Horace H. Hayden and Dr. Chapin A. Harris. Both were dental practitioners who saw the need for a systematic formal education. Together, they helped promote formal dental education and the acknowledgement of dentistry as a profession.
After the creation of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, dental schools across the county started to gradually establish their model of education. The focus was on general medicine as well as the development of the skills of dentistry. The contributions of the graduates and faculty have lead to the prominent role BCDS has had in the dental industry.
BCDS went through a series of changes since its founding in 1840.
Maryland Dental College, founded in 1873; the Dental Department of the University of Maryland, founded in 1882; and the Dental Department of the Baltimore Medical College, founded in 1895. The final consolidation took place in 1923, when BCDS and the Dental Department of the University of Maryland were combined to create a distinct college of the university under state supervision and control. – UMSOD.
BCDS has preserved artifacts from dentistry’s past that people may view at the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry.
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