ANN ARBOR, MI — The University of Michigan School of Dentistry first opened in 1875 in the former home of a faculty member. After 150 years, the school is one of the top dental institutions globally.
The school, celebrating its 150th anniversary, now operates in a robust research complex at North Campus.
Archival photos show its changes from a single home to a bustling research and patient care center.
An Ann Arbor News archive photo of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry from its first year in 1875. The MLive file photo was obtained through Ann Arbor District Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
The idea of a UM dental school first came in 1866 when the Michigan Dental Association, then known as the Michigan State Dental Society, proposed a university-level dental education program to the UM Board of Regents.
The association proposed the program three times before the regents approved its establishment in 1875, UM School of Dentistry Dean Jacques Nör said.
Its first cohort had about 20 students and three faculty members. Jonathan Taft, dean of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, was instrumental in the school’s creation and became the inaugural dean of the UM College of Dental Surgery.
“Dr. Taft was an excellent clinician but he was very committed also to education so he wrote a textbook on operative dentistry that really was one of the very first textbooks for dental schools in the United States,” Nör said.
An Ann Arbor News archive photo of the UM College of Dentistry from January 1938. The photo was obtained through Ann Arbor Public Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
The UM School of Dental Surgery began its major partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1938, when the foundation provided a $236,500 grant, on top of a larger governmental grant, to help plan a building specifically for postgraduate dental studies.
An Ann Arbor News archive photo of the UM School of Dentistry clinic from 1938. The photo was obtained through Ann Arbor Public Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
UM dental students used electric lights in their patient care throughout the twentieth century. But from the school’s opening in 1875 to 1890, students could only use daylight near windows. In 1890, UM added gas lights to dental facilities to ease patient services.
In 1896, the UM Board of Regents approved installations for electric lights to replace gas lights. Students argued gas lights were inadequate, especially when window light waned during the winter, according to documents obtained from Brian Williams, archivist at the Bentley Historical Library at UM, and Lynn Monson, associate director of communications at the UM School of Dentistry.
An Ann Arbor News archive photo of the UM School of Dentistry from August 7, 1939. The photo was obtained through Ann Arbor Public Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
The new W.K. Kellogg Foundation Institute: Graduate and Postgraduate Dentistry building opened in 1940 and is still in operation at the corner of Fletcher Street and North University Avenue.
University of Michigan School of Dentistry graduates lining up in front of the school building in June 1940. The MLive file photo was obtained through Ann Arbor District Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
The UM dental school was not immune to world events.
World War I dropped class sizes by over half by 1920. Nör said the dental college adapted by reducing faculty numbers to remain financially viable.
By 1947, after World War II, the graduating class had dwindled to just 11 students, the fewest in the school’s history.
To offset the financial challenges, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation gave a $113,000 grant to the school to buy dental tools in 1942.
Jo Ann Fell, A UM dental hygiene student, watches dental student Tom Stevens examining a child’s teeth in the orthodontics clinic. The MLive file photo was obtained through Ann Arbor District Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
The school officially added dental hygiene as a certificate program in 1921 after dentists petitioned Michigan state law to authorize dental hygienists two years prior. Dental hygiene students’ academic responsibilities include clinical care experience with dental students.
UM established in 1964 a graduate dental hygiene program at its Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.
The old dental school building was demolished in 1969. The MLive file photo was obtained through Ann Arbor District Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
Also in 1964, the UM Board of Regents approved a $14.9 million plan for a new dental school building. At the time, the project was the second most expensive building project in Michigan, behind the building of the Mackinac Bridge.
In 1969, the old research building was demolished and the first phase of a new dental school research complex, composed of the main research wing and research tower, was complete. The second complex construction phase was finished in 1971.
A headshot of Dr. Kenneth Easlick from Ann Arbor News in November 1, 1973. The MLive file photo was obtained through Ann Arbor District Library’s digital records.MLive file photo
Dr. Kenneth Easlick, a professor at the dental school, was another pioneer. He instituted a dentistry program for children in 1931. He also began developing a dental course specifically on pedodontics in 1932.
Easlick received a joint appointment in the UM School of Public Health in 1941.
An article titled “X-rays of Egyptian mummies by U-M team gives insight into a distant past” from The Ann Arbor News on August 2, 1981. Written by Max Gates, news science reporter.MLive file photo
The school received international acclaim in 1976 when instructor James Harris identified a mummy as Queen Tiye, King Tut’s grandmother, during his research ventures in Egypt.
An article from The Ann Arbor News in 1981 traces Harris’ anthropological work in his book “An X-Ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies.”
Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
