As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, WTOP presents “250 Years of America,” a multipart series examining the innovations, breakthroughs and pivotal moments that have shaped the nation since 1776.
Delta Dental Federal Government Program is proud to partner with WTOP to bring you this series.
Long before regular dental checkups became standard practice, oral health was largely overlooked in the medical profession. Some generations of Americans often handled their own dental problems without professional care.
Even the nation’s first president, George Washington, famously struggled with dental issues and even sought treatment from French-born dentist Dr. Jean-Pierre Le Mayeur for his advanced techniques.
When America gained its independence, the practice of dentistry was evolving into a special practice separate from medicine, according to Dr. Scott Swank, a clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and curator at the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore.
“They are surviving,” Swank said. “They’re making enough money to just do dentistry. But then in 1837, the U.S. goes through this terrible economic depression.”
Job losses caused by the economic state led some men to consider taking up dentistry.
“So all these men are out of a job, and they’re seeing dentists still doing pretty well, so they just start. There’s no regulation against it — you can either just start doing it, you can read the books, you can (be an apprentice) under a person that’s already doing dentistry,” he said.
Swank said established dentists worried that the lack of formal standards allowed nearly anyone to practice and could damage the career’s credibility with the public.
“And they knew at this point, that in order for dentistry to survive public perception, it would have to become its own profession,” he said.
Dr. Horace H. Hayden and Dr. Chapin A. Harris were among the dental practitioners who recognized the need for formal dental education and asked the University of Maryland to create a dental department.
Swank said the university was ambivalent about their request, leading the men to petition the General Assembly of Maryland.
“The state assembly says yes, so they give their blessing in 1839; but the governor doesn’t sign the bill or the charter until 1840, so that is the official year that the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery really gets founded,” Swank explained.
With just four professors, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery became the first dental school to open in the world; but the milestone was met with some contention.
Swank said dentistry previously relied on preceptorships — an apprenticeship model in which dentists trained newcomers for a fee. After BCDS was created, the school not only represented change, but also a financial loss.
“They were super upset about it, because they saw that as a hit to their income, basically. But at that point, people started to realize that this is the way things are going to have to be,” he said.
Despite some initial resistance, BCDS eventually served as a model for institutions that followed. The Ohio College of Dental Surgery and the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery were among the earliest schools chartered after BCDS.
“But all of the schools, especially the ones in Philadelphia and Ohio, were largely based on the system that the Baltimore school had in place,” Swank said.
Almost 200 years later, what started as a contested idea has grown into more than 70 accredited dental schools throughout the country.
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