Dental History Corner｜The first dental degrees in the world 🦷🎓

Today, when we think of dentists, we immediately picture dental schools and university degrees. But dentistry only became a formal university profession relatively recently in history.

In 1840, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in the United States was founded as the world’s first dedicated dental school. It began awarding dental degrees and marked the shift from dentistry as an informal trade to a regulated, university‑based profession.

Later, different dental degree titles emerged. One fun story comes from Harvard University: it was the first school to award the “DMD” degree. Because Harvard only grants degrees in Latin, the usual English title “Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)” did not translate neatly. After consulting Latin scholars, they decided on “Doctor of Dental Medicine” (DMD) instead.

Today, whether a dentist holds a DDS or a DMD, both represent fully trained dental professionals—the difference lies mainly in historical naming traditions. From that first school in 1840 to now, hundreds of dental schools worldwide have trained generations of dentists who keep our smiles healthy.