Today In Maryland’s History – The First Dental School Graduation Ever

BALTIMORE — Dentistry is a profession that many people take for granted in the 21st century. Healthy teeth are essential to a long life of happiness, and it all began in Maryland more than a century ago. The first dental school in the world was founded in Baltimore on June 2, 1840, and it set the stage for the field of dentistry to evolve over the past two centuries.

On March 9, 1841, two students were the first to graduate from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Dr. Robert Arthur and Dr. Richard Mackall were both the first to enroll and participate in classes at the new institution, and they were the first graduates as well. As a new field of study, dentistry was not yet well regulated in the 1840s, which is why the class sizes were so small initially.

Three decades later, in 1873, the first woman graduated from the then three-decade-old Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Emilie Foeking was a Prussian woman determined to study dentistry, as she had applied and been refused entry to the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery but eventually found her place in Baltimore after appealing directly to the acting dean, Ferdinand Gorgas.

Dr. Chapin A. Harris and Dr. Horace H. Hayden were the two founders of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, with the former acting as the school’s professor and the first-ever dean. In 1923, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was incorporated into the University of Maryland and eventually was renamed the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.

The Doctor of Dental Surgery degree also came about from the Baltimore institution, further cementing its legacy and offering a long-lasting career to countless individuals to practice dentistry.

With centuries’ worth of young minds educated and numerous improvements to the institution over time, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was essential in forming dentistry into the expansive field that it is today.

The University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 2026

Today, the University of Maryland School of Dentistry is still regarded as among the best dental schools in the world. Hundreds of students come to learn at the modern institution every decade, and the campus has continued to evolve over the last century, including a relatively new 12-story building that finished construction in 2006.

To learn more about the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, visit its dedicated webpage.

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