Inside the Dental Practice: 1860-2000
Step back in time and see how dental offices and equipment evolved as technology advanced and revolutionized the profession.
Detroit’s Dental Supply Manufacturers
On Exhibit: July 2026 - June 2028
Detroit’s position on the Great Lakes and its proximity to iron, coal, and copper made it an ideal location for manufacturing in the late 1800s. During this era, dentists, who historically crafted their own instruments and prosthetics, began to accept and demand machine made alternatives.
Three major dental supply manufacturers soon emerged: Detroit Dental Manufacturing, Pelton & Crane, and E.C. Moore. They largely mirrored the path of other industries, peaking in the 1940s, and then declining due to foreign competition. Mergers and acquisitions would shrink the number of dental manufacturers world-wide, a trend that continues to the present.
Teeth Transformations: Modifications for Self-Expression
Explore the many ways people around the world and across the centuries modify their teeth for reasons beyond achieving a better bite. Teeth are altered to improve physical attractiveness, elevate social status, prove spiritual devoutness, and to conform with, or rebel against, cultural norms. How much importance do you place on the appearance of your teeth?
other current exhibits
Dental Hygiene: A Century of Progress
Learn how the dental hygiene profession developed over time and transformed public health over the last 100 years.
Dentistry/Artistry
This exhibit posits that the manual dexterity, creativity, and skill required to succeed in dentistry, necessitates a creative mind. Many professionals working in dentistry maintain creative outlets and hobbies outside of their practices. This exhibit examines a variety of visual, musical, and performance arts from the U-M SOD faculty, students, staff and alumni in order to illuminate the many ways this group expresses themselves through art.
archived exhibits
Students in front of the second University of Michigan dental building ca. 1885 (SMD0652.0017)
Student Reflections: A Retrospective of Dental Education
Discover engaging stories shared by U-M dental students about their experiences in this unique history of the nation's first public university based dental school.
Women Dentists: Changing the Face of Dentistry
Women currently make up nearly half of all dental students and 25% of practicing dentists. Before the 1970s, fewer than 3.3% of American dentists were women. Independent-minded women struggled to obtain degrees, establish practices, and be respected as professionals.
Tooth Fairy Magic
For hundreds of years, the imaginary Tooth Fairy has given children a way to celebrate a major milestone in their physical development. Explore the origins, worldly counterparts, and current trends related to this mythical character.