School of Dentistry Buildings

In 1875, the U-M Regents provided $3,000 for the new dental college to hire faculty and provide a facility. For the first 33 years, the school made do with inadequate space and remodeled buildings. Construction of the 1908 and 1969 buildings, designed specifically for dental education, significantly improved the school’s program.

First Building: 1875-1876

The dental school briefly shared a house on N. University with the homeopathic college, but rivalry between the two colleges over scheduling led to friction. In one incident, dental students “stormed up the old wooden stairs and forcibly ejected the homeopathic students from the classroom.” In retaliation, the homeopathic students gave a cow a laxative and managed to get her upstairs. Dental students found her before any damage was done and lowered her back down the stairs with a rope and pulley.

Second Building: 1877-1890

After only two years, the dental college desperately needed more space and moved to a different house on S. University. An addition housed the freshman laboratory on the first floor and expanded the clinic on the second floor, making room for a museum and library. The junior laboratory occupied a former woodshed.

Third Building: 1891-1907

In 1891, the dental college moved to the former University Hospital on N. University. The regents provided $15,000 to expand clinics, laboratories and operating spaces for 150 students. Gas lighting increased visibility in clinics.

Despite improvements, the building was still inadequate. Students described the old buildings as “boards with battens over the cracks” and called them the “cow sheds.” In 1903, U-M President James Angell agreed the dental school was “wretchedly housed.” He pushed the regents for a new building to accommodate increased enrollment and provide modern facilities.

Fourth Building: 1908-1968

The new dental school was three stories of fireproof brick and stone with state-of-the-art facilities for operative and surgical clinics, X-ray, research and technical laboratories, offices, a library and a museum. It also had electricity and central heating. President Angell declared it the finest dental education building in the country. Fifteen years later, an addition increased floor space to accommodate up to 97 dental students and 30 dental hygiene students per class.

Graduate Studies Have a Home

The school’s desire to expand its graduate programs in dental specialties led to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Institute, the first building in the world dedicated to that purpose. Opened in 1940, it included an auditorium, clinics, laboratories and offices.

Sixth Building: 1969-present

In 1969, the school completed a new building that incorporated advances in dental instruction, materials and techniques into greatly expanded clinics, laboratories, classrooms and audiovisual and computer facilities. An entire eight-story wing was dedicated to faculty research as part of a university commitment to expand research. The building could accommodate 150 dental students and 80 dental hygiene students in each class, plus, 125 graduate students, an increase of 70 percent over the old building.