Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Maryland
Dean’s Message
The University of Maryland Dental School holds a unique position in oral health education and patient care. As the birthplace of the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, we continue to be a leader and look for innovative methods of serving our students, patients, and faculty. We advance the profession through the collective efforts of faculty, staff, alumni and external partners who share our visionary philosophy.
Our vision will be realized, in part, through the Dental School’s new facility, which is a digitally wired facility equipped with modern research labs and technology-infused clinics, conference areas, and lecture rooms. This state-of-the-art building is designed to ensure that we continue to meet the critical challenges of oral health delivery, education, service and research.
The roots of the Dental School are in the past, but our stake is in the future. We will develop relationships that drive forward-thinking innovations. Our goal is to build local, state and national alliances with lay and professional partners interested in enhancing oral health care. Leading the path into the future may be a unique enterprise for some institutions, but not ours.
I welcome the opportunity to share our vision in person.
Christian S. Stohler, DMD, DrMedDent
Introduction
In 1840, Drs. Horace Hayden and Chapin Harris founded the world’s first dental college, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (BCDS). The program has been a model for dental education; balancing scientific knowledge and clinical skills. In addition to the Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, which the BCDS originated, the dental school offers bachelors and masters degrees in dental hygiene and graduate programs in oral and craniofacial biological sciences and experimental pathology. The school’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Maryland through education, research and service, with special emphasis on improving dental, oral and craniofacial health.
The school is housed in a new $153 million, digitally wired facility equipped with modern research labs and technology-infused clinics, conference areas, and lecture rooms. This state-of-the-art building is designed to ensure that we continue to meet the critical challenges of oral health delivery, education, service and research. Ranked No. 3 among all U.S. dental institutions by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research funding, we are able to draw leading scientists as faculty members and researchers. Our proximity to scientific centers in Maryland and Washington, DC, gives us a unique advantage.
As Maryland’s largest single provider of oral health care, we receive patients from across the metropolitan area. The school also maintains clinics in rural communities and provides care through outreach at senior centers, schools and county health departments. The school’s specialized clinics provide care for patients with special-needs, HIV/AIDS and facial pain. This diverse range of care that we provide gives us unique perspectives on understanding, treating and preventing oral health problems.
Highlights
The new dental facility will enable the University of Maryland Dental School to become the most modern dental school in the United States with 324 digital dental units and patient chairs, 79 digital intraoral X-ray units and digital panoramic X-rays. The new facility will use advanced technology to maximize patient care, efficiency and student learning. In every sense, the building will be a complete digital facility. All classrooms and conference rooms are configured to be interconnected or independently operated. From a central control room, a “matrix switch” will facilitate audio, video and data to be routed from rooms in the school to other rooms, whether in the Dental School, on the UMB campus, or at a remote US or international location.
The Division of Dental Hygiene has a new distance education program on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The school collaborated with Chesapeake College and Wor-Wic Community College to help meet the needs of the dental community, students and the public. Students will be able to receive didactic portions of the program online. Material will be delivered through real-time video conferencing and the lecture-capture method, in which the professor is visible online. Other online elements will include discussion boards, chat rooms and use of QuestionMark, the online evaluation system.
Dental School alumna Leslie E. Grant, DDS, MSPA, became the president of the National Dental Association for the 2006 term. Her platform is “Committed to Health Equity Through Unity and Collaboration.” She intends to explore partnerships with policymakers and community and professional organizational leaders to reverse deplorable statistics and conditions that are impacting our underserved communities. Dr. Grant says that access to care is not only a health issue, but is an integral aspect of social justice.
History
The Baltimore College of Dental surgery was founded in 1840 by Drs. Horace Hayden and Chapin Harris as the world’s first dental college. Up until this point all dental instruction was provided through preceptorships in which a practicing dentist tutored one or more “students” in the science and art of dentistry.
The dental education model set up by the BCDS served as the model for other dental schools formed in the United States and around the world. The Maryland Dental College was formed in 1873 but merged with the BCDS in 1878. The University of Maryland Dental Department was formed in 1882 and in 1913 absorbed the Baltimore Medical Dental Department, which had been formed in 1895. In 1923 the BCDS merged with the University of Maryland Dental Department to form the current school.
1840—The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery is formed as the first dental school in the world.
1840s—The founding fathers, Dr. Horace Hayden and Dr. Chapin Harris, established the world’s first dental journal, the American Journal of Dental Science, and organized the first national dental organization, the American Society of Dental Surgeons.
WWI—Dr. Livius Lankford, a BCDS alumnus, set up the first American dental clinic in France.
1950—The first telecast of an actual dental operation ever viewed by a dental society was transmitted from a BCDS operating room in November. Three operations were televised to more than 450 members of the Baltimore City Dental Society and dentists from other parts of Maryland.
1970—BCDS established a baccalaureate program in dental hygiene, the first—and still the only one of its kind in the state.
1972—BCDS established a special clinic for handicapped patients. It was described as the “first in the country to build special facilities for the education of undergraduate dental students in the treatment of these special patients.”
1970’s—BCDS was one of the first dental schools to initiate the General Practice Program, using dentist managers and patient care coordinators. Over the years, many other U.S. dental schools adopted similar patient-centered programs.
1980—BCDS became the first dental school in the U.S. to be awarded a training grant to support a program to study the problems of alcoholism and drug abuse among dental patients.
1982—An Advanced General Dentistry Program (AGD) was initiated. The new one-year program was the first dental school-based program to be initiated in the United States.
1986—BCDS created its first division of Dental Informatics as a reflection of the influx of computers into dentistry. The BCDS was the only school in the country with eighteen interactive videodisc systems using videodisc and computer technology to deliver interactive instruction to students.
1990’s—BCDS became the recipient of the country’s first periodontal regeneration and implant research center located in a university setting.
