Dental Firsts

World's first woman dental school graduate was Lucy Beaman Hobbs Taylor, born in Franklin County, New York in 1833. After working as a schoolteacher, she applied to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery in 1861. The school rejected her because she was a woman. Undaunted, she studied on her own, apprenticed to others and eventually opened her own practice. The college eventually admitted her, and she completed her degree in just four months. She later married James Myrtle Taylor, taught him dentistry and went into practice with him.

World's first dental college was the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, which opened with five students on November 3, 1840. The school is still in session as part of the University of Maryland.

World's first electric dental drill was patented by George F. Green of Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1875. Manual drilling devices existed before this time, including one used by George Washington's dentist, John Greenwood. Dr. Greenwood adapted his mother's foot-treadle spinning wheel and invented the first known "dental foot engine" in 1790.

America's first patent for false teeth was received by Charles Graham in 1822 of New York.

World's first discovery of bacteria was made by Dutch scientist Antony van Leeuwenhoek, who found the microscopic creatures when he examined plaque from his teeth.

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