title: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. throws down the gauntlet: The claims of dentistry.
abstract: It had been over 30 years since the founding of the American Journal of Dental Science, the organization of the American Society of Dental Surgeons, and the establishment of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Yet the general acceptance and inclusion of dentistry into the family of learned professions, and the recognition of dentistry as a truly professional calling by the public and medical community, were both still beyond reach. In 1872, Harvard University, under the new leadership of President Charles Eliot, re-confirmed American dentistry's profession legitimacy, implementing standards and reforms in the Harvard Dental School similar to those mandated to Harvard Medical School the previous year. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was given the task to articulate the justification for this contentious decision.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chernin
mesh_terms: D001900:Boston; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000266:history; D006665:History of Dentistry; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D012575:Schools, Dental / Q000266:history*