Michigan Dental Association

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Formerly the Michigan State Dental Association.

From the description of Michigan Dental Association records, 1856-[ongoing]. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34419716

The Michigan Dental Association was founded in 1856 through the efforts of two Detroit dentists, Hiram Benedict and Lorrain Christopher Whiting. The Society was conceived as a vehicle through which professional standards could be raised through exchanges of information. During the Civil War, discussion and debate was supplemented by the practice of holding clinics, allowing for demonstrations. Supply houses also began to send representatives to meetings, in order to demonstrate their products.

The Association's efforts to raise professional standards inevitably led it to be interested in dental education. The society was instrumental to the founding of a dental school at the University of Michigan in 1875, and for almost a quarter of a century thereafter maintained a visiting committee which come to Ann Arbor to monitor the school's progress. Efforts to guarantee professionalism in dentistry also led the Association to seek legislation regulating dentists. The Association first achieved this goal in 1883 when the state legislature passed a law establishing a dental licensing board.

Around the turn of the century the once dynamic organization had begun to show signs of stagnation. A determined effort by several members between 1906 and 1908 led to a complete reorganization of the body, as well as to renewed interest and life. In 1920 the Association's membership first passed 1,000. The organization's basic goal continued to be the professionalization and advancement of dentistry through education and regulation.

For a complete history of the organization, the researcher should consult Robert M. Warner, Profile of A Profession: A History of the Michigan State Dental Association (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1964).

From the guide to the Michigan Dental Association records, 1856-2006, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Michigan Dental Association records, 1856-2006 Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Michigan Dental Association. Michigan Dental Association records, 1856-[ongoing]. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Percival C. Lowery papers, 1920-1967 Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Lowery, Percival C., 1885-1978. Percival C. Lowery papers, 1920-1967. Bentley Historical Library
referencedIn Studley, Wilber A. Wilber A. Studley papers, 1907. Bentley Historical Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Lowery, Percival C., 1885-1978. person
associatedWith Michigan Dental Association. Women's Auxiliary. corporateBody
associatedWith Michigan State Dental Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Studley, Wilber A. person
associatedWith University of Michigan. School of Dentistry. corporateBody
associatedWith Ward, Marcus Llewellyn, 1875-1963 person
associatedWith Ward, Marcus Llwellyn, 1875-1963. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Dentistry
Dentistry
Dentists
Dentists
Women
Women
Women
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

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