Twenty-two students and four faculty members composed the University of Minnesota College of Dentistry when it began in 1888 as a division of the Department of Medicine. The college became the School of Dentistry in 1932.
Early students used a dental handpiece driven by a foot pedal and made some of their own laboratory and clinical instruments in class.
By the 1938-39 academic year, the original three-year program of study had been lengthened to four years, preceded by two years of prescribed undergraduate courses. In 1976, the prerequisites were changed to include three years of undergraduate coursework.
A two-year dental hygiene program was added in 1920. A year of prerequisite coursework was added in 1990. A baccalaureate degree program was established in 1990.
A dental graduate degree program began in 1937; from 1957 to 1993, several programs were developed to give dental graduates the opportunity to earn a Ph.D. in various disciplines.