History of Dental Schools in Louisiana

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In 1839 Drs. Chapin Harris and Horace Hayden established the Baltimore College of Dentistry, the first dental school in the United States.  Louisiana has had five dental schools.  From 1914 through 1928,  two dental schools, Tulane and Loyola, co-existed in New Orleans. Since 1971, the LSU School of Dentistry has been the only school in Louisiana. 

New Orleans Dental College, 1861-1877, was the sixth dental school established in the United States and the second in the South after Baltimore College of Dentistry.  After operating for a few years, it was forced to close because of the Civil War.  The school reopened in 1868 and ceased operations in 1877.  Schools in the South had a hard time surviving, due to lack of financial support. 

Dental Cosmos v.2, 1861 p.558	Dental Register of the West v.15, 1861 p.388

The school was first located at 140 Canal Street. During the 1868-69 session, the school reopened at the corner of Common and Villere Streets. In 1868 it  moved to the corner of Carondelet and Perdido, and in 1873 relocated to 158 Canal, corner of Baronne.

Deans:  John S. Clark, 1861-
            James Knapp, 1868-1875
            Andrew F. McLain, DDS, MD, 1875-1877

Dental Cosmos v.10, 1868	Dental Cosmos v.15, 1873

 

Louisiana Dental  Association Archives		Louisiana Dental Association Archives

"Graduation in medicine, or five years' actual practice, independent of pupilage, considered equivalent to a first course in this college."  (Dental Cosmos v.16 no. 9, September 1874, p. 499)

"We are informed by Prof. J.S. Knapp, Dean of the New Orleans Dental College, that notwithstanding the general stringency of the times and the unsettled state of political affairs in Louisiana, which interfered alike with all interests, educational, agricultural, and mechanical, the clinics and lectures at the college were continued as usual, and without any commencement exercises, the degree of D.D.S. was conferred upon C. Chauncey Marshall, of Mississippi.  Thesis, Irregularities of the Human Teeth."  (Dental Cosmos v.17,  no.5, May 1875, p. 267.

The school continued to struggle and ceased operation in 1877.

 This page is maintained by Elizabeth Strother.  Last updated April 2011
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