In 1916, Columbia University established the School of Dentistry (now known as the College of Dental Medicine). In 1917, the university merged the school with the newly acquired New York Post-graduate School of Dentistry and New York School of Dental Hygiene. To those working in the health sciences, the move was a powerful signal of a field on the rise. It recognized dental medicine as a key component of individual and social well-being and initiated a monumental era in medical innovation and progressive public health outcomes.

This hundred-year history shares the turbulent story of...