The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry celebrates the past, present, and future of dentistry while sharing the importance of a healthy mouth in a healthy life. Our exhibitions, programming, and collections capture the often-overlooked history hidden behind your smile and the scientists, tradesmen, and professionals that have shaped the field throughout history.

Located on the site of the University of Maryland’s first “Dental Infirmary and Laboratory Building,” which was then part of the Dental Department in the School of Medicine in 1882, and housed in the University’s second Dental School building erected in 1903, the NMD is located at the heart of the University System of Maryland’s founding campus in Baltimore and at the epicenter of the beginnings of professional dentistry.

The NMD’s extensive 40,000 object collection of dental instruments and equipment, pop culture and personal oral care items, artwork, and everything in between is one of the largest and oldest collections in the world related to dentistry, and one of the reasons Congress designated the museum as the official museum of the dental profession in the United States.

The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is also a proud Smithsonian Affiliate.