university-based dental education institutions (as they exist today) began with the formation of Harvard Dental School in 1867. Reidar Fauske Sognnaes, noted oral pathologist and founding dean of the UCLA School of Dentistry, commented on the significance of the school's formation in a 1977 New England Journal of Medicine article: There was a time when the mouth, relatively speaking, was considered a scientific "no-man's land." That was when dental education fell between academic chairs--literally between the eyes, ears, nose and throat. In the United States dentistry was denied the academic status of other segments of higher education until 1867, when Harvard established the first dental school affiliated with a university-based faculty of medicine. Origins of DMD degree Harvard was the first dental school to award the DMD degree. The establishment of the degree is detailed at Dental degree § DDS vs DMD degree. There is no difference between the DMD and DDS degree; all dentists must meet the same national and regional certification standards. Renaming the school The school was established as Harvard Dental School in 1867, but renamed the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1940. This symbolic change was made to emphasize the biological basis of oral medicine and the increasingly multidisciplinary focus of dental research. Expansion of postdoctoral educational programs In 1957, Harvard School of Dental Medicine was awarded a training grant from the National Institute of Dental Research (now the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) to expand its postdoctoral training programs. These new programs included an oral and maxillofacial surgery/MD/general surgery residency program; a Doctor of Medical Sciences (DMSc) degree; and 3- and 4-year joint-degree programs with an emphasis on combining clinical training with research into health policy, public health, and/or biomedical sciences. The school's current post-doctoral programs include both school-based and hospital based residencies. School-based programs award the Master of Medical Science (MMSc) degree, with an optional Doctor of Medical Sciences (DMSc) degree available for those spending extra time on research activities. School-based programs Orthodontics Endodontics Prosthodontics Periodontics Dental Public Health Hospital-based programs Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: combined Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/General Surgery & MD program at Massachusetts General Hospital with MD degree awarded from Harvard Medical School Pediatric Dentistry: at Boston Children's Hospital General Practice Residency: combined program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital Major changes in predoctoral curriculum 1994 In 1994, a major change in the predoctoral curriculum