The importance of dental hygienists to the dental profession is reflected in the increased number of institutions teaching dental hygiene, rising from 26 schools in 1952 to 132 schools in 1971.
The Curriculum in Dental Hygiene consists of a two-year and a four-year program. The two-year curriculum is designed to prepare women to qualify as dental hygienists. Upon the completion of the program the student receives a certificate. The four-year curriculum consists of two years of liberal arts, followed by two years of study in the School of Dentistry. Upon graduation the student receives the degree Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene.
Student enrollment and the teaching staff have more than doubled since 1969 as a result of the greater capacity of the new physical facilities. Dr. Dorothy Hard had been appointed Director of the Curriculum in Dental Hygiene in 1934. Upon her retirement in 1968, Professor Pauline Steele succeeded her as director.
In 1964 a graduate dental hygiene program was established by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and was originally funded by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek. Twenty-five dental hygienists have earned the Master of Science in Dental Hygiene degree in this program. Postgraduate courses in dental hygiene are offered in the continuing dental education program at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Institute.
The University of Michigan, an Encyclopedic Survey Supplement, Pages 103-104.
