The first dental school, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1840. The British Dental Association, formed in 1880 with Sir John Tomes as president, played a greater role in prosecuting illegally practising dentists.

Two site other post-graduate formal advanced apprenticeship programs: General Habitude Residency (advanced clinical and homiletic training with intense hospital experience) and Advanced Education in Accustomed Dentistry (advanced training in clinical dentistry) recognized by the ADA do not margin to specialization.