The Harvard Dental Museum dates from the late 1870s but the exact date of its formation is unknown. The first annual Announcement of The Dental School indicates a museum was in existence, or at least in prospect, in 1868-69. The original specimens in the collection were provided by Dental School Graduates who were required to provide specimens to the Dental Museum to be used as instructional materials for students. Dr. Arthur T. Cabot presented about 175 specimens to the Dental Museum in 1881 and is considered the museum's founder.
At its peak, the Dental Museum held 14,000 specimens in its collection including skulls, dental instruments, dentures, and minerals and metals used in dentistry.
The museum was dismantled in 1937 due to the changing nature of dental education at Harvard, and its collections were placed in storage or dispersed.
The historical records of the Museum are preserved in the The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. Other specimens from the museum are found in the Warren Anatomical Museum.