RESEARCH

Exhibits Mark 100 Year Anniversary of Death of Dr. Willoughby Miller

More than 100 years ago, Dr. Willoughby Dayton Miller advanced a novel theory that dental caries was an infectious process caused by bacteria. At the time, 1890, he also suggested the mouth harbors bacteria that may influence not just oral health but general health too.

Those ideas, based on his extensive research, were radical at the time. Over time, however, they profoundly affected how biologists, dentists, and medical professionals worldwide viewed disease.

Dr. Miller's pioneering research and international reputation led to an offer from the University of Michigan Dental College, as it was known in the early 20th century, to become its dean. Dr. Miller arrived in Ann Arbor in July 1907 and met with dental faculty to discuss his plans for the fall. But he died on July 27, following an attack of appendicitis before he could assume his duties as dean. He was 54.

To mark the centennial anniversary of Miller's death, the U-M School of Dentistry is sponsoring an exhibition, W.D. Miller: Scientific Pioneer of Dentistry (1853-1907), that focuses on his pioneering research and contributions to oral health. One exhibit case is on display in the School's Sindecuse Museum on the first floor lobby of the Kellogg Institute Building. Another is in the School's library.

Sindecuse Museum Exhibit

Among the items being displayed in the Museum through December are Miller's microscope, which was donated to the School of Dentistry by his widow, Caroline Miller, after his death, and other laboratory artifacts including an English Bunsen burner, hand instruments, tweezers, litmus vials, bottles, and test tubes. The English binocular microscope dating from the 1880s, according to Sindecuse Museum curator Shannon O'Dell, gave Miller a clear stereoscopic view of his specimens.

As visitors look at the artifacts and displays in the Museum, O'Dell said, "they will gain a better understanding of how Miller set up his laboratory in Germany, where he worked for 28 years, and learn more about who he was and why he is still so highly regarded."

O'Dell added that the Museum expects to show pages from Miller's laboratory notebook (ca. 1900) which are now housed at the Bentley Library on the U-M campus. The notebook, she said, includes information about litmus samples of saliva and mucous tests.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Sindecuse Museum Curator Shannon O'Dell at (734) 763-0767 or by e-mail: dentalmuseum@umich.edu

More information about the Museum is available at: www.dent.umich.edu/museum.

Dental Library Collection

A monument honoring the achievements of Dr. Willoughby Miller is in the front of the Kellogg Building at North University Avenue.

Miller's work is also on display at the School of Dentistry library. Patricia Anderson, senior associate librarian, notes that Miller's original research is still a valuable resource for researchers worldwide with over 50 articles published in the past decade citing his book, The Micro-organisms of the Human Mouth, where he advanced his theory.

"Miller's research is so well known and so pioneering that requests come from researchers and historians around the world to use Miller's personal library which is housed here in the U-M Dentistry Library," Anderson said.

"These requests," she continued, "inspired the University Libraries to make Miller's personal library collection available online." The scanning portion of the project was recently completed by University Libraries Digital Library's production services. It is now available as a part of the Dental Historic Collections at quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dentalj.

More information about Dr. Miller and his work is available online at www.lib.umich.edu/dentlib/about/other/WDMiller/.

Other Recognition

Although he never assumed the deanship at Michigan, Miller's achievements have been recognized by the School of Dentistry in two notable ways.

In 1940, a monument honoring him was unveiled in front of the Kellogg Building just off of North University Avenue. Around the same time, a bust of Miller was unveiled. It currently sits atop a pedestal in the lobby of the Kellogg Building at the base of a glass brick wall.