Dr Stan Harn of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry holding a wall mounted drill in a period dental office from the early 1900s Credit: Margaret Cain, UNMC College of Dentistry

Dental artifacts from the 1800s to the present were on display to the public for six days only at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry in September in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Thousands of dental artifacts were on display in one of the largest collections in the United States. Curator and oral biology professor Dr Stan Harn has spent over 30 years collecting remnants of dental history. The museum featured six period dental practices from the 1850s to the 1930s, more than 35 dental cabinets including some with intricate Victorian design, dental chairs dating from 1855 to 1880, a collection of tooth extraction instruments such as a metal hook known as a turnkey, X-ray machines with exposed wiring and foot-powered drills.