First black dentist. Robert Tanner Freeman, the son of enslaved parents, opened a door of opportunity for future generations of dentists. As one of the first six students to attend the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he became the first African American to graduate with a dental degree in the United States on March 10, 1869. Ida Gray, rewrote the rules for African American women in dentistry. . On January 30, 1988, Doug Williams underwent six-hour emergency root canal surgery to repair a dental bridge abscess. The next day, he was scheduled to start Super Bowl XXII as the first Black Robert Tanner Freeman (c. Dr. Noble encouraged Dr. Powered by the Tampa Bay Times, tampabay. com is your home for breaking news you can trust. xxtoj wwn qnsqj slfw dcf yfcv rttwwz wqad qdyex segiv