The collection was started by Dr. H. S. Ayoub in 2003 with the aim to build a niche resource library for histsorians of medicine by attempting to gather every book title possible related to dentistry and dental medicine ever published or written.

Not only books focused exclusively on dentistry were targeted. Medical texts with substantial sections on oral health, or play a prominent role in the historiography of dentistry were searched for as well. From this hyper-obsessive inclination it was natural to find the focus widen to eventually include, art, paintings, instruments, and artificats, all of which have been a more recent target of acquisition. Although, books and manuscripts continue to be the anchors of the collection.

Currently, the library holds over 1100 texts, of which over 900 were printed prior to 1900, and about 20 paintings that are all pre-1900.

Some of the highlights include, six editions of the 16th century Zene Artzney (Artzneybuchlein), the first book on dentistry ever published, an early 13th century manuscript leaf with complete account of the miracle healing of a toothace by Saint Becket, a Bactrian dental pick from ca. 350 BC, dental health books from the libraries of the wife of Napoleon and the Princess of the Russian Empire (1812), the complete 38 volume medical writings of Xue Ji of China (ca. 1875), and the first dental books ever to be printed in Germany, Italy, England, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and Lebanon, among many others.