Publications - History of Dentistry Index
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Significant Events in the
History of Operative DentistryJournal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 53, No. 2 / July 2005
by Thomas M. Schulein, DDS, MS
Numerous events have transformed the practice of operative dentistry into one that is more efficient and more comfortable for the patient as well as for the operating team, and, often, one that is more productive for the dental office than it was previously.
A number of significant occurrences in the history of operative dentistry can be studied by grouping them into the categories of analgesia and anesthesia; etiology, diagnosis and treatment regimes; equipment and devices; direct restorative materials; indirect restorative materials and illumination and magnification.
This article presents a narrative that traces these significant events along categorical lines and a chronology of events in the development of the art and science of operative dentistry.. go to full article
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Leech Therapy, A History
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 53, No. 1 /March 2005
by John M. Hyson, DDS, MS, MA Baltimore MD
Bloodletting is an ancient procedure that was utilized for curing the ills of man. This article traces the use of leeches for bloodletting therapy from ancient Greek times to the Chapin Harris era in the 1840s to modern day usage by plastic surgeons. The leech is described as both a parasite and a therapeutic agent. The techniques used by both medicine and dentistry are historically documented. go to full article
The word "'leech," is a derivation of the AngloSaxon loece, meaning "'to heal." The physician was 9 called a "'leech" and his therapeutic book a "leechdom."4 Actually, the leech is an: "aquatic worm with a flattened body, tapering toward each end, and terminating *In circular flattened discs, the hinder one being the larger of the two. It swims with a vertical undulating motion, and moves when out of water by means of these discs or suckers, fastening itself first by one and then by the other, and alternately stretching out and contracting its body. The mouth is placed in the centre of the anterior disc, and furnished with three cartilaginous lens-shaped jaws at the entrance of the alimentary canal. These jaws are lined. at their edges with fine, sharp teeth, and meet so as to make. a triangular incision in the flesh. The head is furnished with small, raised points, supposed by some to be eyes."15 The leech belongs to the Phylum Annelida family of "'fresh-water parasitic invertebrates." 4 go to full article
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Two New Dental Office Displays
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 53, No. 1 /March 2005
by Dr. Samuel Wexler of Richmond, Illinois.
LAKE GENEVA, WISCONSIN.
The Historical Society of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin has just opened a new city museum which includes a 1920 dental office. The equipment belonged to a local dentist who graduated from Marquette Dental School in 1918. more... go to full article
MESA, ARIZONA.
Mesa is a fast growing community just east of Phoenix. The A.T. Still School of Osteopathic Medicine of Kirksville, MO has decided to open the state's first dental school. Since Dr. Wexler's son is a dentist in Tucson, Arizona, Dr. Wexler offered a turn of the century dental office to the school to promote dental history. more.. go to full article .
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Pierre Fauchard and his role in the
development of obturatorsBRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL VOLUME 199 NO. 9 NOV 12 2005
by C. D. Lynch, C. T. MacGillycuddy and V. R. O’Sullivan
The design and fabrication of oral appliances to replace parts of the palate missing due to congenital defects or lost through tumours, infection or trauma has been a considerable challenge for clinicians throughout the history of dentistry. Significant advances were made during the eighteenth century towards resolving the problem of constructing satisfactory obturators by the first ‘surgeon-dentist’, Pierre Fauchard. This paper reviews his innovative designs.
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Journal of the History of Dentistry
and are posted courtesy of the publishers at:
American Academy Of The History of Dentistry [www.histden.org]
They may be contacted via e-mail info@histden.org
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and Development of Teaching
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001
by Orestes Walter Siutti, CD
(DR. SIUTTI is director of the Museum and Center for Historical studies of the Faculty of Dentistry of Buenos Aires, Argentina..)The history of the legal practice of dentistry in the Rio de la Plata region is given. The first diplomas were given in 1891 by the Medical Tribunal, before the creation of the dental school in Buenos Aires. The inauguration of teaching courses and the different teaching plans, as well as the biography of the teachers who initiated the teaching in Argentina are presented as are the creation of the School of Dentistry and the appearance of the three schools of the College of Medical Sciences in the monumental new building. Portraits of the teachers Etcheparborda, Pereira, Erausquin and Guardo, crafters of the old school are presented, together with those of the administrators of the university complex and the College, Profs. Dr. Jose Arce and Ricardo C. Guardo.
From Healers to Protomedicato: go to full article
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Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001
by Malvin E. Ring, DDS, MLS, FACD (DR. RING is author of Dentistry An illustrated History. Requests for reprints should be directed to the author at 2 Roby Drive, Rochester, NY 14618.)
Stents have been used in numerous medical disciplines, as well as in oral surgical procedures. Uses range from rebuilding mandibles and constructing new ureters, to keeping coronary arteries patent after angioplasty. The earliest use of the word listent" to describe this item was in 1916, when a Dutch plastic surgeon described how he used a dental impression compound as a matrix around which to form tissue in the process of rebuilding a shattered face. What is generally unknown is that the word "stent" derives from the name of an English dentist, who invented this impression compound in 1856. go to full article
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Connections Dentistry and Medicine
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001
by Richard A. Glenner, D.D.S.
(DR. GLENNER is past Historian of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. Reprint requests should be directed to the author at 3414 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659.)
Ever since the early days of the dental profession in the United States, practicing dentists have recognized the relationship between dentistry and medicine.
In Colonial times, physicians lectured to medical students on dentistry. These men who had a knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and other subjects related to the practice of medicine, were the primary educators of dental practitioners in this country. This was in contrast to the apprenticeship training of many dentists. Dentistry had not yet reached the status of a profession. For the most part, it was considered a part of medicine, and as a result physicians extracted teeth and treated other dental problems. go to full article
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Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001
by John M. Hyson, Jr. DDS, MS, MA Joseph W A. Whitehorne, AB, MA, LHD, DEd
(DR. HYSON is Director of Curatorial Affairs, Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry, Associate Professor, Oral Health Care Delivery, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Maryland, 31 South Greene Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201-1504. DR. WHITEHORNE is Professor of History, Lord Fairfax Community College, Box 47, Middletown, Virginia, 22645.)
In 1917-18, the U.S. Army revived a denture technique first introduced in 1866 by Dr. James Baxter Bean, the Confederate dental surgeon who established the first military maxillofacial hospital trauma ward in Atlanta, Georgia, during the American Civil War the cast aluminum wartime denture.
In the early spring of 1917, the standard removable Vulcanite denture barred voluntary enlistment in the U.S. Army on the basis that such dentures were a liability and subject to breakage. As a result, the Army began experimenting with aluminum as a substitute denture base. French and English scientists had isolated aluminum in the laboratory early in the 19th century and it became commercially available in France in the 1850s. Its high price limited it to special applications until 1886 when scientists in France and the U.S. simultaneously developed a cheaper production method. go to full article
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Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 1 /March 2001
by Rosa Maria Gonzalez Ortiz, CD and Martha Diaz de Kuri, CD.
(DR. ORTIZ is Professor, DR. DIAZ de KURI is Professor and Chief of the Dental History in the Faculadad de Odontolozia, in Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.)
Regardless of the fact that females have been present in every field of universal knowledge, history bears little trace of this fact. This points to cultural patterns that favor the accomplishments of men over women. This paper reports in a schematic way, on the presence and significance of dental practice by women worldwide, and in particular in Mexico.
The role of women since prehistoric times that of taking care of the family would lead them to see illness and to seek remedies for it. Since oral problems were so common these were given a fair amount of attention. We can learn about medical practice for women in ancient civilizations from paintings and engravings as well as other art forms. Literature and ceramics have been very helpful in this respect.
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 48, No. 2/July 2000 pp75-77
by Richard A. Glenner, D.D.S.
(DR. GLENNER is past Historian of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry. Reprint requests should be directed to the author at 3414 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659.)
The early 1960's were years of transition for the dentist practicing general dentistry That which began to occur at this time would have occurred about ten years earlier if it wasn't for the Second World War. During this period, there were many advances made in science and technology, which helped win the war. In peacetime these would have been translated into progress to further private industry and scientifically oriented professions such as medicine and dentistry. After the war, many of the advances made were channeled into the private sector.
Journal of the History of Dentistry Vol. 49, No. 3 / November 2001
By John M. Hyson, Jr., DDS, MS, MA
DR. HYSON is the Director of Curatorial Affairs, Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry, Associate Professor, Oral Health Care Delivery, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD.
Morris (1991) divides pain into two categories - physical and mental; he calls it the "Myth of Two Pains."25 He rationalizes that it is difficult to separate the pain of mind and body and that they are interdependent, e.g. one mind and body. However, this paper will limit itself to the history, philosophy, and psychology of physical pain (both acute and chronic) from ancient days to the twentieth century. It will not discuss mental or psychosomatic pain; nor will it include the anatomical, biochemical, pharmacological, and physiological aspects of modern methods of chronic pain control, e.g. psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, biofeedback, etc.
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Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 46, No. 2 July 1998 pp71-75
By Richard A. Glenner, DDS & P. Willey, PhD
DR. GLENNER is past Historian of the American Academy of the History of Dentistry; DR. WILLEY is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chico State University, Chico, CA.
The mid-1800s were innovative and volatile times, both in the development of the United States and in dentistry. The political and social manifestation of this unrest was the Civil War. The strides in the country's dentistry are indicated by the founding of the first dental college, the first dental journal, and the first dental society during the two decades before the war.
Medical care: Second to none
Reprinted from Voyage, the journal of the Titanic International Society, Inc.,- Autumn 2000
By Richard A. Glenner, DDS; Alison G. Kassel, BBA; Laurel K. Graham, MLS
When R.M.S. Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, less than a week after sailing from Southhampton, England, 1,523 people died because there were not enough lifeboats aboard ship. It was believed that the ship was unsinkable. Although there were not enough lifeboats, medical care aboard ship was more than adequate. The number of lifeboats and the requirements relating to health were established by the British Board of Trade. There were medical facilities on the ship comparable to most state-of-the-art small hospitals in the United States and Britain, where the sick and injured could be treated. A surgeon and assistant surgeon, equipped with a large assortment of medical instruments and medicines, staffed these hospitals... go to full article
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Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 47, No. 2 July 1999 pp61-64
By John M. Hyson, jr., D.D.S., M.S. Audrey B. Davis, Ph.D.
(DR. HYSON is Director of Curatorial Services, Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD; Assistant Professor, Oral Health Care Delivery, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Marylind, 31 South Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-1504. DR. DAVIS is former Curator of Medical Sciences, The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution )
Basil Manly Wilkerson (1842-1910) (Fig. 1), an 1868 graduate of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, was a prominent dental inventor of the 19th century. Among his inventions was the first hydraulic dental chair and one of the first air-driven turbine handpieces.
He was born in Foster's Settlement, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, on 28 March 1842. During the Civil War, he served from 1863-65 as a third sergeant in Company "K," 8th Regiment (Hatch's), Alabama Cavalry. The regiment was assigned to C.G. Armistead's Brigide, Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. It saw action at Lafayette, Georgia, where it suffered 105 casualties. By September 1864, its strength was down to 241 men. His unit, commanded by Captain Charles E. Owen, surrendered on 4 May 1865 at Citronelle, Alabama, to Major General Edward R.S. Canby's troops at Gainesville, Alabama. Wilkerson was paroled on 14 May 1865... go to full articleThis is new addition to the PFA site -from a series
of articles in the Journal of Dental History
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Giuseppangelo Fonzi: Industrial Fabrication Promoter of Porcelain Prosthetics
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 47, No. 2 July 1999 pp79-82
By Bernard Kurdvk
(DR. KURDYK is an assistant at the Faculty of Dental Surgery, Paris V and at the Parisian Hospitals. Correspondence: 2, rue de Monttessuy, 75007, Paris, France. He is also a Member of research group in ancient odontological texts and Frenciz research team in Dental Art History..)
The use of porcelain in dental art dates back to the middle of the 18th century. An apothecary at Saint Germain-en-Laye by the name of Duchateau is the first to have been known to manufacture prostheses neither in bone nor in wood, but in imputrefiable materials. Then, Nicolas Dubois de Chémant, Parisian dentist and surgeon, modified the paste composition in porcelain and more useable results were obtained. A 15-year apprenticeship would follow before "dental fabrication and denture paste from incorruptible minerals without putrefaction" was made on September 16,1791. However these prostheses were manufactured from a single large piece, which, according to critics, hindered the denture's adjustment at the base of the mouth... go to full article
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Veterinary Dentistry: Its Origin and Recent History
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 47, No. 2 July 1999
By Kevin Easley
(KEVIN EASLEY is a dental student at Oregon Health Sciences University.)
The practice of dental medicine has evolved into a broad based and far reaching profession. The art of dentistry exists as a unique web woven of innovative research, technological advancement, and influence from other professions, trades and disciplines. As one segment of the web is strengthened, so is the whole. We can easily identify the benefit of this type of information flow when it travels in one direction to improve our profession directly...One example of this type of benefit can be seen in the growth and development of veterinary dentistry. go to full article
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Augusto Coelho e Souza: The Father of Brazilian Dentistry
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 48, No. 2 July 2000
By Elias Rosenthal, CD
(DR. ROSENTHAL is the director of the
Museum of Dentistry of Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Just as Hippocrates (480-370 BC) is considered the "Father of Medicine" and Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761) is regarded as the "Father of Modern Dentistry" so is Augusto Coelho e Souza (1863-1949) honored as the "Father of Brazilian Dentistry." go to full article
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Health Science Pioneer:
Vida A. Latham, DDS, MD
by Hannelore T. Loevy, DDS, PhD, Professor of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry, University-of Illinois at Chicago, and Aletha Kowitz, Director of Library Services, American Dental Association
At the turn of the century, it was distinctly unusual for a woman to be active in both dentistry and medicine, but Chicago had such a woman. At the time, it was almost impossible for women to be admitted into a school of dentistry or medicine, yet Vida A. Latham managed to be accepted in both. go to full article
article courtesy of the authors
copyright © Proc. Inst. Med. Chgo. Vol. 44, 1991
For more information email: HTLOEVY@uic.edu
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Doc Holliday - 150 years old
Review of a book by Dr. Frank Heynick
Most of us were first introduced to "Doc" Holliday as he walked with the Earp brothers to the OK Corral early one morning in Tombstone, Arizona, to shoot it out with the Clanton gang. But only a small segment of the public realizes that "Doc" was a degreed dentist. Dr. Frank Heynick, a dental and medical historian, has authored a book entitled Doc Holliday, DDS on the occasion of this dentist's 150th birthday. He contributes this article for our publication.
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Dr. Frank Heynick has authored a book, Doc Holliday, DDS, which is available at or by phoning 718/375-9101
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Who is Pierre Fauchard ?
A Remembrance by Monsieur Jean Claude de Vaux
It was between 1650 and 1800 that the science of modern dentistry developed. And in 1728 Pierre Fauchard, who was widely acknowledged as the "Father of Modern Dentistry" published "LeChirurgien Dentiste"( Lee Shee Roo Gee-Au- Don Teets) which contained detailed information about all aspects of contemporary dentistry. It was his lead that encouraged others, and for example, before the end of the century in England the distinguished surgeon, John Hunter, had published his book entitled"The Natural History of the Human Teeth"., and the first course of dental lectures was established at Guy's Hospital in London.
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Many of these articles are from the Journal of the History of Dentistry
and are posted courtesy of the publishers at:
American Academy Of The History of Dentistry www.histden.org
They may be contacted via e-mail info@histden.org
Please send inquiries to: Richard Kozal or call 1-800-232-0099 updated:
