DIOXOGEN
ANTISEPTIC DISINFECTANT
DEODORIZER STYPTIC
'A necessity in operative and surgical work. Destroys pus and the products of decay and fermentation. Cleans out cavities and destroys bad odors, purifies and cleanses bridgework, plates and artificial dentures. A positive tonic for weakened tissues reducing irritation and soreness. Excellent for preparing sensitive mouths and teeth for treatment'.
HARMLESS
THE OAKLAND CHEMICAL CO.
NEW YORK
Advertisement in The Dental Summary December 1903 23(12)
Namibian Dental Association
Your smile is our priority
The History of Dentistry
Dental History in Pictures
Photographs of general interest
Black and McKay
In 1909, Dr. G.V. Black (left) visited Dr. F. McKay (right) in Colorado Springs to investigate the Colorado brown stain phenomenon.
Dr. McKay’s 1931 discovery that a high level of fluoride in the drinking water of the Colorado Springs area was causing brown stains, and resistance to tooth decay of tooth enamel among the native inhabitants, led to the modern fluoridation process.
Angle's Regulating Appliances Published in the Dental Practitioner January 1897 28(1)
The 1950's & 1960's brought much experimentation with dental cavity preparation techniques and technology. This eventually lead to huge advances in development of air driven turbines. However, in the 'Dental Survey' of November 1956, Cavitron Equipment Corp. of New York rather optimistically advertised:
Cavitron
Preferred by patients – 99 to 1
Patients rave about Cavitron – dentistry’s gentle method of cavity and crown preparation. They welcome the escape from rotary motion and the apprehension and pain which patients have always associated with the dental bur. In clinical tests on 19,825 patients, 19,726 patients chose Cavitron over all other cutting methods.
Saves chair time
Cavitron’s non traumatic action makes anesthesia unnecessary in most cases, permits patients to tolerate more preparations per sitting. You do more productive work per sitting ..... handle more patients in your normal week.
Makes better dentistry easier
The unique Cavitron combination – non-rotary, feather-touch handpiece and relaxed patients – assures reduced operating tension and fatigue ..... leaves you fresher at the end of the day.
Waterloo Teeth
Female mandible from Marylebone Cemetery, Westminster with “Waterloo teeth” i.e. another person’s incisor held in place with platinum wire.
CHEVALIER’S DRILL STOCK.
This advertisement comes from a J. de Chavalier brochure published in 1860. The advertisement reads:
'This beautiful instrument is not only admired by all who see it, but purchased for its utility. In the October number of his Dental Recorder, Dr. Allan says, this is a very ingenious instrument, and if any mechanical drill can be made available in practice, for the few cavities that occur when the straight bur cannot be used, he thinks this can'.
Phantom head used in the Dental School in Utrecht c.1895.
Phantom heads are often referred to by dental students as Mr/Mrs Apell after St Apellonia, Patron Saint of Dentistry.
Picture on the left comes from a textbook 'The dental assistant' by Emma J. McCaw, 1927. The caption with the photograph reads: The wearing of a cap is optional with the individual or the office. Picture in the middle of a dental Assistant/hygienist circa 1931 and on the right circa 1955.
The diagram on the right illustrates the technique to extract teeth using a dental pelican.
The dental pelican was invented in the 14th century by Guy de Chauliac, needed little skill to use and often caused terrible damage and pain.
Dentistry in the US Navy. On the left: USS Kroonland - Scene in the ship's dental office, 23 March 1919. Photograph from the U.S. Naval Historical Center. On the right: USS Dwight D. Eisenhower - A dental officer and his assistant remove the wisdom tooth of a crew member of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 1990.
Palatal Expansion
Acrylic palatal appliance for arch expansion, ca. 1900-1920.
The lighter side of Orthodontics - Schmangle's Class III Malocclusion This entertaining cartoon is, of course, a spoof of Angle's class III malocclusion. Date and cartoonist unknown.
‘Enseigne de dentiste’ A dental signboard, c. 16th century
(Enlargement on the right)
Cultural history of the smile. The smile in this painting belonged to Madame Vigée-Lebrun, whose self-portrait, exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1787, and showing her smiling with open mouth and white teeth, was vehemently criticised as scandalous. The smile broke artistic conventions regarding the depiction of the open mouth. According to conventions originating in Antiquity an open mouth in western art was invariably accompanied by bad teeth and signified that an individual was plebeian, insane, grotesque or else the subject of extreme passion. It is thus interesting to ask why this change of artistic conventions changed when it did, and also to explore whether this apparent smiling revolution was linked to wider social and cultural shifts.
Being a dentist in the Old West was certainly not without risks. Whereas nowadays a clinical error might expose the doctor to a malpractice suite, on the old frontier satisfaction for the aggrieved patient could come more swiftly. The story is told of a dentist who supposedly pulled the wrong tooth of the notorious outlaw Clay Allison. The patient lost no time in turning the tables and extracting several of the hapless dentist's own teeth. Still, life in the gambling halls of the frontier boomtowns was generally riskier than in the dental office. Witness the career of John Henry "Doc" Holliday, a man very much at home in both environments.
