History Of Dentistry

INTRODUCTION –

1.Oral disease has been a problem for humans since the beginning of time. Skulls of the Cro-Magnon people, who inhabited the earth 25,000 years ago, show evidence of tooth decay.

2.The earliest recorded reference to oral disease is from a Sumerian text (circa 5,000 B.C.) that describes “tooth worms” as a cause of dental decay.

ANCIENT ORIGINS –
1.5000 BC – A Sumerian text of this date describes “tooth worms” as the cause of dental decay.

2.2700 BC – Evidence that the Chinese used acupuncture to treat pain associated with tooth decay.

3.2600 BC – Death of Hesy-Re, an Egyptian scribe, often called the first “dentist.” An inscription on his tomb includes the title “the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.” This is the earliest known reference to a person identified as a dental practitioner.

4.500-300 BC—Hippocrates and Aristotle write about dentistry, including the eruption pattern of teeth, treating decayed teeth and gum disease, extracting teeth with forceps, and using wires to stabilize loose teeth and fractured jaws.

5.166-201 AD—The Etruscans practice dental prosthetics using gold crowns and fixed bridgework.

6.700—A medical text in China mentions the use of “silver paste,” a type of amalgam.

7.1130-1163—Barbers often assisted monks in their surgical ministry because they visited monasteries to shave the heads of monks and the tools of the barber trade—sharp knives and razors—were useful for surgery.

8.1210—A Guild of Barbers is established in France. Barbers eventually evolve into two groups: surgeons who were educated and trained to perform complex surgical operations; and lay barbers, or barber-surgeons, who performed more routine hygienic services including shaving, bleeding and tooth extraction.

9.1575—In France Ambrose Pare, known as the Father of Surgery, publishes his Complete Works. This includes practical information about dentistry such as tooth extraction and the treatment of tooth decay and jaw fractures.

10.1685 First dental textbook to be published in English, by Charles Allen, “The Operator for Teeth”.

11.1785 John Greenwood served as George Washington’s dentist, and helped raised public awareness about porcelain teeth.

12.1790—John Greenwood,, constructs the first known dental foot engine. He adapts his mother’s foot treadle spinning wheel to rotate a drill.

13.1816 – Auguste Taveau, Paris, developed first dental amalgam (fillings from silver coins mixed with mercury).

14.1832—James Snell invents the first reclining dental chair.

15.1839 Charles Goodyear discovered vulcanized rubber. This discovery made denture bases, previously made out of gold, affordable for the average person. Before that time, dental care was typically reserved for the upper class.

16.1839—TheAmerican Journal of Dental Science, the world’s first dental journal, begins publication.

17.1840 Dentist Horace Wells first demonstrated nitrous oxide for sedation.

18.1840 Dentist Thomas Morton first demonstrated ether anesthesia for surgery.

19.1840 Horace Hayden and Chapin Harris invented modern dentistry. They founded the first dental school in the world, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Also invented the modern doctorate of dental surgery (DDS) degree and started the world’s first dental society, the American Society of Dental Surgeons (ASDA), which eventually formed into the American Dental Association.

20.1871 -The first electric dental engine, a self-contained motor and handpiece.

21.1890s American dentist Willoughby Miller in Germany first described the microbial basis of dental cavities.

22.1895 Wilhelm Roentgen discovered x-radiation (x-rays).

23.1895 G.V. Black standardized both cavity preparation and manufacturing process of silver fillings.

24.Set of dentures made for George Washington by John Greenwood, 1798.

25.1903—Charles Land devises the porcelain jacket crown.

26.1929 Penicillin was invented. This had a major impact on treatment protocols for dental infections.

27.1945 Grand Rapids, MI, first city in the world to fluoridate drinking water.

28.1955 Michael Buonocore invented white (composite) fillings. He also described a method of bonding resin to tooth enamel, enabling dentists to repair cracked enamel on front teeth.

29.1957 John Borden invented a high speed air-driven hand piece, increasing drill power from the traditional 5,000 rpm to 300,000 rpm, which shortened the time to prepare a tooth for a filling to a matter of minutes.

30.1970 Electric toothbrush introduced in the United States.

31.1970’s Sit-down, “four-handed” dentistry became common. Most dentists have dental assistants helping with procedure.

Future of Dentistry –

1.Integrating dentistry into comprehensive health care.

2.Increased focus on the link between oral health and overall health.

3.Gene-mediate therapeutics, which means altering the genetic structure of teeth to make them impervious to decay. Some researchers are now investigating the possibility of growing new tooth structure around weakened enamel.

4.Increased knowledge base and computer-assisted technology approach for diagnosis and treatment.

5.Community-based health promotion for oral health care.