Chicago College of Dental Surgery - Dentos Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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membership cy' 45,000. In the years Q' its existence it has ably advanced the two ideals to which it is dedicated: the advancement of the public health and the progress of the przjession. Dental literature, too, grew in quality and quantity. Its advancing standards did much to foster the exchange of ideas and to abolish the prim- itive practices that had no foundation in science. It was of great influence in disseminating information on technical advances and in grounding more solidbz the dental practice of the day in the elementary sciences. One of the great contributions Q' dentistry to mankind and one that did much to enhance the prestige of the developing profession was the role dentists played in the discovery and promotion of general anesthesia. No matter how much acrimony surrounds the actual facts and circumstances of dis- covery, it remains that the names of Horace Wells and William T. G. Moi-toiz, both dentists, will live in connection with this inestimable contribution to the relief cj human sufering. Now that dentistry was beginning to attain its stature as a prdession, even more signyicant changes were not far in the future. In 1891 lfilloughby D. Millet' had written a paper on The Human Mouth as a Focus of In- fection and later came his Microorganisms of the Human Mouth. Hunter, working in England at about the same time, introduced the term oral sepsis and, in 1910, called attention to the hazards of health that might arise in the human mouth. Onbf a few years previous Billings and Rosenow, of Chicago, had enunci- ated their historic theory of the relationship between dental and systemic disease. dll of this work had a tremendous impact upon t the practice and development of dentistry in this , country. The emphasis, which previousb had been placed on the mechanical aspects Q' dentistry, was now shgfted to the biologic phases cj dental practice. A knowledge Q' the basic sciences became essential and the associated sciences were enlisted to aid the practice of dentistry. This development is, perhaps, the most significant in the modern history J dentistry. It established dentistry as a profession that has a distinct province in ministering to the health of the public. It demonstrated undeniabbf the important relationship between dental and general health W ee' 0 . O2 my K?-JV 0 . I

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the practice of medicine and often operated in open 1 hostility to it. Its literature did not exist and its recruits came from those restless souls who were willing to try their hand at anything. Commer- cialism and exploitation were part and parcel of T dental practice and the social standing W' the practitioner was not even that of the accomplished artisan. Dentistry in short, had little cj the noble blood U the arts and less of the heritage of science. Then came Haydenland Harris in I8-10. The education of dentists was put on a rational and scientyic basis. Rudimentary medical science was taught to future practitioners and the foundations ry' a rationale for dental practice were laid. Through the dec- ades commercialism was driven from dental educationg the basic sciences becanze fundamentals of the dental courseg the dental technics in clinic and laboratoiy were rcyined. Increased too were the preliminary educational requirements necessary to the practice cy' dentistry until, today, the minimum requirements for dental practice are two years of liberal arts college education and four years of dental education. As dentistry began to expand its services to the public, there was increasing need of measures to control the charlatan. State by state, legislation was adopted to regulate the requirements and admission ey' dental practice until the system was evolved which today protects the public from the untrained and the unqualyied. For many years after the foundation of the jirst dental college, the emphasis Q' dental practice was laid upon materials and physical procedures. The mechanical obstacles to be overcome in the dnficult technical procedure of filling and restoring the teeth were many. But the pioneers applied a re- markable ingenuity to solve them and their success is attested by the many methods cy' theirs which are still in use to this day. This technical advance, perhaps more than any other, has characterized American dentistry until today jinds it leading all of the other countries of the world. The interchange Q' ideas that comes with organization was soon to give its benefits to dentistry. Dental societies were organized and grew in in- fluence until they became the nucleus cy the American Dental Association which represents the profession in this country at the present time with a ales ., 5 v 'ncaa 'N ja k 95 X-4- ,?N'G,e5, Q 0 o 0 6

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9 9 and forged the inseparable link that now exists between medical and dental science. Dentistry had now substantially increased the basis cy' its practice. Den- tistry now included not only the relief q' pain, but the scientfc restoration of lost teeth, the correction of the deformities cy' the palate and lips, the treat- ment Qf fractures involving the maxillojacial bones, the exploration and diagnosis of the relationship between oral and systematic disease, and the removal of foci of infection through therapeutics, extraction and surgery. Almost all cyf these advances were made possible through the technical work of the earbf pioneers, the development cy s anesthesia for dental operations, the carb use of the x-ray in the service of dentistry, the pioneer work W' dentists in the early repair cy' clqt palates and harelips and in the more complete under- standing of the relationship between dental and systematic diseases. In order to fix these gains, dentistry began to inquire into the scientyfc basis cy' the conditions which came into its notice. This early dental re- search was to be increased to the tremendous extent at which dental research is now being carried on in this country. In its advancing standards, in its scientgic discipline lies the future hope of advancement for American den- tistry. The causes of an almost universal disease-dental caries-are within the power of dental research to reveal. The continued, patient and otganized search for these causes will ultimately provide dentistry's opportunity to ojer this knowledge to the happiness and health of the American people. This story of dentistry's frst century can not be told adeguatebf in terms ty' scientnic progress. It must recognize the human qualities that contributed so immeasurabbf to it. The story Q' dentistry in the United States is the stoiy of great men, not all of whom can be enumerated here. It is the story of Hayden and Harris, of Wells and Alorton, of Allport and Black, Q' Brophy, ffohnson and Logan, of Gilmer, of Taggart, and Bonwill and the host of others whose names are immortalized in the history mf dentistfy's frst century. J UQCSJX 'f,5f s'-'by 0 O O D v Y fl3.y,ief,gi.fQ,fgg..g s J J