Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery - Dental Columbian Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ORAL SURGERY iHRSHT ' . . ' HENRY SAGE DUNNING D.D.S., M.D., B.S. Professor of Dentistry ADOLPH BERGER D.D.5. William Carr Professor of Oral Surgery JOSEPH SCHROFF DOUGLAS B. PARKER FRANCIS S. McCAFFREY SAMUEL BIRENBACH KENNETH F. CHASE B.S., M.D., D.D.S. M.D., D.D.S. B.S., D.D.S. Assistant Professor D.M.D. Associate Professor Associate Professor Associate Professor ° ' Dentistry . Instructor In Dentist-y of Dentistry of Dentistry of Dentistry Ci ft JOSEPH L. McSWEENEY D.D.S. Assistant in Dentistry ALBIN R. SEIDEL F. A. STEWART ROBERT NORTHROP D.M.D. A.B., D.D.S. D.D.S. Instructor in Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry Instructor in Dentistry •MORRIS A. ZIMMER D.D.S. Instructor in Dentistry

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In the fields of observation, chance favors only the mind which is prepared. Louis Pasteur 1822-1895. Such was the inscription upon a plaque on the wall of the entrance hall in a professional building in Pasadena, California which I had the privilege of visiting this past summer. I was so impressed that I copied it into my notebook and have spent many hours thinking over the wisdom of those words. After spending many years preparing for your chosen profession there are three main paths which you may take after leaving school. The first path would be the easiest to follow. Your books would be put away, you would open your office in a desirable section of a city and settle down to the routine of a practice. Finan- cial success may be yours and the social clubs of the community may take up all of your spare time. Professional contacts would not be retained and before long you would be practicing mech- anically. The years will pass without your noticing that you have not made any progress profession- ally, and some day you may even wish that you had gone into some other field or profession. Due to the fact that you must make a living you continue in the easiest path to satisfy your pa- tients or, if you are unable to satisfy them, you roundly condemn your profession and wonder why you have failed. The second path would lead you to join pro- fessional societies, to take graduate courses, and to read the latest books and journals. You would associate with men from whom you could learn, and in a few years you would be happy to look LEROY L. HARTMAN, D.D.S. Professor of Dentistry Sc.D. back upon the progress you had made since leaving school. You would start each day with new enthusiasm, your work would be easy be- cause your patients would appreciate the sincer- ity of your efforts, and success would certainly be yours. The third path would be truly in the field of observation which, in addition to preparation, would call for an unusual amount of persever- ance. Each day as you progress along this path your objectives seem more and more elusiv2. You study, you experiment, you observe the min- utest details and attempt to analyse each new observation. Sometimes your efforts lead you into ch an- nels from which you must retrace your steps in order to start out anew toward your objective. At the end of each day you should review all that you learned during the day and attempt to make some use of your new observations. No matter how honest your efforts may be, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule to have everything run smoothly. The obstacles placed in your path may seem at times insur- mountable and may tax your patience to the limit. The more knowledge you acquire during your years of patient study the better will you bs able to evaluate each new observation. Eventu- ally your efforts may be crowned with a contri- bution which will prove of real value to humanity: and you will then realize that your life ' s efforts have not been in vain. Choose wisely the path which you w : sh tc take and may your honest and sincere efforts lead you to happiness.

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HENRY SAGE DUNN D.D.S., M.D., B.S. Professor of Dentistry N G To the Graduating Class: The dental surgeon of today is supposed to know quite a lot about a good many things. This statement differs from the definition of the spec- ialist who is supposed to know more and more about less and less. No practitioner is supposed to become a specialist, however, until he has giv- en a considerable amount of time to post-grad- uate study and has received much special in- struction in the field in which he wishes to special- ize. After this he must have an opportunity to practice this particular specialty for some years to qualify in a special branch of medicine or surgery. We have not, as yet, found it possible in dentistry to set up spec ' al examining boards to rate certain men as specialists in the various divisions of dental practice. This has been done in the practice of medicine and surgery for some time and most of you, I am sure, know something about the otolaryngological board, the opthal- mological board, the obstetrical board and oth- ers. Some day we may have a qualifying board, for the dental practitioner who wishes to practice exclusively periodontia, oral pathology, ortho- dontia, and perhaps oral surgery, etc. As regards Oral Surgery, I would say that more dental practitioners are today performing surgical operations than heretofore. There are several reasons for this as I see it. First perhaps the economic one. The dentist, like some other practitioners, is loathe to send a patient to a brother practitioner for special services unless he feels that he cannot possibly take care of it him- self. Secondly, the use of procaine has given the dental surgeon a not too bloody field, and one that is well anesthetized, so that he can, without too much remonstrance from the patient, per- form quite an operation. Thirdly, the automobile has given the dentist practicing in the smaller towns, through which large arteries of traffic pass, an opportunity to assist the surgeon in the treat- ment of many injuries of the face and jaws. For the above reasons, many dentists are doing considerable surgery today, without having asked themselves the question, Am I qualified? The purpose of these few words is to ask you young men who feel that you have a flair for dental surgery, to become well trained for this work. You are leaving the dental school with a fair knowledge of dental practice, but remember that you are not anesthetists, and also that you have not had an opportunity, as yet, to qualify as dental surgeons in the finer meaning of these words. You are soon to become members of the great healing art, medicine and surgery, and you must remember that the patient is our first a nd only real concern. Don ' t think for a moment that dentistry is a separate profession; if you practice surgery at all, you are a surgeon. Someone has said that there is no such thing as minor surgery. This, I think, is true and when one of you lacerates the gums in scaling the teeth, you can start an inflammation and infection that can lead to an osteitis and necrosis that may be very serious in its consequences. We must always keep in mind that every patient that comes to us has some kind of trouble, real or imaginary. To them it makes little dif- ference. It is up to us to find the real trouble; too many practitioners are apt to hop to a job without knowing enough about the patient ' s his- tory and physical condition. The object of every surgeon in every field is to relieve suffering, to remove disease or pathology and to repair in- jury. In order to care for our patients scientific- ally we must make a careful diagnosis. All of our treatment depends upon an accurate diagnosis. There is nothing new or mysterious about this. Each of us practicing various branches of med- icine, surgery and dentistry has been doing this ever since our graduation and we cannot go very far in the treatment of the patient without a definite idea as to the ailment from which he or she is suffering. A diagnosis is best made by the process of elimination and a snap shot diagnosis is gen- erally not worth much. Our treatment is gen- erally: I — Medical, such as the treatment of influenza diabetes, etc., or dental medicine which might be placed under the heading of stomatitis. 2 — Surgical, including dental surgery of the teeth and investing tissues, oral surgery, maxillo- facial surgery. Some of the patients coming to you for treat- ment will need the attention of a good medical man or surgeon, and if such is the case, I beg of you to see to it that they receive proper advice and treatment as soon as possible. Have the courage and honesty to say I don ' t know. I think you ought to see Dr. So and So. There are many medical and surgical conditions that you as a practicing dental surgeon cannot be familiar with even though you have studied them in class and have seen patients at the clinics with similar lesions. We have endeavored to give you, at Columbia, a broad dental training, one that we hope will inspire you toward further study and research work in the prevention and treatment of disease. In order to do this your future pro- fessional life must be closely linked up with lab- oratories, clinics and hospitals, as members of the great healing art of medicine and surgery.