Temple University School of Dentistry - Odontolog Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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The life story of James Edmund Garretson is a long and interesting narrative. He was bom in Wilmington. Delaware, on October 18, 1828 and took his first major step in his chosen profession when he entered the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery as a student. His dental degree was conferred by that institution on February 29. 1856 and Dr. Garretson started the practice of his profession in Philadelphia. Not satisfied with attaining the degree of D.D.S. James Garretson began the study of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from which institution he graduated with the degree of M.D. in 1859. Being a man of unsatiable spirits he found that academic success alone would not make for a full life. To add to the fulness of his life he married Beulah, a daughter of George Craft, of Upper Greenwich, New Jersey, in the same year that he completed the studies that resulted in his receiving his medical degree. When the Philadelphia Dental College was organized in 1862 Dr. Garretson became a member of the faculty as Professor of Pathology and Therapeutics, but his first connection with this school was short lived. Before he could deliver his course of lectures he resigned to accept a position made available by the resignation of the late Professor D. Hayes Agnew in the Philadelphia School of Anatomy. Dr. Garretson had been a demonstrator at this college for five years. This connection along with a liking for surgery on his part led him into a surgical practice which he continued, with little interruption, for the remainder of his life. This special interest had its effect not only on his own life, but also on the field of Dentistry in general. Through his efforts a special branch of surgery was organized and became recognized as Oral Surgery”, the first specialty evolved for the dental profession. This was followed shortly by the specialty known as Orthodontia. Just as all pioneers were criticised, so was Dr. Garretson. There were numerous complaints that the division was unnecessary. These objections were closely allied with the common medical predjudice of the period that specialties were objectionable. A common question asked in this connection was In what way does Oral Surgery differ from general surgery?” Whether or not the famed doctor ever answered this query is not known, but it is known that by his skill he so impressed his individuality upon his work that oral surgery became a special branch of teaching and was adapted as part of the curriculum of the leading Dental colleges of the United States. Through his connections and interest Dr. Garretson had marked another forward step in the history of Dentistry. His moving spirit was still not 9

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A.M., M.D., D.D.S.

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satisfied. Seeing other fields that he might conquer and others whom he might help he gave up his position as head of the school of surgery and returned to his first educational interest, The Philadelphia Dental College. In 1864 he was made professor of anatomy and surgery at that college. At this point war broke into what was then a well ordered life dedicated to his profession. For a time during the Civil War Dr. Garretson was in active military hospital service. After the war he was appointed oral surgeon to the hospital of th University of Pennsylvania. In 1880 he became dean of the Philadelphia Dental College which position he filled until his death. Dr. Garretson filled a unique place in the special field of his activities. He was a pioneer in a new department, Oral Surgery, and the creator of its technique. He brought to the practice of his life's work the skill and manual dexterity of the trained dentist, to which was added the broad culture and intimate knowledge of his subject required by the educated surgeon. With this educational equipment grafted from his rich natural endowment of personable characteristics, a combination resulted which easily accounts for his phenominal success and wide reputation as a surgeon and a teacher. Cur subject was a striking example of the self made man. His love for his work, his faith and respect for the possibilities of the development of dentistry, and his ambition to secure for it the status and recognition it deserved bore abundant fruit in the example of success which he has left as an example to and a heritage for his profession. This eminent doctor recognized the crudity which characterized the method of performance of the earlier operations done upon the head, face and jaws. He saw that the special training and many of the operative methods of the dentist were, with suitable modification, applicable to surgery within his selected territory. Putting these principles to a complete and practical test soon showed that he had struck the keynote of success. The entire technique, as well as the character of his results, differed from the work done by any of his predecessors as well as the majority of his contemporaries. His work was conservative, always keeping in mind the importance of the cosmetic features of the results. As a result it was necessary for him to design his operations for the purpose of attaining the least possible amount of permanent mutilation. It was Dr. Garretson's custom, as far as possible, in operations upon the jaws, to perform them within the mouth. He carried out this principle to the extent that he frequently operated for the removal of the entire superior maxilla through the mouth without exterior incision. His conservatism was farther manifested in respect to tissues of the oral cavity. One of his cardinal principles was never to remove healthy tissue that might in any degree help to bring about normal restoration of function within the region of operation. When conditions permitted, his operations upon the inferior maxilla always involved this feature. Therefore, it was his custom to leave a thin basiler rim of bone and periosteum for inducing the reformation of the maxillary ridge to be utilized as a base of support for an artificial denture. The doctor's success in operations of this character is in strong contrast with the results shown by the 10