University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Dentistry - Bushwacker Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

Page 19 text:

practice for several weeks after he discovered it, then went to Boston to introduce his idea. He was hissed and pronounced a humbug, however, because the boy on whom he was demonstrating made an outcry. Later the boy stated definitely that he had felt no pain, but Wells was denounced as a failure, and the learned doctors in Boston would have noth- ing further to do With him. He met with so much discouragement and derision that he returned to Hartford and re- sumed his practice. Dr. Wells also demon- strated the use of ether but it was Dr. Morton who brought it before the public and the pro- fessions so prominently. Dr. Wells became a forgotten man and. after many more discouragements, he failed in health and mind and finally ended his own life. lt was believed that he had experimented too much on himself with anesthesia, causing despondency and health failure. Dr. Wells has been honored since his death by the placement of monuments in his name as the discoverer of anesthesia, and a bronze bust has been placed in the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D. C. Dr. Crawford Long, a . physician, per- formed the first major operation under anes- thesia in 1842. He conceived the idea at one of the ether frolics in which he and his friends engaged from time to time. He lived in an isolated place, however, and no report of this case was made until 1849, after Dr. Morton's results were publicized. Dr. Long died in 1878, after having been stricken with paralysis some time before, and was never aware of the outcome of the disputes that he had evolved by having used ether on a single patient and having made no effort to report his findings. The fourth member of the group was Dr. Charles T. Jackson, a physician who became interested in anesthesia with the dentist Mor- ton. When Morton's demonstrations proved successful Jackson set up the claim of having Suggested the idea. The death of Wells left the fight to Jackson, Morton, and Long. Jackson succeeded in getting some recognition in Europe, but not in the United States. I He originally signed away any rights he might have to it but when Morton's demonstrations were so successful that he was acclaimed by noted Boston surgeons, Jacksonnpubli-shed a Small pamphlet setting forth his Cl31mS f0 priority. Morton and his friends, however. ' Pa swore that it was merely an after-thought on the part of Jackson and that he was trying to edge in on Morton's discovery. Soon YVells' friends joined the fight, insisting that W'ells was really the originator of anesthesia and that Jackson and Morton had merely substi- tuted a different vapor. Then Morton denied that nitrous oxide had any merit and the trouble among the three grew. Jackson finally died in 1880 in an insane asylum in Somer- ville, Massachusetts. Sir James Paget has said that While Long waited and Wells turned back and Jackson was thinking, Morton the practical man went to work and worked resolutely and compelled mankind to hear him. Regardless of any faults he may have had. Morton seems to have been the one who gave the world the advantage of anesthesia, and the matter seemed to have been settled forever by his election to the Hall of Fame in 1921, but through the activity of a group of south- ern physicians, Postmaster-General Farley this year allowed a stamp to be issued cred- iting Dr. Long as the discoverer. Dr. Long was the first person to use anesthesia-this statement is true-but all we can say is that his work did no good since he did not de- velop it. J All four of these men ruined their health in experiments, using themselves as guinea pigs. They all made financial gain, but lost it in the ensuing controversies and squabbles for honor and prestige. They all died broken in body and spirit. Their sacrifices gave the world anesthesia, however, which ranks with the X-ray as one of the greatest of the dis- coveries that have revolutionized the practice of medicine -and dentistry. In addition to the great struggle in the advancement of anesthesia, there were three other great conflicts, often referred to as the three great wars of dentistry. They are known as the Vulcanite War, the Amalgam War, and the Taggart War, and all of them developed because of greed and commercial- ism . . . the desire of a few to make a great deal of money at the expense of the profession. The most disastrous times have produced the greatest minds. The purest metal comes of the most ardent furnace, the most brilliant lightning comes of the darkest clouds. CCha- teaubriandj . . . and so has our profession advanced through disastrous times, heated controversies, and storms. DEAN R. J. RINEHART. ge Fifteen

Page 18 text:

biological training with prevention as the goal. A member of our profession who'does not practice and teach prevention is falling short of his professional duty, and, incidentally, is overlooking the greatest means of establish- ing confidence with patients. We now have facilities for making more perfect diagnosis and we have more coopera- tion from the school, the home, and the State. Each state has a dental health director in its Department of Health, whose duty is to en- courage preventive dentistry. With the aid of the X-ray we can go far- ther in correct diagnosis than was ever dreamed possible before Roentgen discovered this magic kind of photography, in l895, less than a half-century ago. Through con- stant experimenting and research he perfected it to a usable degree but it remained for a dentist, Dr. D. Edmund Kells, to adapt it to use in dentistry a short time later. Dr. Kells sacrificed his life in experimenting to further its use in dentistry. The use of the X-ray in dentistry has been a boon and a blessing. One author states, Hlndiscriminate saving of teeth and roots is now a thing of the past. With the -aid of the X-ray the dentist is able to determine which teeth may be removed and which may be left in the mouth with safety. No longer may the dental profession be accused of erecting mausoleums of gold on a mass of sepsis. We have all heard stories of the pioneers in X-ray who lost hands or arms, and some- times even their lives in perfecting the tech- nique of making X-rays, but few of us stop to realize that these pioneers in radiography have lived only recently inasmuch as X-ray is less than fifty years old. Radiography is one of the most fascinating and intriguing phases of dentistry. When one couples radiography, for more perfect diag- nosis, with anesthesia, for comparatively painless dentistry, he has the two most pow- erful forces in the forward movement of our profession. Into the development of these two divisions of health service went men's hopes, dreams and ambitions-even their lives-that they might lessen suffering and bring greater health and happiness to their fellow men. We have every reason to be proud of the dentists who carried on in bringing these aids to the world. When anesthesia had been scoffed at by men who were prominent in the medical pro- fession, dentists went forward to advance and develop it to its present state of usability. The four men who introduced the various kinds of anesthesia were looked upon with skepticism by their fellow practitioners and even after they demonstrated the value of anesthesia and its usability their troubles were not over. Some of the most bitter contro- versies in the history of medicine and den- tistry occurred through the various claimants of the honor of its discovery. Even had these men all worked together there would still have been discord because members of their own professions scoffed and went so far as to publish signed statements in newspapers de- riding the inventors and condemning the use of anesthesia. The clergy stated that anes- thesia was in direct opposition to the will of God because pain was a dispensation of Prov- idence as punishment for sin, therefore they believed it to be a decoy in the hands of Satan. Stories were told and pictures drawn of evil uses of ether and all of these lurid stories and wild imaginings caused Dr. W. T. G. Morton, the dentist who discovered the value of ether, to be looked upon as a social enemy and menace to the peace and morals of the community rather than a public benefactor and the originator of a boon to humanity. His dental practice was destroyed and his pri- vate life attacked by scandalmongers. ln one town near Boston they burned him in effigy. His friends were intelligent enough to ap- preciate his great services, but the hysteria of the mob and the stubbornness of his col- leagues, along with the misguided religious zeal of the people, proved to be too much for him to bear. His fortune depleted and his health ruined, he was found unconscious one morning by a policeman in Central Park, New York. An ambulance was called but Dr. Mor- ton died before he reached the hospital. Another dentist, Dr. Horace Wells, was the first to use nitrous oxide as an anesthetic in surgery. He attended a lecture and dem- onstration on LAUGHING GAS by Mr. C. Q. Colton, during the course of which Dr. Wells' friend was given gas and while under its influence injured his leg severely. His statement that he felt no pain caused Wells to believe that it could be used in dentistry. He .tried it in his office the following day. having one of his own teeth extracted in the experiment. He used it successfully in his Pa ge Fou rteen

Page 20 text:

O RD OF TR TEE These four men organize the faculty. determine the policies of the school, and handle the finances. lt is due to their excellent management that the school has reached and maintained its present high standard in the teaching of dentistry. We are fortunate to have the services of such imminent men. HAROLD P. KUHN, A.B., NLD. President Dr Kuhn is one of the great surgeons of our country, and is Professor of Surgery. RALPH L. ADAMS, LL.B. Treasurer Mr. Adams serves as trust officer of the city's largest trust company, GEORGE P. MELCHER, A.B., A.lVl., LL.D. Vice-President Mr. Melcher, the uice-president, is superintendent of the Public Schools of Kansas City. Years of contact with the teaching profeggign hgljg served to giue him a detailed knowledge of the art of instruction. ' Page Sixteen ROY JAMES RINEHART, D.D.S. Secretary of dentistry, Dr. Rinehart is the Dean of the school and is an internationally known teacher