Dentistry Through the Ages: a Timeline (Part IV of V)

In Part IV of this 5-part series detailing the evolution of dentistry from its ancient origins to modern day, we’ll take a look at dentistry during the 19^th Century.

1801

Richard C. Skinner writes the Treatise on the Human Teeth, the first dental book published in America. 

1820

Claudius Ash establishes the first dental manufacturing company in London.

1825

Samuel Stockton begins commercial manufacture of porcelain teeth. His S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company establishes and dominates the dental supply market throughout the 19th century.

1830 

French brothers, the Crawcours, introduce amalgam into the U.S., which sparks the “amalgam wars,” a bitter controversy within the dental profession over the use of amalgam fillings because of the dangers cited about their mercury content. Although the American Dental Association later deems amalgam safe, and still does today, some controversy still exists.

1831

James Snell designs the first reclining dental chair.

1839

The American Journal of Dental Science, the world’s first dental journal, begins publication.

1839

Charles Goodyear invents the vulcanization process for hardening rubber. The resulting Vulcanite, an inexpensive material easily molded to the mouth, makes an excellent base for false teeth, and is soon adopted for use by dentists.

1843

The first British Dental Journal is published.

1844

Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist, discovers that nitrous oxide can be used as an anesthesia and successfully uses it to conduct several extractions in his private practice. He conducts the first public demonstration of its use in 1845, but the demonstration is considered a failure when the patient cries out during the operation.

1855

Robert Arthur originates the cohesive gold foil method, which allows gold to be inserted into a cavity with minimal pressure.

1858

The Dental Hospital of London opens, the first clinical training establishment for British dentists.

1859

Twenty-six dentists meet in Niagara Falls, New York, and form the American Dental Association.

1869

Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman, graduating from Harvard University Dental School, becomes the first African-American to earn a dental degree.

1871

A tooth-colored filling material, silicate cement, is introduced.

1871

James B. Morrison patents the first commercially manufactured foot-treadle dental engine. Morrison’s inexpensive, mechanized tool revolutionizes the practice of dentistry. The same year, George F. Green receives a patent for the first electric dental engine. 

1877

The Wilkerson hydraulic dental chair is introduced.

1880

The British Dental Association is founded.

1884

Cocaine is introduced as a local anesthetic by Carl Koller.

1890

Willoughby Miller, an American dentist living in Germany, notes the microbial basis of dental decay in his book Micro-Organisms of the Human Mouth. This generates an unprecedented interest in oral hygiene and starts a worldwide movement to promote regular tooth brushing and flossing. 

1895

German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovers the x-ray, and the following year, a prominent New Orleans dentist, C. Edmond Kells, takes the first dental x-ray in the U.S. of a live person.

1899

Edward Hartley Angle classifies the various forms of malocclusion and is credited with making orthodontics a dental specialty. He also establishes the Angle School of Orthodontia in St. Louis in 1900, the first school of orthodontia. 

In our next installment, we’ll take a look at dentistry up to modern times.  

For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.