Ohio History Journal

DENTISTRY AND DENTAL EDUCATION

 

By EDWARD C. MILLS, D. D. S., F. A. C. D.

 

To obtain a true concept of dentistry and dental education

during the period under consideration, it is necessary to present

a general summary of previous conditions, and of the qualifica-

tions, activities and contributions of some of the pioneers in

dentistry, which ultimately developed into the present system of

dental education.

The course of empire has ever been westward--and this

truism may apply in the development of dental education. The

seed sown by the early pioneers and itinerants in this State, ma-

tured so fully that a heritage of rich harvests were returned to

the East, contributing to the first dental college in the world--

the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1840.

The colonists had their physicians, apothecaries and barber-

surgeons who administered relief to dental, as well as to other

bodily ailments. The earliest known announcement of a dental

nature was by one James Mills in the New York Weekly Journal

of January 6, 1735, who claimed proficiency in extraction.

The first practicing dentist was Robert Woofendale from

England in 1766. He returned to his native country in 1778. He

again came to this country in 1795 and practiced in New York

City for a short period when he was succeeded by his son, Robert.

Contemporaneous with Woofendale, we find John Baker who

practiced in Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. While in

Boston he instructed Paul Revere--the Revolutionary patriot--

at least in the prosthetic branch of dentistry, as evidenced in Re-

vere's announcement in the Boston Gazette of August 29, 1768.

Among others from England, we find the announcement of Mr.

Hamilton, Surgeon-Dentist from London, in the New York

Chronicle, June 1769.

The incessant wars of France during the early years of the

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          387

 

eighteenth century had a tendency to develop surgery, and that

country surpassed her neighbors in this art. Dentistry received

early attention, as in 1700 practitioners were required to be

licensed. Dentistry shared in the advance with surgery to the

extent that a master-hand, in the person of Pierre Fauchard, pub-

lished in 1728--after forty years of practice--a monumental work

in two volumes, Le Chirurgien Dentiste, containing practically all

that was known at that period, and foretold future possibilities

that became a reality.

In December 1785, we find Dr. DuBuque, a Frenchman in

Boston; also Dr. Dustwige in 1780, who announced having studied

in the schools of Paris as an operator on the teeth. During the

Revolutionary period, we find Drs. James Gardette and Joseph

Le Mayeur, also French dentists, had found their way to our

shores--both having recognized ability for that period.

From the foregoing, it is evident that the colonies were be-

coming more attractive to English and French practitioners, most

of whom were of an itinerant type, contributing nothing to the

advancement of dentistry, with but an obsession to satisfy their

monetary desires and then to return to their native country.

John Hunter, who was born in 1728 (the year Fauchard

gave his work to the world) published in 1771 The Natural His-

tory of the Human Teeth and laid the foundation of dental sur-

gery on a physiological and pathological inquiry. Numerous other

works of minor importance followed, devoted to the care of the

teeth, exploiting the ability of the writer. With the opening of

the nineteenth century we come to an epoch in dental history

when events of great subsequent influence began to appear on the

dental horizon.

In 1801, Robert Skinner of New York produced the first

American work entitled, On the Human Teeth. This was fol-

lowed by works by B. T. Longbotham, Benjamin James, Eleazar

Parmly, Joseph Flagg and others, which--excepting the articles

published in medical journals by physicians who were devoting

some of their time to dentistry--was the extent of our contri-

butions up to 1828, when Samuel S. Fitch, just one hundred

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388   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

years after the publication of Fauchard's work, published his

work, A System of Dental Surgery, in three parts: 1--"Dental

Surgery as a Science"; 2--"Operative Dental Surgery"; 3--

"Pharmacy Connected with Dental Surgery." This was the first

systematic treatise published in America, and was intended as a

text in dentistry. A second edition followed in 1835. The author

states that the work is a compilation of everything of value which

had been written upon dental surgery, having made use of the

works of English, French and writers of other countries.

During this formative period many names appear which made

a lasting imprint, and whose ability and precept went far in

moulding the destiny of the art that was within a few years to

rank as a profession, and become an important branch of health

service. Josiah Flagg of Boston was the first native-born dentist

who was exclusively prepared to practice dentistry, and the first

of three generations of dentists of the name, all of whom con-

tributed to the credit and advancement of the profession.

Of the Greenwood family of dentists the father was Isaac

of Boston, who was a wood and ivory turner, and later a dentist.

Four of his sons were dentists, the most distinguished of whom

was John Greenwood, often referred to as one of the dentists

who served General George Washington. His greatest service to

dentistry was his inducement of Horace H. Hayden who had

called upon him for dental services, to adopt dentistry as his call-

ing, and who later became one of the founders of the Baltimore

College of Dental Surgery.

Edward Hudson, who had been educated in Trinity College,

and later received instruction in dentistry from a cousin, practiced

in Dublin, but having become involved in the political movements

of the time, removed to America and established himself in Phila-

delphia in 1805. For more than thirty years his talent and skill

made him a recognized leader and his influence was an important

asset to American dentistry.

John Randall, a graduate of Harvard, later received his medi-

cal degree. He became interested in dentistry because observa-

tions led him to believe that dentistry, as then practiced, was

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          389

 

largely the substitution of lost teeth, rather than the preservation

of the natural ones. He was a highly respected citizen of Boston

where he practiced medicine and surgery, but gave special atten-

tion to dentistry. He died in 1843.

Hayden, who was to be a co-founder of the first dental col-

lege in the world, was born October 13, 1769, at Windsor, Con-

necticut. He began life as an architect and later was a teacher

near Hartford. In New York City, as previously stated, he called

on John Greenwood for dental services and decided to adopt

dentistry as his calling. He procured such literature as was avail-

able and with energy and ambition qualified himself sufficiently to

announce his services to the public. He located in Baltimore in

1804 and was soon actively engaged as a dentist, scientist and

teacher. To perfect himself in his specialty, he studied medicine,

and also gave a course of lectures on dentistry to the medical class

of the University of Maryland. With some reluctance, he assisted

Chapin A. Harris in founding the American Journal of Dental

Science in 1839. He was one of the organizers of the American

Society of Dental Surgeons, August 18, 1840; was elected presi-

dent and continued as such until his death on June 25, 1844.

Leonard Koecher, a native of Hanover, Germany, located in

Baltimore in 1807, became interested in dentistry and practiced

from 1812 until 1822, when he located in London, England.

Through studious methods he acquired an enviable reputation as

a dentist. He introduced several new methods into practice, and

during his residence in London, contributed several treatises on

artificial teeth, obturators and palates.

A resume of the dentists of the Atlantic seaboard would be

incomplete without reference to the family of Parmly. Of the

five sons of Eleazar Parmly of Braintree, Vermont, four became

dentists and through these sons and their descendants, the name

appears frequently in the annals of dentistry.

Eleazar, the third son, studied with his brother Levi S. who

had studied with John Randall, previously mentioned. He prac-

ticed in Montreal, and later--to gain more information--made a

tour of the Western and Southern States, practicing as an itinerant,

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390    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

as evidenced by the following announcement from     the Liberty

Hall and Cincinnati Gazette.

 

E. Parmly, Dentist, Intends staying in this city for a few weeks, and

will devote a share of his time to the duties of his profession. Having re-

ceived the most flattering encouragement from the inhabitants of Montreal

and Quebec (where he regularly studied this surgical branch of science) also

from the citizens of Pittsburgh, Lexington and Louisville, he cannot but ex-

pect similar patronage from the gay, the fashionable, and the wealthy of

this young and flourishing metropolis. Application to be made at his lodgings

at Mrs. Burley's, Main Street. November 3, 1817. 85-tf.

He practiced in New Orleans, then in Paris, and later in

London with his brother Levi S. Parmly. Impaired health caused

him to return to this, his native country, and establish himself in

New York City in 1823. For thirty years he was dean of the

profession in that city and was most active in the events tending

to dignify his calling as a profession. He was the first president

of the first dental society in the world, The Society of Dental

Surgeons of the City and State of New York, organized December

3, 1834. He retired from practice in 1861, having amassed a

fortune through his diversified interests, business acumen and rise

in real estate values. He published a treatise, Disorders and Treat-

ment of the Teeth, in 1822, and after his retirement a volume of

poems, Thoughts in Rhyme.

Dr. Solymon Brown, a contemporary of E. Parmly, should

be mentioned at this time. He has been referred to as "Classical

instructor, author, sculptor, minister and poet-laureate of the

dental profession." After practicing in New York City twenty-

eight years, failing eyesight caused him to dispose of his practice.

Dentalogia, a didactic poem on the diseases of the teeth and their

treatment consisting of five cantos, appeared in 1833 and another

poem, Dental Hygeia, in three cantos, in 1838. His son, E.

Parmly Brown, late of New York City, and a grandson, E.

Parmly Brown, late of Peekskill, New York, well known for

valuable contributions to the history of dentistry, represent the

three generations of dentists in the family. Many other names

are deserving of mention as contributing to the development of

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          391

dentistry, but the foregoing will suffice in presenting the back-

ground of those dentists from the Atlantic States who were to

follow in the wake of the tide of emigration to the West.

Many of the outstanding dentists of that period were medi-

cally trained, often practicing dentistry, not as a specialty, but in

conjunction with medicine. With the phenomenal influx of

population to Ohio during the first quarter of the eighteenth

century, came one such physician in the person of Dr. John

Harris who located at Madison near Cincinnati. He had practiced

medicine several years, and became interested in dentistry and

early recognized pathological conditions of the teeth in relation to

systemic conditions. His technical knowledge according to Dr.

James Taylor--one of his students--was acquired from itinerant

dentists passing through Cincinnati during his residence at

Madison, among whom--during the period 1817-1819--were

Eleazar Parmly; Dr. Plantou, "Surgeon and Dentist from Paris

on his way to New Orleans;" Mr. Green, "Surgeon-Dentist from

England;" G. T. Ratrie, who "would refer any prospective pa-

tients to Dr. Bohrer of the Medical College of Ohio;" C. Munroe,

Dentist, "having perfected himself with one of the most eminent

dentists in the United States, and being an eye-witness to most of

the recent improved operations upon the teeth in the Atlantic

States;" Dr. Rufus Somerby, later of Louisville, Kentucky, who

had studied with Dr. Durroux, a French dentist in Washing-

ton, D. C.

As early as 1820, Harris began devoting more than half his

time to the practice of dentistry. About the year 1825, he located

in the village of Bainbridge, continuing the practice of medicine

and dentistry. In 1824 an Act of the Ohio legislature made it

obligatory that a candidate for examination before the Medical

Censors must "have received instruction under a preceptor."

This afforded an opportunity for Harris, and under the caption

"Medical Instruction," he published an announcement in the

Supporter & Gazette of Chillicothe, November 1, 1827. There

were some ten students who responded to this announcement, nine

of whom later pursued the practice of dentistry. Among these

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392    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

students were Chapin A. Harris (John Harris' brother), and

James Taylor, who were destined to become the founders of the

first two dental colleges in the world--the Baltimore College of

Dental Surgery in 1840, and the Ohio College of Dental Surgery

in 1845.

Previous to and subsequent to this period, it was a difficult

matter to prepare one's self for the practice of dentistry. Dr.

John Harris was fortunate in having had medical training, and in

contacting itinerants acquired his dental technique. For those

without medical training, it was more difficult. Medical education

obtained was from such books as were then available and for

technical knowledge they were under the preceptorship of some

practicing dentist whose skill and qualifications were not always

par. Some interesting documents are "Indentures," binding an

apprentice, and "Contracts," or "Agreements" between the pre-

ceptor and his student.

Dr. James Taylor writing of the subject of dental education

stated, "Dr. John Harris and myself had many protracted discus-

sions on the importance of a medico-dental education and the best

method of securing it. In these we were joined by C. A. Harris."

We here have positive evidence that the idea of formal dental

education was conceived in Bainbridge, and it is certainly no mis-

nomer to refer to this village as "The Cradle of Dental Educa-

tion." It may be of interest to quote in part, John Harris' dictum

regarding pulpless teeth, in a paper read in 1845 before the

American Society of Dental Surgeons, of which he was a member.

"The proper treatment in the majority of cases is the removal of

the diseased organ. ... So many dentists substitute their treat-

ment, which at least is inefficient, and subjects the unfortunate

sufferer to a train of evils far greater than mere toothache itself.

Cures have been speedily and permanently effected by the removal

of diseased teeth, even where they have not been productive of

pain or suspected as the cause of mischief."

The group at Bainbridge by 1830, had drifted to other quar-

ters and in this paper we will briefly follow the destiny of but three

--John Harris, his brother Chapin A. Harris and James Taylor.

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          393

John Harris located in Chillicothe in 1830 and established himself

on East Second Street in a building then standing on the lot where

the old Masonic Opera house was built.

From Chillicothe, he made itinerant trips until about 1834,

when he established himself in Kentucky, practicing in George-

town, Frankfort and near-by towns. A few years later he was

practicing in Annapolis and Frederick, Maryland, and while on

one itinerant trip to Hertford, N. C., he died on July 26, 1849.

While in Kentucky in 1835-1836, he attended medical lectures in

the Transylvania University at Louisville, and also gave a course

of dental lectures in this institution. In 1836 he attempted to have

legislation enacted to establish a dental college in Kentucky. The

records show that on February 10, 1836, there was introduced in

the Senate a bill to "regulate the practice of Dental Surgery in

the State of Kentucky." This would have antedated the Alabama

law by five years. Had Dr. John Harris succeeded in his efforts,

to him would have been given the credit of the first dental college,

and the first enactment to regulate the practice of dentistry in

the States. However, his attempts were without direct results,

but they kindled a desire for improved methods of education and

regulation of practice, and they will ever stand as a monument to

his zeal, enthusiasm and sacrifice in the promotion of dental

science.

Chapin A. Harris was born May 6, 1806, and studied medi-

cine in Madison, Ohio, with his brother John, beginning practice

in Greenfield, Ohio. John Harris--who in the meantime had

located in Bainbridge, some ten miles distant--with James Taylor,

a pupil, made trips to Greenfield and practiced dentistry in the

same office. Chapin A. Harris soon became interested in dentistry

and joined the group of students at Bainbridge, and eventually

devoted his entire time to dentistry. This was indeed fortunate,

because in him was the dynamic force to bring to maturity and

actuality, the ideas that had been lurking in Hayden's mind, in

Baltimore, Maryland. After leaving Bainbridge, he practiced at

several places, including Bloomfield, Ohio, and Fredericksburg,

Va., and in 1835 located in Baltimore.

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394    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Hayden, then in his seventy-first year, and who had been

ambitious in his calling, was desirous of establishing a dental

school as an adjunct to the Medical Department of the University

of Maryland. Hayden had received his medical knowledge there,

and two others interested in the project, Drs. H. W. Baxley and

Thomas Bond, were graduates. The oft-repeated statement that

the faculty considered dentistry of too little importance and re-

fused to cooperate, is without foundation. The "fly in the oint-

ment" seems to have been the fact that Baxley had recently been

dismissed by the faculty of the medical school, and owing to the

bitter controversy that had taken place, the faculty pursued the

policy of "hands off."

Harris' support was now enlisted in the project and after a

visit to New York City to consult the leading practitioners there

as to the feasibility of establishing a school in one of the New

York Medical Schools, he was disappointed and returned to Bal-

timore. During the winter of 1839-1840, almost unaided he se-

cured signatures to a petition to the legislature and as a result an

Act incorporating the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was

enacted February 1, 1840, with Hayden, Harris, Bond and Baxley

as the faculty, with Harris as dean. This act was to continue in

force for thirty years, and at the session of 1870 it was amended

on March 31, making the charter perpetual. On June 15, 1923,

this college was merged with the University of Maryland, under

the title of Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School,

University of Maryland.

Harris was one of the most voluminous writers which the

dental profession has produced. His Dental Art in 1839, as Har-

ris' Principles and Practice, passed through its  ₃th edition in

1896. He was founder and first editor of the American Journal

of Dental Science, the first dental journal in the world, financing

it with his own funds until his death on September 29, 1860. He

was also author of the first Dental Dictionary in the English lan-

guage in 1849, the sixth edition of which was in 1898.

James Taylor, another student of John Harris at Bainbridge,

was one of four brothers, natives of near that village, all of whom

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          395

exercised great influence in developing dentistry in the West.

Taylor later received his medical degree at Lexington, Kentucky,

and practiced medicine and dentistry at Bainbridge. In 1842 he

located permanently in Cincinnati, and in 1844 advocated a dental

school in that city. Fortunately no opposition was met with and

the Ohio legislature, at its forty-third General Assembly (1845)

authorized the establishment of a school to be known as the Ohio

College of Dental Surgery, the second dental college in the world.

Taylor was its first dean.

The college was discontinued July 1, 1926, after an existence

of eighty-one years, much to the disapproval of its alumni, scat-

tered to every quarter of the globe. Taylor was the first editor of

the Dental Register of the West, established in 1847--the second

dental journal in the world. It was discontinued in November

1923, after an existence of seventy-six years. In addition to his

editorial duties, he was a voluminous contributor to dental

literature.

Another factor not to be overlooked as an adjunct to dental

education, is that of professional organizations. These bodies

have frequently been referred to as "Post graduate courses." The

early organizations were handicapped, owing to sparseness of

population when we had but the local society, then, with the in-

crease of population, the State and finally a national organization,

were brought into existence.

The first society--the Society of Dental Surgeons of the City

and State of New York--was organized December 3, 1834, with

E. Parmly, president. It continued until 1840, when most of its

members were instrumental in forming the American Society of

Dental Surgeons, on August 18, 1840. Hayden was the first

president. This society was dissolved August 7, 1856.

The American Dental Convention was first held in Phila-

delphia, August 2, 1855, and conducted its last meeting in 1875.

The American Dental Association was organized at Niagara

Falls, N. Y., on August 3, 1859.

The Southern Dental Association was organized at Atlanta,

Ga., July 28, 1869.

The National Dental Association was organized on August

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396    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

5, 1897, by union of the two foregoing, and on July 21, 1922, the

name was changed to the present American Dental Association.

Nine Ohioans have served as presidents of this association.

The Virginia Society of Dental Surgeons organized at Rich-

mond, December 12, 1842, is deserving of special notice in that

it was the first legally incorporated dental society and the legis-

lative act was the first legislation placing dental interests entirely

in the hands of the profession. The constitution and by-laws of

the society provided for an Executive Examining and Publication

Committee whose duty it was "to appoint a time and place at least

once a year for the examination of applicants for the degree of

Doctor of Dental Surgery; and the certificate shall entitle the

holder to receive the diploma of the Society conferring this de-

gree." Among the requirements for examination was that the

candidate "shall have studied and practiced for the full term of

two years with some practical dentist known to this Society." But

one diploma issued by this organization is known to be extant,

and that is possessed by Dr. W. S. Sedgwich of Newark, Ohio,

to whose great grandfather it was issued on October 15, 1846.

The spirit of organization was early manifested in Ohio.

The Cincinnati Association of Dental Surgeons adopted a con-

stitution on January 6, 1844; and on August 13, of the same year,

the Mississippi Valley Association of Dental Surgeons was or-

ganized in Cincinnati in the lecture room of the Medical College

of Ohio. This was a sectional society, and met annually until

April 15, 1896, having served its purpose well during the fifty-

two years of its existence.

The Northern Ohio Dental Association organized at Cleve-

land, November 3, 1857, met annually until recent years, and was,

at that time, the oldest society in existence operating under its

original name.

Another society, the Mad River Valley Association, was or-

ganized at Springfield, Ohio, October 25, 1859. This organization

served a valuable purpose in the western part of the State, but

due to the Civil War was discontinued until 1865; it again sus-

pended activities in 1876, and was reorganized at Dayton in 1882,

and then discontinued May 18, 1886.

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OHIO MEDICAL HISTORY, 1835-1858          397

 

In addition to the foregoing, some forty societies have existed

in various parts of Ohio, exclusive of the Ohio State Dental

Society and its twenty-three Components.

The Ohio State Dental Society was organized in Columbus,

on June 26, 1866, with a charter membership of forty-one; it

affiliated as a Component of the American Dental Association in

December 1912, and at the close of 1939 had a membership of

2,482. This organization has been of great educational and eco-

nomical value to its membership; has safe-guarded the interests of

the laity, and has taken an active part in promoting all activities

conducive to the health and well-being of the citizens of our State.

We have referred to the Dental Register of the West as the

second dental journal published. Ohio has not been remiss in its

journalistic literature. The Dental Reporter of six undated and

unnumbered issues, and a volume of quarterlies in 1858, and the

Dental Lamp of Cincinnati (1858-1860) had ephemeral existence;

likewise the Practical Dentist, Toledo (1888-1890); the Dentists'

Magazine, Cleveland (1906-1909); and the D. D. S., Dayton

(1906-1911). The Ohio State Journal of Dental Science made

its appearance in February 1881, and continued until 1902, when

it was re-christened the Dental Summary. It was discontinued

December, 1925. For many years it was the official organ of the

Ohio State Dental Society, and in that capacity--like its contem-

poraries--disseminated valuable information to the profession in

the Middle West and preserved to posterity much information of

historical value.

The Transactions of the Ohio State Dental Society were pub-

lished annually, 1875-1883 inclusive; for 1895; 1898 and 1909.

Since May 1927, the State society has published its Journal, issued

quarterly.

Ohio has added many names that will survive in the annals

of dentistry. Our heritage has been one of which we should in-

deed be proud, and which should be an incentive to ever higher

professional ideals and attainments. As this State holds high

rank in various fields of endeavor, it behooves us, as members of

the professions of health service, to contribute our share to that

glory which is hers.

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