Top Ten Famous Dentists
Top Ten Famous Dentists (found on HealthCareerNet.)
It’s funny to think of dentists as famous or adventurous. I found this list on HealthCareerNet and thought I would share.
1. John Henry “Doc” Holliday. Primarily remembered for his connection to Wyatt Earp and the infamous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Doc Holliday was a gambler, a gunfighter and a dentist. Holliday left his home in Georgia when he was 19 to study dentistry in Philadelphia. He obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, and then opened a dental office in Atlanta with another dentist. Soon after, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and moved to Dallas, Tex., where he opened a dental practice – but he discovered that gambling was a more lucrative vocation. The rest is, literally, history.
2. Norman W. Kingsley. Often called “The Father of Orthodontics,” Kingsley was a dentist, an artist, writer and sculptor who did pioneering work studying the cleft palate. His 1880 work “Treatise on Oral Deformities” was enormously influential on the field of dentistry.
3. J. N. Farrar. Also referred to as “The Father of Orthodontics,” his two-volume work, “A Treatise on the Irregularities of the Teeth and Their Corrections,” became a standard reference text for many years, in part because of the generous illustrations. Farrar was an expert at designing dental appliances, and he’s credited with first suggested the use of mild force at intervals to move teeth.
4. Sir James Crichton-Browne. Actually a renowned British psychiatrist, Crichton-Browne is famous for his contribution to oral health. A passionate believer in the need to ensure dental care for children, he advocated the use of fluorine in the diets of pregnant women and children almost a half-century before modern research confirmed fluorine’s value in preventing cavities.
5. Edward Angle. During his lifetime, Angle was able to truly change the profession of dentistry. At the Angle School of Orthodontics, he was able to write extensively about different kinds of mouth abnormalities and create devices to correct them. Many of his treatment systems are still used today.
6. Pierre Fauchard. An important French physician Fauchard is credited as “The Father of Modern Dentistry” (nor orthodontics, as that title was already taken – twice). His 1728 book “The Surgeon Dentist” describes basic oral anatomy and function, signs and symptoms of oral pathology, operative methods for removing decay and restoring teeth, periodontal disease (pyorrhea), orthodontics, replacement of missing teeth, and tooth transplantation. His book is regarded as the first complete scientific description of dentistry.
7. Green Vardiman Black. A colorful name led to a colorful life as a dentist. Black became a professor of Oral Pathology at the Missouri Dental College, and while there, he created more than one hundred scientific papers on the subject of dentistry. He managed to standardize many operative procedures during his lifetime.
8. Harvey J. Burkhart. Primarily known for his diplomacy, Burkhart served as the first president of the American Dental Association in 1899. He held several other honorable positions, and during his lifetime, he pioneered many preventative procedures for patients.
9. Thomas Curtis. The first African-American dentist in Alabama, Curtis was the model of an excellent dentist. He made great strides toward ensuring equality in dental care for all.
10. Chapin Harris. Harris is one of the major reasons dentists have journals to study new techniques today. In 1839, he created the American Journal of Dental Science. He served as chief editor and publisher until his death.
For information about dental websites and dental marketing visit www.newdentalweb.com.
You left out Drs. Wells and Morton, the discoverers of inhalation anesthesia. And did you know that a dentist created the stint, that is today used in cardiac surgery?
As Lawrence said .How can you complete the list with out Horace wells . Even now his nitrous oxide is used widly by anaesthetist all over the world
See report in wikipedia—
Born in Hartford, Vermont, Wells was educated in Walpole, New Hampshire before studying dentistry in Boston. After obtaining a degree, Wells set up a practice in Hartford, Connecticut, with an associate named William T. G. Morton, who would become famous for his use of ether as an anesthesia on October 18, 1846.
Wells first bore witness to the effects of laughing gas in 1844 when he volunteered to have it demonstrated on him by Gardner Quincy Colton, a member of a traveling circus. Wells felt nothing, and was the first patient to be operated on under anesthesia, having his tooth extacted later that year by his associate, John Riggs.[1] He then began utilising it on his own patients. He did not attempt to patent the discovery because he stated that pain relief should be ‘as free as the air’.
He gave a demonstration to medical students at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in 1845. However, the gas was improperly administered and the patient cried out in pain. The audience of students jeered at Wells and left the theatre chanting “Humbug! Humbug!” Because of this embarrassment, Wells was discredited in the medical community. Later, however, Wells successfully had one of his own teeth removed while using inhalant anesthesia, proving its uses.[2]
After this disgrace, Wells gave up dentistry and became a travelling salesman for the next two years, wandering Connecticut and selling canaries, shower baths and other household items.[citation needed] In 1847, he left for Paris after being given a demonstration on anesthesia by his prosperous former partner William Morton.
Sometime after returning to the United States, Wells became addicted to chloroform. At that time the effects of sniffing chloroform and ether were not known. [3] In January 1848, Wells self-experimented with chloroform for a week. He became increasingly deranged. One day, delirious, Wells rushed out into the street and threw sulfuric acid over the clothing of two prostitutes. He was committed to New York’s infamous Tombs Prison. As the influence of the drug waned, Wells’ mind started to clear. In despair, he realised the horror of what he had done. Wells then committed suicide, slitting an artery in his leg with a razor after inhaling an analgesic dose of chloroform to blot out the pain.[4]
Wells is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut
thanks for this information
wow.that was a fascinating list.never really looked at dentists in that sorta light..bt somehow,i dont notice any WOMEN in ur list.wernt there any Female firecracker Dentists?
How can tooth decay be cured?
Hi there,
Hey thanks for sharing an amazing post of famous dentists
Thanks,
Jenelia