Have you ever wondered how dental care came into existence and who initiated dental treatments? Dental Care is so advanced now with pain free surgeries and hassle free technology. What would our ancestors have used to provide dental care? Dr.Smilez has some insight into the history of Dentistry. Having said so, let’s delve a little into the origin of Dental Care.
Would you be surprised if we told you that the history of dentistry dates back to 5000 BC? The Harappan Civilization has remains that suggests drilling of teeth thus hinting at the first Dental Surgeries being conducted 9000 years ago. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates and Aristotle have written about treating decayed teeth and extracting teeth.
Delving into Egyptian History, we see strong evidences of dental practices being conducted back then. Mummies have been opened up to find teeth that have undergone dental procedures.
Moving ahead, the first dental college was opened in 1840, called the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. There began the major evolution of dentistry as dental care and protection came to the forefront.
Pierre Fauchard, The Father of Modern Dentistry was a skilled surgeon and made improvisations by adapting the instruments of watch makers, jewelers for his surgeries. He also described in detail many operative & restorative dental techniques. He suggested the use of Beezwax as a dental filling for tooth cavities.
Here are some interesting and important events in the Dental History
- In 1801 Richard C. Skinner wrote the Treatise on the Human Teeth, the first dental book published in America.
- In 1873 the first toothpaste was produced by Colgate and sold in a jar.
- In 1866 Lucy Beaman Hobbs graduated from the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, becoming the first woman to earn a dental degree.
- In 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen, a German physicist, discovers the x-ray. In 1896 prominent New Orleans dentist C. Edmond Kells takes the first dental x-ray of a living person in the U.S.
- In 1905 Alfred Einhorn, a German chemist, formulates the local anesthetic procain, later marketed under the trade name Novocain.
- In 1938 the nylon toothbrush, the first made with synthetic bristles, appears on the market.
- 1987: Edible toothpaste is invented. What is mainly used by children just learning to brush their teeth was actually invented by NASA so astronauts could brush their teeth without spitting into a zero-gravity abyss.
China claims to have brought bristle toothbrushes into practice. Earlier tooth brushes were small twigs or sticks cut with one bushy end.
Dental Studies & Practice has definitely come a long way with the advancement in technology and safer medications. From knives used by barbers to dental drills used today, dental surgeries have become easier manifold. If you think visiting a dentist now is scary, imagine the plight of your ancestors hundreds of years back!
Dental Care at Dr.Smilez is of highest standard and uses the latest technology to provide pain-free and comfortable dental care. But we’re don’t forget our roots when it comes to the importance that the teeth have been given, thousands of years since. Stay Dental Healthy with Dr.Smilez. Visit our clinic soon!
