The development of dentistry in brief plus a little about history of dentistry in India.

1. HISTORY OF
DENTISTRY
By: Navreet Kaur Bajwa
III Prof
1132

2. A profession that is ignorant of its past
experiences has lost a valuable asset because
“it has missed its best guide to the future.”
B.W. Weinberger
Dentistry: An Illustrated History (Mosby,
1995)

3. THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
The Indus Valley Civilization has yielded evidence of dentistry
being practiced as far back as 7000 BC. This earliest form of
dentistry involved curing tooth related disorders with bow
drills operated, perhaps, by skilled bead craftsmen. The
reconstruction of this ancient form of dentistry showed that the
methods used were reliable and effective.

4. THE SUMERIANS
A Sumerian text from 5000 BC
describes a "tooth worm" as the
cause of dental caries.
Evidence of this belief has also
been found in ancient India, Egypt,
Japan, and China.
The legend of the worm is also
found in the writings of Homer, and
as late as the 1300s AD the
surgeon Guy de Chauliac still
promoted the belief that worms
cause tooth decay.

5. THE EGYPTIANS
Hesi-Re was the earliest dentist
whose name is known. He
practiced in 3000 BC and was
called “Chief of the Toothers.”

6. Egyptian pharaohs were known to have suffered
from periodontal (gum) disease. Radiographs of
mummies confirm this fact.

7. “The earliest evidence of
ancient dentistry we have is
an amazingly detailed dental
work on a mummy from
ancient Egypt that
archaeologists have dated to
2000 BC. The work shows
intricate gold work around
the teeth. This mummy was
found with two donor teeth
that had holes drilled into
them. Wires were strung
through the holes and then
around the neighboring
teeth.”

8. 1700-1550 BC
An Egyptian text, the Ebers Papyrus, refers to diseases of the
teeth and various toothache remedies.

9. THE CHINESE
By 2000 B.C. the Chinese were
practicing dentistry.
Around the 2nd century A.D. the Chinese
developed a silver amalgam paste for
fillings (more than 1000 years before
dentists in the west).

10. Hippocrates
THE GREEKS

11. Aristotle (384-322 BC),
the great philosopher,
referred to teeth in many
of his writings.
Aristotle mistakenly stated that men had 32
teeth and women had only 30. From this came
the use of the term “wisdom teeth,” which only
men supposedly had.
Aristotle

12. THE ETRUSCANS
They practiced dental prosthetics using gold crowns
and fixed bridgework.

13. THE ROMANS
Romans were skilled in restoring
decayed teeth with gold crowns.
They then used toothbrushes called
“chew sticks” and were actually
small branches, with one frayed
end. They were rubbed on teeth to
scrape off any particles.
Chewsticks

14. Roman medical writer
Cornelius Celsus in his
writings referred to the disease
that affect the soft parts of
mouth and their treatment.

15. THE ARABS
They were interested in
the care of teeth rather
than in their extraction
and replacement, and
mouth hygiene was a well
established technique.
They used small wooden
stick, the end of which
was often chewed, the
wood fibers being used as
a brush called “Siwak”

16. THE RENAISSANCE
Leonardo Da Vinci studied human anatomy
and sketched every part of the human body. He was the
first to differentiate between molars and premolars.

17. DENTAL TOOLS
In the 14th century, Guy de
Chauliac, invented the
dental pelican (resembling
a pelican's beak) which
was used to perform dental
extractions up until the late
18th century. The pelican
was replaced by the dental
key which, in turn, was
replaced by modern
forceps in the 20th century.
Guy De Chauliac

18. DENTAL PELICAN

19. DENTAL KEY

20. Dental Forceps

21. LATE 14TH CENTURY
The first modern idea of toothbrush was invented in China.
This idea was introduced into the western world in 16th century.

22. The first book focused solely on
dentistry was the "Artzney
Buchlein" in 1530.
The first dental textbook written
in English was called "Operator
for the Teeth" by Charles Allen in
1685.
BOOKS

23. 16TH CENTURY
Pierre Fauchard is the father Of
Modern Dentistry.
He developed dentistry as an
independent profession from
medicine.
In 1723 he published “The Surgeon
Dentist”.

24. The first known case
of post-mortem in dental
forensics was reported
in 1776. Paul Revere, a
dentist, verified the
death of his friend Dr.
Joseph Warren in battle
of Breed’s Hill when he
identified the bridge that
he constructed for
Warren.
Frenchman Nicolas
Dubois de Chemant
received the first patent
for porcelain teeth in
1789.

25. John Greenwood
constructed the first
“Dental Foot
Engine” in 1790. He
adapts his mother’s
foot treadle spinning
wheel to rotate a
drill.

26. Josiah Flagg, a prominent
American dentist in the
same year, constructs the
first dental chair. To a
Windsor chair he attached
an adjustable headrest
plus an arm extension that
could hold instruments.

27. Richard C.
Skinner in 1801
writes the
“Treatise on the
Human Tooth”,
the first book
published in
America.
17TH CENTURY

28. Samuel Stockton begins commercial manufacture of
“porcelain teeth” in 1825. His S. S. White Dental
Manufacturing Company establishes and dominates the
dental supply market throughout the 19th century.

29. In 1833, the Crowcour brothers introduce amalgam in US and
advertise it as substitute for gold restoration. The American
Society Of Dental Surgeons denounced the use of amalgam
and this is known in Dental history as “Amalgam Wars”.

30. In 1839, World’s first
dental journal “The
American Journal Of
Dental Science”
begins publication.

31. Also Charles Goodyear invented the vulcanization process for
hardening rubber resulting in Vulcanite. This inexpensive
material could be easily molded to mouth.

32. Horace Hayden and Chaplin
Harris in 1839 established the
world's first dental school, The
Baltimore College Of Dental
Surgery and the Doctor of
Dental Surgery (DDS) came
into being.
In 1840, The American
Society of Dental Surgeons,
the world’ s first national
dental organization, is
founded.

33. In 1840, Horace Wells, a Connecticut dentist discovered the
use of nitrous oxide as an anesthetic agent.
In 1846, another dentist, William Morton, discovered a better
anesthetic agent i.e. Ether.
William Morton giving public demonstration of Ether.

34. The first dental laboratory, Sutton & Raynor was established in
New York City in 1854.
H. N. Wadsworth from US got the first patent for toothbrush in
1857.

35. American Dental Association was formed in 1859. Twenty-six
dentists met at Niagara Falls, New York to form the
association.

36. In 1864, Rubber Dam was
invented by Sanford C.
Barnum.
Sanford C. Barnum

37. Lucy Beaman Hobbs
the first woman to earn
the dental degree from
Ohio College of Dental
Surgery. She
graduated in year
1866.
Lucy Beaman Hobbs

38. In 1871 James B.
Morrison patents the first
commercially
manufactured foot-treadle
dental engine.
The same year George F.
Green received a patent
for the first electric dental
engine, a self contained
motor and handpiece.

39. The Wilkerson
chair, the first
pump-type
hydraulic chair
was introduced in
1877.

40. Dr. Washington
Sheffield of New
London, Connecticut
manufactured
toothpaste in
collapsible tube and
called it Dr.. Sheffield’
s Dentifrice in 1892.

41. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, discovered the X-Rays in 1895.
While a Prominent New Orleans dentist C. Edmond Kells takes
the first dental X-Ray in 1896.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Edmond Kells

42. In year 1899, Edward Hartley Angle classified various forms of
malocclusion.
Edward Hartley Angle Angle’s Classification

43. 18TH CENTURY
Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) is formed in year
1900.

44. In 1913, Dr. Alfred C. Fones opens the Fones Clinic For Dental
Hygienists in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the world’s first dental
hygiene school. He came to be known as “Father of Dental
Hygiene”.

45. 1921- The first dental school
for dental nurses came into
being in New Zealand in
Wellington, at the urge of T.
A. Hunter.
In 1938, the nylon
toothbrush made with
synthetic bristles, introduced
by DuPont.

46. In 1945 the water fluoridation era begins and fluoride is added
to public water system while in 1950 the first fluoridated
toothpaste was marketed.

47. The Oral Health unit
was established in
World Health
Organization in 1948.

48. In 1957, John Borden introduced a high speed air-driven
contra-angle handpiece. The air rotor obtained speeds up to
300,000 rpm.

49. In 1958, fully reclining dental chair were introduced.

50. The early 1960’s witnessed the development of department of
community and social dentistry. The first of these units were
introduced in Detroit, Alabama and Kentucky.

51. In 1969, WHO establishes the WHO oral epidemiological data
bank which collects data on dental health and dental needs in
many countries around the globe.

52. HISTORY OF DENTISTRY IN INDIA
1000 BC- Shushrutha
Samhita gives
numerous descriptions
of severe periodontal
disease with loose teeth
and purulent discharge.

53. Charaka Samhita stressed on tooth brushing. The stick for
tooth brushing, should be bitter, pungent or astringent. One of
its end is to be chewed in the form of a brush and should be
used twice a day taking care that gums are not injured. This
was known as “Datun”.

54. Dr. Rafiuddin Ahmed, is
father of dentistry in
India. He became the
first president of All
India Dental
Association.
In 1920, founded the
first dental college of
India in Calcutta.
Initially the course was
for 1 year which
changed to 4 years.

56. In 1920, Dr. Ahmed established the Bengal Dental Association
and established the Indian Dental Journal.
In 1939, he formed the Bengal Dentist’ s Act, the first Dental
government regulation in India.

57. In 1948, Dentist Act is passed by the Indian Parliament in
close association with Indian Dental Association on 29th March.
This was introduced to regulate the profession of dentistry in
India.
This act was amended on 1st of July in 1955 to make the law
applicable to state of Jammu & Kashmir.

58. In 1971, Mr. Orongo started the Department of Community
Dentistry at the Government Dental College, Bangalore under
Dr. Mohandas Bhat.
National Oral Health Care Program (NOHCP) was initiated in
1988 to improve oral health of masses and to prevent/ reduce
the burden of oral disease in INDIA.
During 2002-2003 National Oral Health survey was
carried out by Dental Council Of India.