What DID the early settlers do when they were being twanged by an toothache? Now, if you're like me, a toothache sends shudders down my spine; for some reason we hesitate to make the trip to the local dentist. But, what did the pioneers do? Dental care for the early settlers in Kentucky was provided in several different ways. If there was a physician in town, he normally handled the pulling of the teeth - there wasn't anything like root canals, or a shots to deaden the pain! Also, as you might have figured out, any citizen could help out ... the blacksmith, the barber, anyone who had a pair of pliers and maybe a shot of whiskey to relax the patient! Or ... the individual let the tooth rot away until they could pull it themselves or it fell out. You will note in the old original photographs and paintings of our family that no one smiled. Now I know that this is because it took so long to get the picture taken or the portrait drawn - people couldn't smile that long - but I've often wondered if it was also because they didn't want anyone to see their teeth, or lack of them! Some of the larger cities did have dentists, primarily it is said, east of the Appalachian Mountains. Our town of Glasgow had an early dentist but his tools were rudimentary. By the 1820's, there were only nine dentists shown on the census records of Kentucky. They pulled teeth, sold toothbrushes and possibly pain medications they made in their own office. The mercantile stores in town sold toothache drops and other remedies. In my growing up years (while I date myself!), there was only one dentist in the area who came to our little town once a month. If we got a toothache before then, we either had to drive miles to the nearest larger town or bite down on cloves to deaden the pain slightly. How was a dentist trained? It was done much like many of the early physicians; they studied under another dentist in a program called preceptorship. The student paid the instructor just to sit and watch him as he worked with patients. Then he would be allowed to assist the dental instructor and finally, received a certificate. However, since this was not a controlled program, there was nothing to prevent an individual from putting out his "shingle" saying he was a dentist whether he had any training or not. The first dental school in Kentucky was begun by Chapin A. Harris who had practiced for a time in Frankfort in the 1830's. After a move to Baltimore, Maryland, he in 1840 founded the nation's first dental school - the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Kentucky's first dental school was the Transylvania College of Dental Surgery which opened in Lexington, KY in 1850. (This was not part of Transylvania University). To become a student here, the young man had to have a "good English education" and pay $125.00 for a sixteen-week course. The college closed almost as soon as it had opened, but did complete in three months the first class and awarded degrees in dental surgery to four Kentuckians. The next attempt was in 1860 when the Kentucky State Dental Association was formed with W. D. Stone, a Frankfort dentist, as President. This continued until the Civil War interfered, began again and was chartered in 1870. In 1878, the first dental practice act in Kentucky was passed setting up the Kentucky State Board of Dental Examiners and prohibited "any person to practice dentistry in the State of Kentucky for compensation unless such person has received a diploma from the faculty of a dental college, duly incorporated ... or a certification of qualification issued by the Kentucky State Board." [Robert L. Sprau and Edward B Gernert, History of Kentucky Dentistry, Louisville, 1960]. 188 dentists registered who served in 95 Kentucky communities. The Louisville College of Dentistry was the next school to form, it opened in 1887 at a branch of the Hospital College of Medicate at Central University of Richmond, Kentucky. Under the deanship of Dr. James Lewis Howell, this school demanded a two-year study before graduation; and in 1891, 77 students had graduated. In 1890 the school moved to a building in Louisville and in 1918, the Louisville College of Dentistry reorganized as a school of the University of Louisville. The history of the drill the dentist used - . (Sources shown below). "The earliest devices for doing this were picks and enamel scissors. Then two-edged cutting instruments were designed, they were twirled in both directions between the fingers." "In 1868 the American George F. Green introduced a pneumatic drill powered by a pedal bellows. Fellow American James B. Morrison patented a pedal bur drill in 1871. A further improvement of the Nasmyth-Merry design, it featured a flexible arm with a "hand" piece to hold the drill, plus a foot treadle and pulleys. In 1874 Green added electricity to the dental drill; powered by electromagnetic motors, it worked well but was heavy and expensive. Plug-in electric drills became available in 1908; by then most dental offices were electrified." Gold leaf as a filling was popular in the United States in the early nineteenth century; Beaten gold was used by 1812. Sponge gold came into vogue in 1853, then adhesives. Baked porcelain inlays were first conceived of in 1862. Crowns and bridges were manufactured thousands of years ago. A crown which was patented in 1885, used porcelain fused to a platinum post, replacing the unsatisfactory wooden posts previously used. False teeth have been around also for thousands of years. But at the time of the early Kentucky settlement, when dentists became available for more and more towns, teeth replacements were a little better than when Queen Elizabeth supposedly filled the holes in her mouth with cloth when she had to speak in public! False teeth were made from animal bones, ivory (especially from elephants or hippopotami), human teeth pulled from cadavers or sold by poor people to raise money. But these human teeth didn't last - they rotted, browned and became rancid. If one was rich, you could buy false teeth made of silver, agate, gold, or mother of pearl. Next came porcelain teeth. Many attempts were made from 1772 on to find a way to deaden the pain of extraction and dental work; I won't list them here. Nitrous oxide was finally made a practical anesthetic in 1863. Cocaine was widely used as a local anesthetic. Source: http://www.smiledoc.com/dentist/denhis.html According to the University of Louisville College of Dentistry, the following records are available for their School of Medicine: Date/Extent : ca. 1837- Description : Records of the University of Louisville School of Medicine and its predecessor schools are held in the History Collections of Kornhauser Health Sciences Library including records from the University of Louisville School of Medicine which traces its history from the Louisville Medical Institute (1837 to 1845), the Medical Department of the University of Louisville (1846 to 1922), and other schools absorbed by the University of Louisville including the Kentucky School of Medicine (1850 to 1908), the Louisville Medical College (1869 to 1908), the Hospital College of Medicine (1873 to 1908), and the Kentucky University Medical Department (1898 to 1907). These records date to 1837, with a fairly complete set of school announcements or catalogs, listing the names of the faculty and students, the required classes and texts, the cost, and other pertinent information. Faculty minutes date to 1859, along with faculty photographs. Admission to medical classes and lectures in the 19th and early 20th centuries was by matriculation tickets, and there are samples of those dating to 1848. There are student records, mainly in the form of ledgers, for some of the schools, beginning in 1875. Class photographs date to 1886 and document most graduating classes from all of the various schools. There is also an incomplete set of photographs of the anatomy classes beginning in 1892. Commencement programs start in 1909. More recent records include a consultant's report of 1948, curriculum committee records from 1957 to 1967, accreditation reports from 1965, Alumni Bulletin, executive committee minutes from 1923 to 1927, reports, correspondence, and other general material from the office of the medical school dean from 1923 to 1978. There is memorabilia from the university's centennial and sesquicentennial celebration, along with various publications of the schools and student organizations including yearbooks. The collection also includes records of the history of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry (previously the Louisville College of Dentistry, Department of Central University of Kentucky and associated with the Hospital College of Medicine (1887 to 1900); and the Louisville College Dentistry, Department of Central University of Kentucky (1900 to 1918). Also present are class photographs beginning in 1889, school publications such as newsletters and yearbooks beginning in 1908, annual bulletins or catalogs beginning in 1918, faculty records which date to 1923 and include minutes, contracts (1930 to 1937), scrapbooks (1945 to 1969), and grant proposals. There is material related to the dental hygiene program, as well as photographs of the buildings, clinics and laboratories, and deans of the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nursing. There also is a collection of records relating specifically to the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, including those of the library administration, complete with book and journal orders, financial records, faculty minutes, director's correspondence, annual reports, reference requests, publications, and photographs of the construction of the library and commons building which houses Kornhauser Health Sciences Library. The history of the Medical Library Committee and the Friends of Kornhauser Health Sciences Library are documented by minutes, reports, correspondence, and photographs from 1919 to 1980. Among the History Collections also are the papers of Joan Titley Adams, Director of the Health Sciences Library from 1961 to 1978. Repository : Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, 500 South Preston Street, Louisville KY 40202 Mailing Address: Kornhauser Library, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 40292 Cross Streets: between Muhammad Ali Blvd. and Chestnut St. Building Location: The second floor of the building behind the large sculpture in the courtyard. Check http://www.louisville.edu/library/kornhauser/subpages/info/faq.html to find out library hours, availability of help, etc. (c) Copyright 12 Sept 2002, Sandra K. Gorin. All rights reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ GORIN worldconnect website: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~sgorin SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html