The history of ... Part 3

May 4, 2010

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Editor's note: Jimmy Earll (not his real name) is a practicing dentist in Northern California and a stand-up comic who performs all over North America. His column, Laughing Gas, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo and the new Arizona immigration law (S.B. 1070), here's more history and humor from the pages of Dentistry: An Illustrated History (Malvin E. Ring, D.D.S., Abradale Press).

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Nitrous oxide deadens pain but also produces pleasant sensations and excitement. During the 1830s and 1840s, a vogue developed for inhaling the gas for fun. A young man who tried it, to no good end, was the subject of this comic song of the period, entitled "Laughing Gas." Wellcome Institute Library, London.

Yeah, but do you have a featured column on DrBicuspid.com by the same title? Didn't think so.

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A Dutch artist of the late 19th or early 20th century designed this poster, published in Berlin, entitled "Tabnuttrerken" (Tooth Drawing). The caption describes how important the teeth are, yet how satisfactory it is when aching ones are removed.

Now this won't hurt a bit ... you'll just feel a gentle tug ...

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The pontic (artificial tooth) on the Etruscan fixed partial denture replacing the upper right central incisor has been lost. It probably was the tooth of an ox riveted to the gold strap. Musée de l'Ecole, Dentaire de Paris.

And this whole time I've been throwing away my extracted teeth!

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This advertisement by a Dr. Shiffman appeared in 1898. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Let's hope Dr. Shiffman didn't fix #11!

A self-styled "professor" threatens to extract all the teeth of his patients if his fee is not paid, in this Italian painting circa 1800. Ospedale Santo Spirito, Rome.

I personally would have placed my foot on his sternum for better leverage.

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