Surgery
Artifacts from the realms of dental surgery and tooth extraction are among the most evocative in this exhibit. Prior to the nineteenth century, extractions were performed not by physicians, but by surgeons, or even by charlatans who blended tooth extraction with a kind of street theater (Jones, 2000). The evolution of dentistry as a profession led to the development of different kinds of tools intended to confront the difficult problem of pulling teeth without causing collateral harm to the patient (Bennion, 1986).
Pelicans, named for their resemblance to the beak of a pelican, are first mentioned in the dental literature by Guy de Chauliac in the fourteenth century. Consisting of bolsters and claws, the pelican was designed to act as a lever in order to remove teeth. Designs varied over time, as did the professional support accorded to use of the pelican. The tendency of the pelican to damage other teeth, or even to injure the jaw itself, makes it an ambivalent piece of dental history (Bennion, 1986).
During the eighteenth century, tooth keys were widely used for the extraction of teeth. Using a bolster and claw system similar to the pelican, tooth keys would be quickly “turned” by the practitioner in order to wrench the tooth out of the patient’s mouth. Unfortunately, the tooth key’s speed and the force that it brought to bear on the offending tooth were not without their disadvantages. Tooth keys were known to break teeth, damage jaws, and bruise the gums (Bennion, 1986).
Dental elevators, also used for extraction and for the removal of remaining roots or broken teeth, form a thread that runs throughout the four centuries covered by the exhibit. The surprisingly small degree of difference in the style of these objects from the nineteenth century to the modern era reinforces the sense of continuity in the history of dentistry (Bennion, 1986).
The forceps in this exhibit date from the nineteenth century to the present day, and show only slight variations in design. Centuries-old and designed to loosen and extract teeth, the forceps are as effective or destructive as the practitioner who holds them (Bennion, 1986).
Other objects, such as sutures, allow a glimpse into dental surgery from the surgeon’s perspective, and also demonstrate the evolution of dental surgery toward a standard of sterilization and patient care.
