Advancements of Dental Science in 1900s Essays

Advancements of Dental Science in 1900s Essays Advancements of Dental Science in 1900s Essay Advancements of Dental Science in 1900s Essay The unparalleled leadership of American Dentistry beginning in the 1920s developed largely because of the improvement and consistent reliability of dental materials brought about by the research programs at the National Bureau of Standards from 1920s until present day. This advancement in dental science was due to the symbiotic private and public sponsorship of research programs by the cooperative research group between the American Dental Association and the National Bureau of Standards. In the oral history interview of George C.  Paffenbarger, D. D. S, he explains his involvement as a researcher and leader in the dental field as well as advancements made due to the work of this research program. Dr. Paffenbarger’s own dedication to purpose and constant endeavor to enhance and expand the science of dental materials is evident in his recollections of programs and events in which he participated. The integration of government regulation in standardizing dental materials was pertinent to the forward growth of the dental field. Dr.  Paffenbarger’s account is informative and perceptive, demonstrating how the emerging vision of â€Å"professionalism† in American dentistry could be accomplished through the advancements of the dental field. The beginnings of government funded dental research begun during World War I when the Army wanted to procure dental amalgam but had no criteria. At the time the National Bureau of Standards was the chief physical laboratory to the government so the Army wrote to them requesting a standard for amalgam in order to put in a bid request in 1919. Separate manufacturers were producing dental materials but due to the lack of authoritative literature in dental materials orders for these products were based on advertised brand names not facts. The National Bureau of Standards contacted Dr. Wilmer Souder, a physicist, whose further research exposed the lack of knowledge about dental materials used in practice. Dr. Paffenbarger’s account of Dr. Souder’s involvement in the dental field demonstrates a clear responsibility in the beginnings of dental research. Even in his closing statements of the interview he stresses how Dr.  Souder’s â€Å"foresight, his determination, and how his energy and scientific experience was applied to the development of this dental research program here at the National Bureau of Standards is truly phenomenal. † After basic research Dr. Souder realized there was a general lethargy of the dental profession and the dental manufacturers and the government. Paffenbarger even recounts Dr. Souder’s story of speaking to a dentist about amalgam material and the response was Well, we have to just say what the manufacturer says. We don’t have any source of information about what we are using here. We don’t have anything equivalent to the U. S. P. on drugs. We don’t have any standards, or any criteria except just trial and error in the patient’s mouth. To do something about this, Dr. Souder wrote to the American Dental Association to see if they would be interested in establishing a research associateship, which the National Bureau of Standards had been able to do after organic law was passed by Congress. This began the relationship with the American Dental Association and National Bureau of Standards. The importance of Dr.  Souder in the emergence of the dental field is a widely accepted notion by historians. In an article written by W. T. Sweeney published by the National Bureau of Standards in 1972, the author gives a report on the most outstanding events, personnel, and accomplishments of the dental research program in honor of the 50th anniversary of the program. It is evident from the beginning in Sweeney’s article when she states, â€Å"the name of Dr. Wilmer Souder is the most outstanding of all the scientific staff because he is responsible for setting the character and ideals of the program. † Her writings parallel that of Paffenbarger as she states it was his realizing of the necessity of cooperative effort between dental profession, manufacturers, and general public as represented by the government. Sweeney’s article also states how the original request from the War Department to the National Bureau of Standards in 1919 initiated the changing of the dental field by exposing the lack of standardized practices. This article goes into further detail of how Souder obtained numerical evaluations by measurement and delineated his procedure so his results could be repeated and checked. This practice gave a new point of view to the dental field materials. In both Paffenbarger and Sweeney’s account, Souder realized that the dental field needed much further investigating and an important field to do research in, especially from a health standpoint. This led to the first expansion of the dental field by the addition of research associates to the group. The first request from the National Bureau of Standards to the American Dental Association was denied, stating that the American Dental Association was not interested. Paffenbarger explains how Dr. Souder decided to wait to re-contact the association for about two years. During this time he set up to find other sponsors for research associateship. Sweeney’s article agrees with Paffenbarger’s account of the support by the Weinstein Research Laboratory. Their research focused on measurements of properties of gold alloys and standardized precision casting. In having hard-fast results that could be repeated, Sweeney states how this is an example of the cooperative effort producing scientific results. This original success was published and introduced dental science to the field of research and even convinced the American Dental Association to join forces. In Paffenbarger’s account he stresses the importance of this event to the formation of cooperative research, but in Sweeney’s article he divulges into how their reports â€Å"justify Souder’s prediction that well trained chemists could determine accurately the composition of dental allows. † Sweeney’s emphasis on education and analyses of trade brand materials further opens up to the new field of standardized dental materials. As the interest in dental materials grew the American Dental Association joined the National Bureau of Standards in 1928. One of the main issues discussed by Paffenbarger was the lack of dentists involved in research. The group had physicist, chemists, and many other scientists, but not a dentist. In order to keep the research headed in the direction of dentistry Dr. Paffenbarger was elected chief of the American Dental Association group. The addition of Dr. Paffenbarger to the joined research unit is seen as a turning point in dental research. In his oral account Paffenbarger states how his scientific understanding of the tooth as an organ with no blood supply allowed for researchers to gain interest in dental materials that would enable them to restore tooth function. Multiple times in Paffenbarger’s account he mentions the insistence from his advisors and teachers of the necessity of a dentist at the head of research. This fact is further supported in an article James L. Gutmann, DDS, who states that as the unit’s lead scientist, Dr. Paffenbarger guided research toward unparalleled advancements in developing standards to ensuring that products  perform predictably, safely and effectively. The emergence of American dentistry’s professional image occurred with Paffenbarger at the head of research. In the second chapter of Stine Grumsen’s dissertation on the critical history of American dentistry, she discusses the struggle of authority and recognition by dentists. Unlike most professions â€Å"American dentistry did not evolve from a trade to a professions emancipated from trade, but rather, that business was a prerequisite of professional success. † She agrees it was not until Dr. Paffenbarger was placed at the head of research that the dental professional image emerged. It was through his guidance and teaching that dental research took off correct direction. With Dr. Paffenbarger at the head of research one of their first priorities was to have a list of certified materials. In order to have a certified list the American Dental Association tested for â€Å"specification formulation† to find a average consistency between the groups of cooperative dentists of their measurements and techniques. Paffenbarger and the research unit believe that by standardizing materials and techniques information can be obtained in any laboratory office. To begin this the American Dental Association cooperated with the Dental Materials Group of the International Association for Dental Research, which eventually phased into the American National Standards Institute. Paffenbarger states how this was a unique situation in how the Bureau of Standards allows testing of commercial materials in their facilities. The merging of public and private enterprises to test commercial materials was discussed in Sweeney’s article as an arrangement that â€Å"made for a much broader base of operation and the liaison has proven most profitable to all concerned. † By combining government-based programs with private associations the American Dental Association was able to set up the standards in materials and techniques used and publicize results of research. This is important in the advancement of dentistry because as Paffenbarger discusses, previously dentists were easily swayed by false advertisements made by manufacturers and without any standardize testing of the material they were unsure which product actually worked. As well, results of research were now useful to the general dentist and the public due to the general settings applied to future research. The initial testing of dental materials was actively opposed by manufacturers. In Paffenbarger’s account he discusses how the president of Kerr Dental Manufacturing Company, Robert Kerr, believed that the work at the Bureau was interfering with commercial advances and manufacturers. He claimed the research had only included a few of the dental manufacturers, which was disrupting trade. Dr. Paffenbarger however continues on to state that the standards and specifications that led to the certification programs of dental material was the subject of real objection. Previously, due to lack of standardized research dentists knew little about the materials they were using and were dependent entirely upon the manufacturers’ advertising. Manufacturers wanted the ability to state that their product was the best or denounce that somebody else’s material would meet the specification. This previous control of dental advertising by manufacturers was discussed as an â€Å"erosion of dentists’ exclusive rights to authority on dental care† in Stine Grumsen’s dissertation. Paffenbarger and Grumsen both agree that the lack of dental knowledge by the actual dentists led to the increased funding from the Federal Government and from the Association. It was this control of the manufacturers of the dental field that led to increased financial support of public and private associations to aid in research of dental materials. With full support of the government manufacturers lost the ability to be the ultimate source of information, which actually led to manufacturers wanting to work hand-in-hand with researchers so they could be part of test methods and evaluation systems being involved rather than being left behind. Paffenbarger states how this led to the cooperation of the International Association of Dental Research, which turned into a committee under the American National Standards Institute. In the close involvement of manufacturers and researchers they worked together for the same goals of dental advancement. It was this unity that helped progress forward rather than the constant struggle seen earlier with manufacturers. The success of this program is seen in the domination of the American National Standards Institute as the â€Å"voice of the U. S. standards and conformity assessment system† still seen today. The intimate cooperating of manufacturer and government association led to the growth and successfulness of the American National Standards Institute. Now the institution oversees the â€Å"creation, promulgation and use of thousands of norms and guidelines that directly impact businesses in nearly every sector. † This coming together of different sponsorships was for one main purpose, to transfer information to the dentist and therefore the patients. In order to get information out to practicing dentists Paffenbarger discuses the importance of publishing research work in scientific journals such as Journal of the American Dental Association and Journal of Dental Research which were created beginning 1913. In these publications they included what method should be used by the dentist in handling materials so that â€Å"one would develop the best values for physical and chemical properties in the materials. † Publications of dental journals were not restricted to the standardizing of practices, but also helped regulate fraud. They exposed false advertisements through the publication of the report and results. If a manufacturers advertised new developments researchers take action by testing and publishing their findings in order to keep American dentists away from false information. The importance of the development of scientific journals is agreed upon by many scientists and historians to have a significant influence on the advancement of dental science. In James Gutmann’s 2009 article, â€Å"The evolution of America’s scientific advancements in dentistry in the past 150 years,† he states how publications of journals such as those used by Paffenbarger and his researchers were â€Å"devoted to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to the mouth and teeth, and to their relation to the body as whole. † This is further accepted in Alyssa Picards’s book, Making the American Mouth, where anything from reports of new materials to expectation of office behavior was described in the major national journals. She specifically points out how these journals militated â€Å"broader professional engagement† in a time where the idea of professionalism enticed dentists. She even gives the example of professional journals in the 1960s urging dentist to become spokespersons for water fluoridation. Bruce Lee Pihlstrom and Michael Glick (2013) further impress the importance of scientific journals to dental advancements in playing a central role in the communication between dentists and dissemination of new information. Journals allowed dentists to be at the forefront of their field, keeping them up to date as well as their patients. Pihlstrom and Glick show that since the publications of scientific journals life expectancies have risen from 50 to 75, as well as a decline in diseases such as tuberculosis. This positive correlation of better health conditions associated with the publication of journals suggest the information being passed in the journals is used by the readers to better their lives. American Dentistry boomed in the 1920s because of the improvement and consistent reliability of dental materials brought about by research programs at the National Bureau of Standards. Dr. George C.  Paffenbarger gives us an accurate and perceptive account of the symbiotic relationship formed between private and public sponsorships that helped further dental advancements. Through associations such as American Dental Association and the National Bureau of Standards standardizing dental materials and procedures was accomplished. Dr. Paffenbarger was at the forefront of American Dentistry and his account of the advancements of dentistry accurately reflects historian’s data. Annotated Bibliography American National Standards Institute, â€Å"Historical Overview,† 20 January 2013, ansi. org/about_ansi/introduction/history (5 April 2013). This website was used to gain information on the current American National Standards Institute. I was unable to find a secondary source that attested to ANSI and the advancements in the dental field, so instead I used this website to show the continued success of the American National Standards Institute. Grumsen, Stine S. Casting for Good Will: Profession, Trade and Identity in American Dentistry, C. 1910-1950 (Denmark: Department of Culture and Society, 2012), 1-147. In this dissertation by Stine Grumsen she examines the history of American dentistry through the study of advertisements. This article is great because of the correlation between public knowledge of dentistry through the examination of dental advertisements. She suggests that advertisements have increased the struggle of dentists to be recognized as an authority. This article continues into the use of journals to debate false claims made by advertisers that could be tested and publicized. Gutmann, J. L. â€Å"The evolution of America’s scientific advancements in dentistry in the past 150 years,† Journal of the American Dental Association 140 (September 2009): 15. Gutman’s article was useful in that it gave a brief overview of major advances in dentistry during the past 150 years. This article goes into four major events that had a significant effect on bringing science to dentistry, but I only focused on the formation of scientific journals and the role of Dr. Paffenbarger in the dental field advancements. Paffenberger, George C. Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 1-136. In Dr. Paffenbarger’s primary account of the advancement in dental field, he gives the reader an entire overview of his life. This includes how he got involved in the dental field at an early age shadowing his father. His interest in dentistry sparked because of this and he continued to study the science of dental medicine. As an enthusiastic student he went on to become one of the fore runners of research at the American Dental Association. He headed the research of hundreds of experiments, as well as traveled the world to gain more knowledge and to teach all he could. Paffenbarger accounts how the dental field continued to advance due to the involvement of private and public sponsorships such as the government and Associations. He discusses all aspects of the research field in the early 1920s. This includes the dynamic relationship with manufacturers, the use of scientific journals to spread the word of recent research, as well as new organizations formed to further the dental advancements. Picard, A. Making the American Mouth: Dentists and Public Health in the Twentieth Century (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2009), 1-241. In her first chapter Picard divulges into the past and present of the dental field. I used this article for more information from the academic journals. Here she discusses not only the use of journals to inform, but how journals actively sought out dentists to fight for the cause! Pihlstrom, Bruce L, and Michael Glick, â€Å"A century of progress: The Journal of the American Dentistry Association celebrate its centennial. † Journal of the American Dental Association 144 (January 2013): 14. This article was used for the data associated with the Journal of the American Dental Association. Since its founding nearly 100 years ago many health conditions have bettered because of the publications of journals. This is because the journals can inform the doctor and the patient about ways to keep healthy and avoid contamination by bacteria or virus. Sweeney, W. T. â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 7-11. This article divulges into dental research at the National Bureau of Standards. It was initiated in 1919 with the work of dental amalgams. The following year research associates from Weinstein Research Laboratory was added to the NBS staff, which was followed by that of the American Dental Association. Sweeney goes into the importance of the cooperative program with the American Dental Association and its impact on dentistry. [ 1 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 137. [ 2 ]. Ibid, 20. [ 3 ]. Ibid, 16. [ 4 ]. W. T. Sweeney, â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 7. [ 5 ]. Ibid. [ 6 ]. Paffenberger, George C. Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 15. Sweeney, W. T. â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 7-11. [ 7 ]. W. T. Sweeney, â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 8. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 16. [ 8 ]. W. T. Sweeney, â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 8. [ 9 ]. Sweeney, W. T. â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 8. [ 10 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 11. [ 11 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 6, 9, 19. [ 12 ]. James L. Gutmann, â€Å"The evolution of America’s scientific advancements in dentistry in the past 150 years,† Journal of the American Dental Association 140 (September 2009): 10. [ 13 ]. Stine S. Grumsen, Casting for Good Will: Profession, Trade and Identity in American Dentistry, C. 1910-1950 (Denmak: Department of Culture and Society, 2012), 13. [ 14 ]. Ibid, 11. [ 15 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 20-24. [ 16 ]. W. T. Sweeney, â€Å"Dental Research at the National Bureau of Standards-History and Individuals,† National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 354 (June 1972), 8. [ 17 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 24. [ 18 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 32. [ 19 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 32-36. Stine S. Grumsen, Casting for Good Will: Profession, Trade and Identity in American Dentistry, C. 1910-1950 (Denmak: Department of Culture and Society, 2012), 15. [ 20 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 32. [ 21 ]. American National Standards Institute, â€Å"Historical Overview,† 20 January 2013, ansi. org/about_ansi/introduction/history (5 April 2013). [ 22 ]. George C. Paffenberger, Oral History Interview with Dr. George C. Paffenbarger (Maryland: National Bureau of Standards, 1979), 34. [ 23 ]. Ibid, 37. [ 24 ]. James L. Gutmann, â€Å"The evolution of America’s scientific advancements in dentistry in the past 150 years,† Journal of the American Dental Association 140 (September 2009): 11. [ 25 ]. Alyssa Picard, Making the American Mouth: Dentists and Public Health in the Twentieth Century (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2009), 8 [ 26 ]. Bruce L. Pihlstrom and Michael Glick, â€Å"A century of progress: The Journal of the American Dentistry Association celebrate its centennial. † Journal of the American Dental Association 144 (January 2013): 14.