Dental Artifacts
Early Sit-Down Dentistry Kim Freeman, M.A., D.M.D., M.S. Before the 1940’s, dentists by and large stood during every dental procedure. When I first graduated, the old joke was, “How can you tell by looking that someone is a retired dentist?” The answer is, “He wears thick glasses and is permanently stooped over.”
While it is true that “sit-down dentistry” did not reach popularity until the 1960’s, operating stools were available as early as 1900. In 1915 ads, three types of stools were available (Figures A, B). The photograph shows the “noratchet” variety. It is of note that the
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Texas Dental Journal l www.tda.org l April 2010