House-to-House Dentists

The first real dentists in this country were two Frenchmen who arrived during the Revolutionary War with Rochambeau's fleet. Before that, and long afterwards, barbers, blacksmiths and jewelers pulled the teeth and made the plates of the colonists. Those "tooth-drawers" traveled from house to house, farm to farm, town to town. In their packs they carried an assortment of human, calf and hippopotamus teeth.

Last week the arrest of four men in Albany, N. Y. revealed that this sort of itinerant dentistry is still going on, despite the fact that 59,000 U. S. graduate dentists have offices which practically any patient can reach. If the patient is too ill to travel or, like President Roosevelt, very important, the dentists may go to him.* But this is considered extraordinary dental practice. Nonetheless, there are no laws to prevent licensed dentists who cannot gather the $3,000 necessary to equip a regular office, from putting their equipment in satchels, packs or motor trailers, so long as they confine their practice to their own States. In the cases of the Albany itinerants, none had licenses to practice anywhere. None had dental training. Nevertheless they found patients who were willing to be fitted for plates and dentures in their parlors and kitchens. Two of the four practitioners were second offenders. All were subject to fines, to prison terms.

* In the White House is a completely equipped dentist's office, installed by order of President Hoover. All the Roosevelt family have their teeth cared for there by Dr. Ralph Whatley Malone of the Xaval Dental School.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.