Dentist

Pierre Fauchard published Le Chirurgien Dentiste in 1728, a two-volume treatise that systematized the treatment of teeth as a medical discipline for the first time.1 Before Fauchard, tooth extraction and dental care were performed by barbers, barber-surgeons, and traveling tooth-pullers at markets and fairs.

Fauchard described the anatomy of the mouth, the causes of dental disease, and methods for repairing and replacing teeth. He introduced the concept of dental fillings, designed prosthetics, and described a drill powered by a jeweler's tool. He is widely recognized as the father of modern dentistry.2

The English word dentist appeared in 1759, borrowed from the French dentiste, which derived from the Latin dens, meaning tooth.3 Before the word existed in English, practitioners were simply called tooth-drawers or operators for the teeth.

The first dental school in the world, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, opened in 1840 in Maryland.4 It established dentistry as a profession requiring formal education rather than an apprenticeship with a barber.

Licensure followed. Alabama became the first U.S. state to require a license to practice dentistry in 1841.5 By the end of the nineteenth century, dental licensing was standard across the industrialized world.

The professionalization of dentistry followed a pattern repeated across occupations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A body of knowledge was codified. A school was established. An examination was required. A license was issued. A title was created. What had been a task performed by anyone with pliers became a profession accessible only to those who had completed the prescribed course.