Recently I visited a Dentist, and within minutes I was lying on a Dental Chair. With lights from the top, motorized probes and instruments jetting from the sides, and even an adjoining basin, I wondered how dentists developed their chairs. This journey is also reflected in a few postage stamps, issued to recognize dental services and professionals in various countries.
Literally grounded for a painful tooth
Till 18th century, the person whose tooth required to be extracted, would sit kneel down on the floor. The dentist would then stand, often holding the person’s head between two knees. Tooth would then be pulled, leaving the person in tremendous pain. There was neither a chair, nor any concept of anesthesia.
From ground to chairs
First dental chairs, were probably household chairs, with a high back and an arm rest. These fixed chairs were first recommended by Pierre Fauchard, who is known as the father of modern dentistry. However, the credit for first mechanical dental chair goes to an American dentist Josiah Flagg in 1790. He devised an adjustable headrest, and a wider arm-rest. Head of the person was to be kept tilted, with neck extended. Dentist would place instruments on the arm-rest.
In 1830 James Snell added a foot-stool, reclining back-support and a candle holder available right next to the chair. As per his description, patient should be well rested and operator comfortable. Further, he remarked that this invention “..finally relieved the patient from having to hold a candle when the dentist required..“
Dental chair becomes an industry
Advent of anesthesia in 1840s, expanded the scope of Dentistry. Industrialization and demand fulled Dental Chairs to be mass produced. In 1844, Samuel Stockton White opened the S.S. White Manufacturing company, and expanded production from tooth molds to instruments and furniture. Till 1870s, the chairs were made with wood and metal contractions to allow for tilt. By 1890s we had all metal chairs, with padded seats, and rests for head, back and feet. All its angles could be adjusted with a metal cranking wheel. It also had a spittoon and a rotating instrument tray.
Metal cranking systems, gave way to hydraulics and foot-pedals that could lift the chair up and down. Candles gave way to electric bulbs and better illumination. By 1950s, we had a prototype of chairs similar to today. In 1958, Dr. Sanford Golden and colleagues in California designed the Ritter-Euphorian or Golden, a fixed-seat reclining chair. This and its further generation of chairs were electric driven, had a lighter weight and allowed a more complete recline.
More mechanics and a greater comfort
Dental tools were also changing. Mechanical hand-held tools, gave way to motorized instruments. These electric powered tools were now connected to the chair, with contraptions that could hold them when not in use.
Modern dental chairs are fully adjustable, are on a pedestal, and have an engine , that generates power to drive pneumatic instruments and suck secretions as Dentists operate. More recent ones also come with an inbuilt-screen and an digital X-ray unit. The struggles of the people who is now getting their teeth worked upon, are now limited to mere opening of their jaws. I wonder, if over the years this too may become a thing of the past.
