The Contributions Of Horace Wells To Dentistry
What were the contributions of Horace Wells to dentistry? While his impact on modern dentistry is sometimes overlooked because of his tragic end, Horace Wells is often referred to as the father of anesthesia and an important pioneer in oral surgery. It is hard to overstate the profound impact he has had on the history of dental care.
Knowing that Wells was one of the first proponents of anesthesia, you might assume that he lived in the early twentieth century, but in fact he was born in the early 1800’s. The story of his life and career are actually quite fascinating, and definitely highlight how far dentistry and health care in general have come since the early days.
The next time you have to undergo a dental procedure such as oral surgery or a root canal, you might take a moment to thank Horace Wells for his research and experimentation.
Who was Horace Wells?
Horace Wells was born in Hartford, Vermont in the year 1815 to affluent and well-educated landowners. He grew up attending private schools in Vermont and Massachusetts. At this time, there was no such thing as a dental school (the first school of dentistry opened in Baltimore in 1840), but his fascination with the profession led him to take a two-year apprenticeship in Boston at the age of 19.
When he had finished his studies, Wells moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where he opened his first dental practice. He was an early proponent of preventative dentistry, publishing a booklet entitled “An Essay On Teeth” at the age of 23. In it, he espoused the importance of using a toothbrush to care for teeth, and pushed for people to pay attention to oral hygiene, as well as improved nutrition.
He became well recognized in the community and had many patients who were respected members of Hartford society, including the governor William Ellsworth. He even began to take on apprentices such as John Riggs, C. A. Kingsbury, and William Morton who went on to become important dentists in their own rights.
He married Elizabeth Wales in 1838 and together they had one son, named Charles Thomas. In addition to dentistry, he also was an aspiring entrepreneur, having patented the shower bath and gone into business selling them, and enjoyed sailing and art.
In his career as a dentist, he proposed that his patients have regular check ups and was one of the first proponents of pediatric dentistry, believing that good oral hygiene needed to begin early in a person’s life.
Horace Wells and his experiments with anesthesia
Of course, Wells greatest contributions to dentistry involved his research into pain-free procedures through the use of anesthesia. The first time that Wells saw the potential benefits of nitrous oxide was in 1844. He was present for a demo by Gardner Quincy Colton in which nitrous oxide was used to elicit sometimes humorous responses by harshly banging a person’s legs while under its effects. Even at that time, nitrous oxide was referred to as laughing gas.
Wells immediately realized the potential for the gas in dentistry, and after meeting with Colton, the very next day he conducted a test on himself. An apprentice extracted one of Wells’ very own teeth after inhaling nitrous oxide. The gas worked so well he did not feel any pain during the procedure. Having tested the gas on himself, he went on to use it on twelve separate patients, all without any reported complications. The age of anesthesia in dentistry had begun.
Unfortunately for Wells and his career, he planned his own demonstration of the use of nitrous oxide in surgery before a group of medical students in Boston. The gas was improperly administered, leading to the patient crying out in pain, and Wells was jeered by the crowd. Following this setback, despite the many verifiable and positive results he’d already managed, Wells would soon thereafter dissolve his dental practice.
It would be one of his apprentices, William T. G. Morton, who built upon Wells’ research and began experimenting with ether during surgery. And it would be Morton who many would remember as being the pioneer of anesthesia.
What happened to Horace Wells?
Wells’ work as a dentist would be sporadic after that. A few years following the failed demonstration, he moved to New York and began experiments with chloroform and ether. During this process, he became addicted to chloroform and his behavior became erratic.
While under the influence of one or the other of these drugs, Wells rushed into the street outside his house and threw sulfuric acid onto two women passing by. A few days later, after being thrown in jail, he committed suicide. He was thirty-three years old.
Unbeknownst to him, the Parisian Medical Society had honored him as the first to discover and perform surgery without pain and named him an honorary member. This occurred only twelve days before his death. Twenty years later, the American Dental Association also acknowledged him as the discoverer of modern anesthesia.
What is modern dental surgery like?
Thanks to Horace Wells and other early dentists, modern oral surgery is nothing like what patients had to endure two hundred years ago. Complex procedures such as bone grafts, dental implants, ridge modification, root canals, sinus augmentations, and more can all be done with little to no discomfort to the patient. Such surgeries have extremely high success rates with very little risk. Such successful outcomes would have been unheard of during Horace Wells’ lifetime.
Your Grove, Oklahoma Oral Surgery Specialist
Dr. Jobst and the entire staff at Grand Lake Dental would like to acknowledge the great debt that is owed to Horace Wells and the other pioneers of modern dentistry. Without their bravery and willingness to test the limits, which sometimes involved experimenting on themselves and their own family, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy all of the many benefits of today’s surgical advancements.
We’re proud of the fact that Grand Lake Dental offers some of the most modern equipment and facilities available in all of Oklahoma. For the best available treatments and personal care from committed professionals who put the health and well being of their patients first, make an appointment today.