As we approach Juneteenth and begin paying homage to prominent African Americans in dentistry, it is nearly impossible not to think of Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman, Dr. George F. Grant and Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins.
National Fresh Breath Day and the history of halitosis
Aug. 6 is National Fresh Breath Day. Dentists all over would rejoice if this holiday was celebrated every day and not just once a year. Breath smells are something we are all too familiar with, and its remedies are routine parts of our oral hygiene instructions to patients.
Reflecting on our history and profession on Juneteenth
June 19, 1865. This date commemorates General Gordon Granger arriving with Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas, revealing the end of the Civil War and declaring the emancipation of those who were still enslaved two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The history behind smiling in portraits
Modern dentistry has changed greatly in the past three centuries, but the advancements in the profession don’t come solely from developments in technology, materials and research. The smile is now synonymous with joy and excitement, and many people are willing to go to great lengths to have the perfect smile. Yet throughout history, the smile was analogous to foolishness, irrational emotion, and deceit. It’s no surprise that words smile and smirk in the English language share the same Old Norse origin.
However, it wasn’t until the 19th and 20th century that smiling became a widespread, popular cultural phenomenon. According to historian Colin Jones, a professor of art history at Queen Mary University of London, the point of inflection regarding the public opinion of smiling came about with a controversial self-portrait of Madame Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, a French artist. In her painting, Le Brun, a young mother, portrays herself smiling ever so slightly, showing the incisal edges of her maxillary incisors.