DISCOVERY! Martin Taubman, Editor Andrew I. Spielman The Birth of the Most Important Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY 10010, USA;
[email protected] 18th Century Dental Text: Pierre J Dent Res 86(10):922-926, 2007 Fauchard’s Le Chirurgien Dentist ABSTRACT hat was it like to write a textbook early in the 18th century in a new Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761) is considered the Wfield like dentistry? How did the original manuscript get put together? father of modern dentistry. His seminal book, Le How did Fauchard go about running his ideas past other professionals? Chirurgien Dentiste, ou Traité des Dents (1728), Who, exactly, were the people Fauchard consulted between 1723 and 1728, is the discipline's first complete work. During the and why? These are some of the questions I asked in looking at Le five years preceding its publication (1723-1728), Chirurgien Dentiste, ou Traité des Dents (1728) (Fig. 1), the first complete Pierre Fauchard sought the opinions, work in dentistry, and the textbook that made Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761) contributions, and "approbation" (approval) of 19 the "Father and Founder of Dental Surgery" (Viau, 1923a). This paper is not of his colleagues: six physicians, 12 surgeons, and an account of Fauchard's life or his seminal contributions to the field. one dentist. The first and most important Several excellent reviews, including some recent ones, have done that (Viau contributor to the manuscript was Jean Devaux, 1923a,b; Weinberger, 1941; Hoffmann-Axthelm, 1981; Angot, 1983; Lynch surgeon and mentor to Fauchard.