| Chapin A. Harris |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHAPIN A. HARRIS | |
| 1806 births | |
| harris, chapin a. | |
| 1860 deaths | |
| american dentists | |
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He received the honorary M. D. degree from Washington Medical College at Baltimore, in which he was a professor in 1838. Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois, conferred an A.M. degree on him in 1842. His D.D.S. was obtained through membership of the American Society of Dental Surgery, and an honorary D.D.S. degree was conferred upon him by the Philadelphia Dental College in 1854. His death occurred on September 29, 1860, due mainly to overwork. ACHIEVEMENTS Dr. Chapin A. Harris is considered one of the founding members of the dental profession in the United States of America and the father of American dental science and pioneer of dental journalism. He has been inducted in the hall of fame of the Pierre Fauchard Academy. Contribution to dental literature As early as 1835 he became an active contributor to medical and periodical literature and one of the most vigorous and productive dental writers which has long been regarded as the founder of dental literature in the U.S.A. and at once became a contributor to medical and periodical literature.
First national dental organization In 1840 he was the first to respond to the call of Dr. H. H. Hayden to organize the American Society Of Dental Surgeons (ASDS). At a meeting at the home of Solyman Brown BA, MA, MD,DDS, in New York, it was on his motion that the convention to organize a society "resolved that a National Society be formed." He was its first corresponding secretary and its president in 1844. After the disruption of the society in 1856 due to the Dental Amalgam Controversy , he was one of the foremost organizers of its successor, the American Dental Convention, serving as its president in 1856-57. In 1859, a year before his death, another national dental organization, the American Dental Association , was established during a meeting in Niagara, New York. Before 1861 dentists were participant in both dental organizations, which promoted education and research in all aspects of dentistry, including dental materials and remainded active throughout the Americal Civil War (1861-1865). However, during the war, Southern dentists withdrew from them and, in 1869 established the Southern Dental Association. Publications - History of Dentistry - Dental Filling Materials in the Confederacy . The Southern Dental Association merged with the ADA in 1897 to form the National Dental Association (NDA). The NDA was renamed the American Dental Association (ADA) in 1922. First dental college in the United States With the assistance and advice of three other physicians, he worked tirelessly to establish the first dental school in the world. Apparently his initial attempt was to establish a dental training school attached to the Medical Department of the University of Maryland. This first attempt did not meet with success, possibly due to the opposition of Dr. H.W. Baxley, one of the dental faculty, to the regents of the University. He persevered in his efforts and during the winter of 1839-40, almost singlehandedly, gathered the signatures of representative citizens for a petition to the legislature of the state of Maryland for the incorporation of a College of Dental Surgery at Baltimore. Surmounting the opposition of jealous medical rivals, he successfully managed to obtain the charter and with the aid of H. H. Hayden, Thomas E. Bond, H. Willis Baxley, S. Brown, E. Parmly and others, he organized the Baltimore College Of Dental Surgery in 1840. He was the school first dean and professor of practical dentistry. After the death of H.H. Hayden in 1844, he became the school's second president. The establishment of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery is seen as one of the three crucial steps in the foundation of the dental profession in the United States. ''" A true profession is built upon a tripod: a formal organization, formal professional education, and a formal scientific literature. The United States was the leader in all three. In 1839-40, the American Society of Dental Surgeons was organized, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery was established, and the first dental journal in the world, the American Journal of Dental Science, was founded. At that time there were only about three hundred trained and scientific dentists in the entire country; the rest were relatively untrained operators, outright quacks, or charlatans. In 1898, a list of the first subscribers to the first journal was discovered and published by G.V. Black . These initial subscribers may be considered the core group of truly professional American dentists. They became the leaders of the newly born profession of dentistry. "'' Founders of a profession: the original subscribers to the first dental journal in the world. - PMID: 16350927 - indexed for MEDLINE The first dental college: emergence of dentistry as an autonomous profession. PMID: 12641173 - indexed for MEDLINE Dr. Chapin A. Harris was instrumental in all three. FOOTNOTES External links
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