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Man collects a history of dentistry |
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By Dennis Kellogg -
This is history week of sorts at the College of Dentistry in Lincoln. It is the one week they focus on the past in addition to training students for the future. Welcome to the dentists' office. You just have to decide which decade you want to visit.
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"It has been said that you cannot know where you are going unless you
know where you came from," said Museum Curator Dr. Stan Harn.
Dr. Stan Harn has been at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
College of Dentistry for more than three decades. During most of that
time, this anatomy professor has been collecting anything to do with
the history of dentistry in the state.
"That is basically what this collection is trying to portray is
dentistry that would have been here historically from the 1850s up to
the present," said Harn.
So once a year, for one week, Stan brings everything out of storage and
puts it on display for all to see. It is like a 3–D dental history book
"Surprisingly, when you look at some things, they have not changed
much. You look at other things and, oh my gosh. You know, you just
cannot believe it," Harn said.
A visit to the 1920s dental office illustrates that. There are four
x–ray machines on display, only one of them from late in that decade
has the wiring inside a case.
"In the 1920s, most of the x–rays that were produced had exposed wires
carrying 60,000 volts, and so there were known to be some accidents
that happened, some injuries that happened because of that exposed
wire," said Harn.
Like other types of medicine at the time, a trip to the dentist's office sometimes was a painful experience.
"But that just came with the territory. We did not have all the answers
back in those days, things were primitive, and so that is going to mean
it is going to be more painful," said Harn.
One of the instruments in the display is called a turnkey or toothkey.
It dates back more than a century. Dentists would use it in case they
needed to remove a tooth when they were away from the office.
"And they were brutal. I mean they could take a tooth out very easy in
some cases and it was a miserable mess in other cases," Harn said. "If
you had a tooth that was firmly fixed in that bone, you were going to
break some bone."
Stan's knowledge of dental history adds as much to the collection as
any of the instruments or dental chairs he has added through the years.
There is one thing he still hopes to find, though. A permanent
year–round home for these items that spend most of the year in storage.
"I am hopeful. I have been fighting for a permanent home for this
museum since it began basically," said Harn. "So basically, we are
looking for somebody to win the lottery."
Until that happens, you will only be able to schedule your visit to
these historic dentist offices during the one week a year they are
open.
This is the week to visit the museum at the College of Dentistry in
Lincoln. It is open until 9:00 at night the next two nights, until 5:00
on Friday, and again on Saturday morning until noon. After that, they
will pack everything away and the museum will go back to being an
anatomy classroom Monday morning.
To watch a video clip of this story click here.
(9/30/2008)
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