Page 270 - My FlipBook

238 HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY

a comparatively modern invention. The dental chairs of one hundred, and
even of fifty years ago, ditVercd very slightly from the ordinary domestic ar-
ticle, and that difference existed only in isolated instances, the main addi-
tion being some provision at the back for the reception of the patient's head.
No provision was made for any alteration in height or other position. Many
practitioners of early days * * * used an ordinary rocker, which was
susceptible at least, of forward and backward movements.'
"The first chair which provided such necessary couveniences as a head rest,
and changes in height and position of the seat and back, was that of M. W.
Ilanchett, in 1848, 2 and in the following year another by F. Searle, of Spring-
field, Mass." (This chair was in use by the writers preceptor in 1865.)
In 1850, Mr. J. D. Chevalier, of New York, invented and sold a "portable
head-rest," for attachment to any ordinary chair. This was not only ex-
tremely convenient for itinerants, but it was also perhaps the most complete
head-rest then in use. It was susceptible of backward, forward and lateral
rotating movements and of being raised or lowered vertically."
From somewhere about 1865 the development of the modern dental operat-
ing chair was comparatively rapid, and the Archer, Perkins, Morrison, Har-
ris, 0. C. White and other forms are still familiar to many practitioners, and
contained very many of the elements which, since the expiration of the numer-
ous patents, ha\e been freely combined to produce the very satisfactory chairs
now in general use.
The I'erkins chair was supported upon a ball and socket and could l)c
clamped in any position, (raising and lowering being otherwise provided
for), but the release of the clamp left the chair free to move to any extent,
controlled only by the strenglli of the operator and the force of gravity, and
in a few instances they got beyond the operator's control and precipitated
the patients over backward. ,This, especially in case of a lady, was so very
awkward an accident that the possibility of it prevented any very extensive
use of an otherwise (for that period) very convenient chair.
Operating Chair. Frontispiece to "Practical Guide to Operations on the
Teeth," by James Snell.
"I shall illustrate my notion of a good operating chair by referring to my
own. * * * The frame-work should be rather heavy ; the feet firmly
* * * (-he wood should be the best Spanish mahog-
fastened to the floor ;
'The illustration and tlescription of Dr. Snell 's chair, 183i, will serve to show that
a few men had made for them chairs with accessories, and capable of movements which
made them very fairly suitable for the purposes required of them.
= History of Dental and Oral Science in America, p. 128.