This online version of the exhibit is comprised of four sections: Discussion material related to the display in the exhibit case. (This page.) A collection of 200 excerpted selections which accompanied the exhibit. The exhibit guide, as a PDF [364K], including most of the material given in the first two items of this list. Online only content: Sidebars A more complete collection of quotations given in full with full citations. [Forthcoming, late October 2002.] "The Toothless Genius" Dental Do's and Don'ts How to Enjoy the Tooth-Ache Prophylactic Items (Tuller)

It is extremely common to find these sorts of comments about dentists in the popular literature, in humor, collections of taglines, and on the Web, but it is quite rare to see this sort of comment in the dental literature. The most famous line of this sort is of course the definition of a dentist from the Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, "Dentist, n. A prestidigitator who, putting metal into your mouth, pulls coins out of your pocket." Less well known, but entertaining examples of this type of tagline are included in the list of 200 on this site. Many more taglines (occasionally even humorous ones!) can be found at the following web site, URL: <http://www.taglinesgalore.com/>.

Je arracherai à vô le dernière mollaire après vô mordez plus.
[I'm going to pull your last tooth before you have another bite.]
COVER. BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL 189(5) 2000.

This French postcard uses a dental one-liner to illustrate the oral impotence of the edentulous as a metaphor for military strategy. Given the prevalence of edentulism in earlier centuries, it is not surprising that the concept appears in many maxims, proverbs, and one-liners around the world. A few selected examples include:

• "The mouth of an elderly man is without teeth, but never without words of wisdom" (African);
• "If you have no teeth, do not break the clay cooking pot" (Chewa [Malawi] and Nyanja [Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia]);
• "A knife is the tooth of the old, the tooth is the oldest knife" (Finnish);
• "A man without money is like a wolf without teeth" (French);
• "May your troubles be as few and far between as my grandmother's teeth" (Irish);
• "The wolf loses his teeth, but not his inclinations" (Spanish).

There are smiles that make you happy.
There are smiles that soothe your mind.
But the sweetest smile of any is --
The toothbrush kind.
TOOTHBRUSH SMILE. DENTAL FACTS 7(43) JULY 1919:56.

Behind "1-2-3-Scrub!" cover were several brief news articles about hygiene initiatives with children and in the public schools, including a report of classrooms and entire schools singing these lyrics. World War I saw enormous growth in the awareness of dental hygiene and oral prophylaxis, as well as government and corporate initiatives in supporting the expansion of this aspect of the dental professions. The results, as we all know, were profound, and by World War II it was a common observation overseas that the American soldiers had lovely teeth.

Just as edentulism and toothache are common themes in proverbs and maxims, a smile is equally so.

• "A smile is the cheapest way to improve your looks, even if your teeth are crooked;"
• "A smile is like a toothbrush. You have to use it regularly to keep your teeth shiny clean" (Japanese Proverb).

Smiles appear with even greater frequency in literature, news and quotations. A few choice examples do not begin to touch the topic, which could easily warrant an entire dissertation.

• "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" George Eliot.
• "Comrades, this man has a nice smile, but he's got iron teeth." Andrei Gromyko,
• "The Parthenon without the marbles is like a smile with a tooth missing" Neil Kinnock, Labor Party leader, Promising return of the Elgin marbles to Greece, London Times 5 Jan 84
• "In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile." Charles Dickens. Christmas Carol.

"The dentist who talks well -- other things being equal -- is the one to choose."
"It is true that it always feels like pain, but that proves nothing...."
MARK TWAIN, "DOWN THE RHONE," EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE. URL: http://www.twainquotes.com/Pain.html

Mark Twain's attempt here to prove that the pain experienced through unanesthetized dental care is actually not pain, is priceless and bizarre. This short essay discussing pain, pleasure, and dentistry, is replete with wonderful bits which can be excerpted. Historically, this reveals a different perspective than nowadays. In the mid to late 1800s, many considered it preferable to endure the agony of the toothache until the nerve died rather than go to the dentist. While Twain seeks out the dentist, many similar written tracts discuss mental approaches to enduring the pain to avoid the dentist. An excerpt from another similar piece is given below, with the fulltext on the exhibit website. The topic of pain and its evolutionary purpose remain a topic of critical importance, as illustrated by the attached quotation from a well known science fiction author, Spider Robinson.

• "To enjoy this delectable pain to its fullest extent, you should have it in all its glory for a week." Anonymous. "How to Enjoy the Tooth-Ache." Dental Register 1864 18(4):182
• "Until we developed dentistry, what use was a toothache? Were we supposed to bash ourselves in the mouth with a rock?" Robinson, Spider. Callahan's Legacy. NY: TOR Books, 1996, p. 45.

Don't correct irregularities for fun -- unless you are a professional comedian.
PEARSON, CHARLES E. DON'TS IN ORTHODONTIA. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL SCIENCE 36(2) NOVEMBER 1905:264-5.

This exhibit would be incomplete if it did not include "Aphorisms, Maxims, One-liner's, Proverbs, Quotations, & Taglines" from the dental profession for the dental profession! The early professional literature is studded with these types of gems of wisdom and lessons well learned from leaders in the profession at the time. The above quotation is from a series of Do's and Don'ts for the dentist. A more complete listing of these dental do's and don'ts is available on the Dentistry Library web site in the online version of this exhibit.

That which is crooked cannot be made straight.
Il faut souffrir pour être belle. [One must suffer for beauty.]
ORTHODONTICS [EDITORIAL]. BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL 16 FEB 1942 72(4).

Aphorisms about dentistry and the mouth, aphorisms from dentistry, what is missing? The use of general aphorisms or truisms to illustrate dental concepts! These are two examples, but there are many. The early dental literature, from the 1850s to the early part of this century, tended toward a style of writing which would today be considered flowery, but which was very typical of the times. Often maxims or truisms were used which today seem peripheral to the discussion matter. The author of this editorial (presumably the editor of the journal) did an exemplary job of matching the maxim to the dental concepts.

The best tooth brush is the one often used. (Croatian proverb.)
MEDICINE IN QUOTATIONS, ED. EJ HUTH, TJ MURRAY. PHILADELPHIA, PA: AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, C2000. P. 81. URL: <http://www.acponline.org/medquotes/>

It seems just a trifle asymmetrical, that a large book of quotations relating to medicine has only three quotations on dentistry, one for dentists, and none on the mouth or teeth. The quotation excerpted above was particularly interesting. Although the toothbrush was invented in ancient China*, it did not come into common usage in Western cultures until the past century. Thus the toothbrush does not appear in proverbs and aphorisms with the frequency of some other dental concepts. The Croatian proverb listed above is a rare example. The toothbrush appears more frequently in quotations, and modern literature and culture. The toothbrush did not really appear much in literature prior to the early 1900s (barring the occasional mention in personal letters, such as that by President hayes, below), but during the 20th century became increasingly used as a symbol of domestic intimacy and routine daily life, as you can see from some of the selected examples below.

• "A man has six items in his bathroom--a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn." 'Differences Between Men and Women.'
• "Both of us are conforming to the old saying that a scientist would rather use someone else's toothbrush than another scientist's nomenclature." Holland, John, as quoted in The Emperor's Nightingale, 1998, p. 76.
• [E]verything like order and neatness is banished from our presence as a nuisance‹old letters and old boots and shoes, duds clean and duds dirty, books and newspapers, tooth-brushes, shoe-brushes, and clothes-brushes, all heaped together on chairs, settees, etc., in dusty and "most admired confusion." (R.B. Hayes, 1846)
• "I use my camera like a toothbrush. It does the job," Press photographers, as quoted by Fred Ritchin in Witnessing and the Web.
• "If a man wants to leave a toothbrush at my house, he can damn well marry me." Michelle Triola Marvin, re. Lee Marvin.
• "In prison a / brown paper bag / I put it beside my cot. / All my things. / Comb, notebook, underwear, / letterpaper, toothbrush, book. / I am rich -- / they have given me another toothbrush. / The guard saying: / "You'll find people share here." " Rukeyser, Muriel. "Breaking Open." The Collected Poems, p. 528.
• "In what had been a pathway / inbetween / our bed and a shared bathroom / broken hours lap at my heels / reaching my toothbrush / finally / I see / wide valleys filled with water / folding into myself / alone ... " Lorde, Audre. "Afterlove." Coal (1976)
• "Soon they'll be together, brother and sister, / Barbie and Ken, sharing a toothbrush, sharing / a toilet, a tub, sharing the same old song / that freezes on their lips, sharing each other / for that breathless moment when the elders / bow to their credit card." Levine, Philip. "BARBIE & KEN, KEN & BARBIE." Not This Pig (1968).
• "Take your little bag / With a toothbrush and a comb / And leave home." Hughes, Langston. "Draftees." Poems 1951-1960.
• "when you let my / bathwater run / you never / clean the / tub first. / why don't you / put your toothbrush / back / in the rack? / you should always / dry your / razor." Bukowski, Charles. "she said:" War All the Time: Poems, 1981-1984, p. 98.

* "However, drinking only boiled water (subsequently flavored with tea), the use of detergents (saponins) instead of soap, the toothbrush, and toilet paper (replacing silk rags) appeared first in China." Way, E. Leong. JAMA 284(14) 2001.

Careful planning is the first step in careful acting.
EDITORIAL EFFUSIONS. DENTAL CRAFTSMAN 3(12) SEPTEMBER 1929:22.

Another example of the use of common wit and wisdom as presented in the early professional literature.

Be sure you're right, then be sure you're sure.
\HIT AND MISS [EDITORIAL]. AMERICAN DENTAL JOURNAL 1 1902:77.

The online version of this exhibit has the complete version of these several pages of tips and tricks for the dentist, in the guise of R. B. Tuller's column called "Prophylactic Items." The quotation above is from the end matter, the editor's selection of 'filler' maxims and aphorisms to enlighten and enliven the day of the practicing dentist which followed Tuller's column. Tuller's collections of brief observations on prophylaxis are casual, colloquial, and entertaining.

Gentle in the Manner, Vigorous in the Deed.
ISRAEL, YVETTE. LA CARTE A BELLES DENT. NICE, FRANCE: EDITIONS GILLETTA, 1987, P. 152.

The caption of this postcard comments overtly on a recommended style of interacting with patients, and covertly implies another type of interaction altogether. This type of double entendre is common in both humor and proverbs, serving as an aide d¹ memoire for the concept or underlying principal.

A virgin came from Engelland,
She had a rose in her hand,
Until the sun went away,
The seventy-seven fold tooth-rose was gone.
KANNER, LEO. FOLKLORE OF THE TEETH. NY: MACMILLAN & CO., 1928, P. 160.

In this book, you can find several charms against toothache, from various European countries and cultures. In their original language, these were usually short memorable rhymes, somewhat like nursery rhymes, and as charms, referred to religious rituals or personages to intervene on behalf of the person in pain. One particularly curious example is shown below, a way to predict one¹s immediate future based on which day of the week the pain became so severe that one could no longer put off going to the dentist.

On Monday, approaching sadness;
On Tuesday, legacy from a distant relative;
On Wednesday, loss and shame;
On Thursday, success in business;
On Friday, confusion in affairs;
On Saturday, discovery of a secret;
On Sunday, a love quarrel.
KANNER, LEO. FOLKLORE OF THE TEETH. NY: MACMILLAN & CO., 1935, P. 204.

Some people wear teeth artificial,
Which cost them exorbitant sums,
But I am not the sort such impostures to sport,
I am awfully proud of my gums.
As bare as the trees in December
My mouth shall forever remain,
That the people I meet may exclaim in the street,
'Ah, there goes a man with a brain!'
THE TOOTHLESS GENIUS. BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL 26(14) 1905:687-88.

As noted elsewhere in this exhibit, edentulism was a fact of life in earlier centuries. Since this usually occurred later in life, it became associated for some with age and the presumed wisdom which comes with age and experience. This perspective is show here in a comic poem. Full text is available elsewhere in this online exhibit.