HOME > ALL DISPLAYS > 1860-1890 > DENTAL ROLLING MILL
Dental Rolling (Roller) Mill
Circa 1890 | Object #: 0531.0002
Gold and other metals were used to make fillings, crowns, and other inlays. To achieve the desired thickness of the metal, dentist’s used a rolling (roller) mill. Jewelers still use similar devices today.
Explore some of the physical features of this artifact.
1/5: Made of cast iron, this mill is heavy and would have been secured to a workbench to get maximum leverage to flatten the metal.
2/5: Several passes are made with incremental spreading of the metal with each pass.
3/5: Marshall Dental Manufacturing Company, was one of many regional manufacturers across the United States specializing in dental products.
4/5: Marshall Dental Manufacturing, located in Iowa City, catered to the local dental school at the University of Iowa.
5/5: Pinstriping on industrial equipment, including farming implements, was very popular during this period and can also be seen in the foot pedal.
While fillings utilized pre-made, paper-thin gold foils, other treatments required rolling of metal plates. Dentures, bridges and retaining pieces required precise thickness only achieved through milling.
1/3: A Gold & Porcelain Dental Bridge, English, 19th century, with 4 porcelain teeth. Flints Auctions Ltd
2/3: Patent model for, “Fastening Artificial Teeth to Metallic Plates,” U.S. Patent 108,588 (Oct. 28, 1870). National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
3/3: A retainer consisting of two metal bands and a wire, reproduced from E. H. Angle, Treatment of malocclusion of the teeth and fractures of the maxillae, Philadelphia: The SS White Dental Manufacturing Company, 1900
