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Pain Management
One of the most important advances in medicine was the discovery of effective anesthesia in 1844. Dental decay caused extreme discomfort that was often made worse by treatment. The prospect of pain severely discouraged people from seeking help. Most simply had teeth pulled rather than suffer a lengthy and painful cleaning, excavation and filling.
Anesthesia allowed dentists to develop more thorough and effective treatments that were not limited by the patient’s ability to endure pain. The absence of pain encouraged more people to seek dental care.
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From Party Entertainment…
In 1844, dentist Horace Wells attended a party where guests were inhaling nitrous oxide— “laughing gas” —and engaging in wild and silly behavior. He noticed that one man badly injured his leg while under the influence of the gas, but didn’t feel any pain.
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
…to Medical Miracle
On December 11, 1844, Wells, who had a toothache, decided to test the gas’ pain deadening properties himself. He had a wisdom tooth pulled while he was unconscious. When he awoke, Wells said, “I didn’t feel it so much as the prick of a pin.”
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
The Public Test
When Dr. William T. G. Morton heard of the anesthetic powers of ether gas, he gave a public demonstration of the gas at Massachusetts General Hospital on October 16, 1846, removing a tumor from a patient while the patient was unconscious. (In this drawing, Morton holds the patient’s head.)
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
Great Publicity
Dr. William T. G. Morton attempted to claim he discovered the anesthetic use of ether. Morton, Horace Wells and Dr. Crawford Long, whose work had inspired Morton, engaged in a battle over the right of discovery. The publicity surrounding the dispute helped publicize ether as an anesthetic and promoted its use.
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
Nitrous Oxide
Apparatus In Use
In 1867, the respected journal, Dental Cosmos, ran an ad promoting nitrous oxide as “The Safest Anesthetic Known.” According to Professor E. Andrews’s article in the Chicago Medical Examiner, estimated deaths from several commonly used anesthetics: Nitrous oxide: 0 deaths in 75,000 administrations Sulphuric ether: 1 death to 23,204 administrations Chloroform: 1 death to 2,723 administrations
Not as Safe
Chloroform was first used as a general anesthetic in 1847 by Scottish obstetrician James Y. Simpson. Chloroform turned out to be much more toxic than ether or nitrous oxide, and its use was limited. This young woman demonstrates the Snow chloroform inhaler, available in 1858.
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
Cocaine Can Be Useful
Cocaine’s medicinal uses became known in the 1880s, and the drug was thought to have no negative side effects. This 1898 ad in Dental Cosmos promoted cocaine’s use as a local anesthetic. It could be used topically or injected.
Courtesy of Taubman Health Sciences Library,
University of Michigan
Finally, Safe and Effective!
By 1900, cocaine’s addictive properties were cause for concern. German scientist Alfred Einhorn began looking for a replacement. In 1905, he synthesized procaine, which he patented as Novocain. Novocain was effective and safe and was quickly embraced as a local anesthetic.
Image Courtesy of Clendening History of Medicine Library and Museum