The birth of the most important 18th century dental text: Pierre Fauchard's Le Chirurgien Dentiste.

Full Abstract

Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761) is considered the father of modern dentistry. His seminal book, Le Chirurgien Dentiste, ou Traité des Dents (1728), is the discipline's first complete work. During the five years preceding its publication (1723-1728), Pierre Fauchard sought the opinions, contributions, and "approbation" (approval) of 19 of his colleagues:
six physicians, 12 surgeons, and one dentist. The first and most important contributor to the manuscript was Jean Devaux, surgeon and mentor to Fauchard. The next six reviewers were illustrious physicians and scientists of the time:
Philippe Hecquet, Jean-Claude Adrien Helvetius, Jean Baptiste Silva, Antoine DeJussieu, Raymond Jacob Finot, and Antoine Benignus Winslow. The subsequent 12 reviewers were all sworn-surgeons (certified by St. Côme), including a lone dentist, Laudumiey, surgeon-dentist to His Majesty, Philip V, King of Spain. Fauchard knew that for dentistry to be regarded as a learned profession, and perhaps for Fauchard to be recognized as its leader, he needed the support and approval of the establishment before publishing his book. This is an account of how he attained this endorsement.

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Author information

Author/s: Spielman, Andrew I (AI);

Affiliation: Department of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY 10010, USA.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Historical Article; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of dental research (J Dent Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Oct; vol 86 (issue 10) : pp 922-6

Dates: Created 2007/09/24; Completed 2007/10/17; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 17890667, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Peer Review, Research
Portraits as Topic
Rare Books
Textbooks as Topic - history

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