The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-01-23
EARLIER PRACTICE OF DENTISTRY
DR.. ]. N. Whitney's Pa
Der on His Hawaiian
Service.

with dentistry in Honolulu:
Mr.. President and Gentlemen of the
Dental Association of Hawaii:
| At this close of the pleasant rela-
tionshfp we have sustained during the
| past year, I wish TO express my appre-
citation of the honor conferred upon
me. in electing me the first president
of this association. I thank you for the
kind assistance you have rendered, and
am glad of the unanimity with which
we have worked, and the sense of good
| fellowship which from the first We
have enjoyed I think for our first
year, we have reason to congratulate
ourselves, uprr what has been accom-
plished. Besides becoming fully or
| ganized, we have had two excellent
papers with full discussion of them
/ feel sure the coming year will witness
an even more active growth. Let US
| labor earnestly to induce all our mem
bers living in Honolulu to attend ali
our meetings, and try to make them
feel that the success of the association
rests upon all alike.
AS your oldest member, VINO mas
practiced our profession upon these ISL
ands much the longest time. 1 have
thought that a hasty review of some
l.
interesting to you, my younger broth
ers.
At the time of my graduation from
the Pennsylvania College of Dental
Surgery. in 1868, there had been but
about 600 dental students who had pre-
viously graduated, and so we felt that
practically the world lay before U.S.
In partnership with a friend and
classrnate, L had prepared and expected
to make some city of France my future
home. But unexpected occurrences
prompted. and l was obliged to look for
another field. While still undecided
where to locate, an earnest invitation
came to friend of mine, to come to
Honolulu as there was no dentist here
at the time. My friend did not care to
accept. and turned the invitation over
to me. AS soon as we could make our
arrangements my wife and l We're mar
ried and started upon what seemed a
very long wedding journey in August.
1869.
The Union Pacific Railroad had been
opened less than a month when we
crossed the continent. After leaving
Omaha we found ourselves in wild
country indeed. Faro and other gam
bling games We're at many stations
placed by the side of the cars to catch
the unwary and in every car was
consnicuot1s notice: Passengers are
warned against playing three card
monte or other games of chance with
strangers. You will surely be robbed if
you do
In San Francisco 1 was strongly
urged to stop or go to Oakland, where
at that time there was not dentist! But
we continued our way. and reached
Honolulu September Il, 1S69-and re-
ceiyed an immediate and hearty wei
come DR. Mott-Smith, after a long
and most successful practice, had given
ND the dental profession, and gone into
government employ under the KING
Kamehameha V. Much of DR.. smith
practice fell to me, and considering
that his knowledge had been gathered
many years before from one dental OF
fee. it was much of it very commenda-
bic. He evidently knew little about the
treatment of teeth with deVltaIlzeo
pulps. but his soft gold filings We're
above the average of his day, ana ms
mechanical work was excellent. But
the hest thing he did for his people was
strongly impressing them with lac
va,1Ia of their teeth, and the necessity
of frequent and continued watching
and caring for them. The result was
that when I came with more modern
knowledge and methods, found them
eager to know the best metnods Oh
saving their own and their children
teeth. 1 think am safe in saying that
no man ever had quite so pleasant Z
practice as was mine in those earsy
DAYS. We all know that dehghtIul
sense ior when we feel we have the full
| confidence of our patient, ana are at
fnI1 liberty TO go forward and do what
under the circumstances we
tbe very best to be done. withoutf con
e,,ltiner or considering cost. This\was
I in the main my experience anu en-
loved it to the full
Anew me to tell you what I brought
in tbe way of preparation TO my held
~ work. eighteen months instruction
- one of the best operators l ever
ITx and two years in a dental COT
lssya with two full courses an anatomy
in Jefferson Medical College, Phliadei-
mic The germ theory of decay Oh
tooth was of course, then unknown Inc
chemical theory was then unlversailS
raceivad. Cohesive gold had OUT re-
Gently been introduced. and all stnoeHlS
r-a,a trained in the use OF soIt soiN
and rim. a legacy L have valued apoF
priee. The use OF the rubber Gam l,i ilael
not been introduced into the eoies
curriculum and all our longest
| most difficult operations, had 70
| performed with napkins without -.
nsa of the siphon. The careIui 80,
we had TO do in this line was ioe t0
! to future usefulness ,-;+l,
! bsd brought some rubber dam win
me but it deteriorated so rapidly IN
this climate that I was generally III,
able to use it,. We had no rubber Dan a.ee'
clamps then. which increased the dll III
Guilty. I noticed among my havana. ma
patients who were ava users lll1,s
their mouths We're excessively airy, a..
/ II occurred 10 me that might nan. an.
use of the ava to reach places -
| inaccessible So in some cases
the rubber dam could not Dc heiu -
the mouth wasvery moist = -