Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-27

-F any one had asked Howard Masters
why he took up dentistry his pro-
fession he would have answered quick
Iy and somewhat bitterly: Because my
grandfather, father, two brothers and
a sister are dentists and the period OF train
ing was shorter and less expensive than that
of most of the other professions.
No unsound reasons and yet lacking in
every fundamental principle upon which,
usually the choice of hfework needs be
founded.
In Towards case, to his bitter realization,
the fundamental principle love for his work,
was lacking. 1t was difficult to cross his
family in its unanimous desire for his electlng
dentistry. His grandfather and father were
about to retire. his two brothers had removed
to remote Western cities and his sister, about
to marry was torn between continuing her
profession or following the wish of her huS-
band to-be that she retire.
1t was therefore expected of Howard that he
would go into dentistry and keep alive, so to
speak. the Masters tradition in the Middle
West city where for generations there had
been a DR.. Masters, DDS.
NTELL, Howard qualified all right as a
students profiting by the elders, who were
constantly at his elbow with help and advice
during his term and graduated, if not with
high honor, at least with sufficiently good
standing to start him off well in his practice.
Not only that, there ready and waiting
for Howard certain clientele which would
just naturally gravitate to a Masters. Ger
tain of the old families of the town would let
a tooth ache rather than take it to any one
besides Masters. AS the grandfather and
father said, it was impossible for either one
of them to actually retire until Howard got
out his shingle The town insisted upon a
Masters for a dentist.
Strangely, the first year not so bad
There were so many side issues to divert
First, the new Office to be furnished with all
the modern and expensive appliances which
the older Masters had managed to foreswear.
Then the novelty of putting into practice the
theoretical information he had achieved in
class room and laboratory and half applied in
his clinical work and apprentice in the >
Office of an older dentist.
The new dentistry, with its growing relation
ship to medical science and the various as
poets of oral surgery, presented during the
first year, interesting vistaS of experimentation
and research.
Then day a slip of girl from one of
the towns newer families, whose right molar
he happened to be filling, looked up at him
between sessions Of grinding, and said: How
in the world would man ever choose to be
dentist2" And offhand Howard began to rea-
lie to what extent that same question was
pushing against his consciousness.
How In the world did he Howard Masters
whose fingers itched TO paint and the secret
corners of whose room were jammed with oils
and watercolors done at odd moments between
dental lectures and clinical sessions, ever
choose to be dentist? AS a matter of fact
it came surging over him in slow sort of
anger, he hadn't. 1t had been planned,
thought, decided for him, and he, non-resstant,
had allowed half-senile grandfather and
a father accustomed to rule to carve out his
destiny as If it had been so much soapstone.
A ND what sort of destiny? The destiny
OF dentlti A filler Of molars. An en-
gineer of small Youth bridges and false plates
for the toothless He Howard Masters, with
the soul of an artist grinding, filling, bridging
and crowning his days away
Realization, like an avalanche set in mo-
ton by the pebble of a slip of a girls remark
began to roll in thunder into the mind of
Howard, awakening him to the enormity of his
discomfort; filling him with kind Of humilia-
ton, causing him to openly loathe his pro-
feSsion
Thus it was that very early in bis career
the first 10 months to be exact lassitude and
an indifference that were nothing short of
appalling to his parent and grandparent be-
gan to lay hold Of Howard. Appointments he
regarded with none of the rigid observance
demanded of his profession; bridge work. be-
cause he despised its intricaces he did In a
loose, slpshod fashion, and on one occasion,
when an old and revered patient OF his grand
fathers came to him requesting to have his
teeth cleaned, Howard fatty told him his re-
pugnance for such work, and sent him to
rival classmate, who had hung up shingle