Overview

The eighteenth century, also known as the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason, saw dentistry advance from superstition and the showmanship of tooth-drawers to specialists who studied dentistry as a science. During this century France emerged as the leader in the dental field, a position it retained until about the middle of the nineteenth century when the United States became the leader.

The founder of modern dentistry was Frenchman Pierre Fauchard (1676-1761). He initiated a broad spectrum of advances and was the prime mover in establishing France as the front runner of the art. In Germany Philip Pfaff (1715-1767) described the process of tooth decay as originating from particles caught between the teeth. Meanwhile, English surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793) published several book on dentistry. The rise of American dentistry can be traced to the connection of colonial America to France...