Faculty Bibliography

Teaching history of dentistry and/or medicine in dental schools is not a priority today. A half a century ago it was part of a significant number of dental school curricula. As advances in science occurred and more demand on the curriculum were made, history of medicine and dentistry (HMD) was largely cast aside. In a recent survey of 393 dental programs in 100 countries on five continents, only 18.8% have a stand-alone course in HMD. Nearly half of the programs though have at least 1-2 hours of curriculum time devoted to HMD. When we consider a subset of the above survey, only 5% of dental schools in the US and Canada have a stand-alone course. The exclusion of HMD from current dental curricula is shortsighted. Teaching only current and state-of-the art aspects of dentistry is like showing a still image from the end of a movie without watching the rest.

Major pandemics have tremendous effects on society. They precipitated the early decline of the Western Roman Empire and helped spread Christianity. There are countless such examples of infectious diseases altering the course of history. The impact of epidemics on education however is less well documented. This present historical account of the past 800 years looks specifically at how some aspects of education were shaped from the early medieval epidemics such as leprosy and the Black Plague to the Spanish Flu and COVID-19. Leprosy changed religious education, and the Black Plague may have contributed to the rise of medical schools, hospitals, public health education, and led to the implementation of lazarettos and the quarantine. The smallpox epidemic helped usher in public health education for immunization, while the 1918 Spanish Flu precipitated the rise of education by correspondence, and recently COVID-19 has catapulted remote digital learning to the forefront of higher education.

Quackery in medicine is as old as medicine itself. In times of crisis desperate patients often believe extraordinary claims. In the annals of pain killer quack medicine, elixirs, nostrums and liniments hold a special position. The College of Dentistry at NYU received a collection of 234 bottles of nostrums and liniments dating from approximately 1850 through 1940. In this paper, the FOURTH in a series of articles featuring "Elixirs of the Past" we bring to light four more samples claiming to have magnetic properties: Dr. J.R. Miller's Magnetic Balm, Havens' Electromagnetic Liniment, Headman's Magnetic Liniments, and Magnetic Cream. It goes without saying that none of these had any magnetic properties. In 1906, Congress enacted The Pure Food and Drug Act to prohibit exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims in the marketing and labeling of household products and to control the use of potentially harmful ingredients. The modern-day use of internet advertisements to make unsupported claims is in some ways even more brazen than the advertisements from a century ago.

Quackery in medicine is as old as medicine itself. In times of crisis, desperate patients often believe extraordinary claims. In the annals of pain-killer quack medicine, elixirs, nostrums and liniments hold a prominent position. NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD) has a collection of 234 bottles of such medicines dating from the mid-1800s through 1940. This paper is the second in a series of articles featuring "Elixirs of the Past" in which we bring to light five more samples containing opium: Dr. B.J. Kendall's Instant Relief for Pain, Dr. Munn's Elixir of Opium, Dill's Balm of Life, Foley's Pain Relief, and Brown's Instant Relief for Pain. These are just five examples out of countless syrups, nostrums, balm or liniments that contained narcotics and were linked to overdose, addiction and sometimes death. In 1906, Congress enacted The Pure Food and Drug Act to stop unsubstantiated medicinal claims and control the use of addictive substances. The modern-day use of internet advertisements to make unsupported claims is in some ways even more brazen than the advertisements from a century ago. Indeed, the recent widespread use of prescription painkillers, along with the resulting epidemic in opiate addiction that has caused upwards of 50,000 deaths is a case in point.

Quackery in medicine is as old as medicine. In times of crisis desperate patients believe in extraordinary claims. In the annals of pain killer quack medicine, elixirs, nostrums and liniments hold a special position. The College of Dentistry at NYU received a collection of 234 bottles of quack medicine dating from approximately 1850 through 1940. In this paper, the THIRD in a series of articles featuring "Elixirs of the Past", we focus on five particularly notable samples claiming to have "electric" properties: Electric Brand Oil Compound, Hunt's Lightening Oil, Electric Indian Liniment, Regent's Electric Liniment and Haven's Electro-magnetic Liniment. Needless to say, none of these contained electricity or even electrolytes for that matter. In 1906, Congress enacted The Pure Food and Drug Act to prohibit exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims in the marketing and labeling of household products and to control the use of potentially harmful ingredients. The modern-day use of internet advertisements to make unsupported claims is in some ways even more brazen than the advertisements from a century ago.

Quackery in medicine is as old as medicine itself. In times of crisis, desperate patients often believe extraordinary claims. In the annals of pain-killer quack medicine, snake oil, elixirs, nostrums and Indian liniments hold a special position. NYU College of Dentistry (NYUCD) has a collection of 234 bottles of such medicines dating from the mid-1800s through 1940. This paper is the fifth in a series of articles featuring "Elixirs of the Past" in which we bring to light six more samples with claims to traditional Chinese or American Indian medicine using snake oil: Virex Compound, Rattlesnake Bill's Oil, Electric Indian Liniment, The King of All Indian Oils, Millerhaus Antiseptic Oil and Celebrated Indian Lotion. The six examples are just a few quack medications linked to fraud, overdose, addiction or death. In 1906, Congress enacted The Pure Food and Drug Act and reinforced it with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938, to stop unsubstantiated medicinal claims and control the use of addictive and dangerous substances. The modern-day use of social media to advertise quack medicine is in some ways even more brazen than selling patent medicine a century ago.