History of the Department of Endodontics

[From the 1958-1959 Hya Yaka/Yearbook]

Endodontics

It is slightly more than thirty years since I was first introduced to endodontics. Actually root canal therapy was the term then in use, as endodontics did not find its place in dental nomenclature until the year 1943. I was fortunate in being one of a group, in company wiht Dean Ellis, who sat about a table in the city of Chicago in that year, and heard a new word coined to express a wider concept of the field surrounding the pulp-involved tooth. During the year that followed we often heard the question, "What in the world is endodontics?" After sixteen years that question is no longer heard, but another has replaced it. Today the question is, "I wonder if endodontic treatment can assist me in this problem?" The fears induced by the theory of focal infection had been embraced as fact by so many members of the profession that only a few hardy souls such as Webster, Kreuger and Anderson in our school had the temerity to teach that the pulp-involved tooth need not necessarily be extracted. Even their timetable of instruction was limited to a very few hours of clinical and lecture instruction within th eoperative dentistry course. The early days of practice in endodontics were similar to other phases of dentistry and medicine. Each practitioner possessed his own formula for success and jealousy guarded it. I recall finding it necessary to remove a root filling in the year 1940. I discovered the name of the dentist who performed the original treatment and telephoned him to inquire the nature of the material used to seal the canal. If I had asked him to tell me the amount of money which was in his bank account he could not have been more insulted. How different it is today. In many parts of the country groups of men have formed study clubs to exchange information garnered through clinical and research experience. Once each year more than two hundred dentists, who are interested in endodontics, travel to Chicago to enjoy the three day convention of the American Association of Endodontists. Membership is open to any graduate in dentistry, and fully ninety per cent of the members are general practitioners who have found that endodontics plays a very important part in daily practice. I have asked myself why a phase of dental practice which was so universally condemned only twenty-five years ago should not find an honoured place in the curriculum of accredited dental schools from coast to coast. I believe that the serious research done by such men as Callahan, Davis, Sommer, Coolidge, Grossman and many others paved the way for a reappraisal of those factors which ground fear of the pulp-involved tooth so deeply into the treatment of planning of dentists in general. The advent of better local anesthetics made the operation one which was no longer dreaded by patient and dentist alike. Thus it was that many dentists yielded to the pleading of patients and after treating the pulp canal were surprised to find that the patient did not develop many of the dread consequences which had been attributed to all pulp involved teeth. Tenty-five years ago dentists laughed at anyone who was bold enough to declare that an asceptic operation could be performed in a dental office. Today it is realized that it is but the work of a few minutes to obtain and maintain a sterile field for endodontic treatment. Of even greater importance, it is realized that the results which are obtained are superior to those obtained when sterility is disregarded. Now that we are soon to find ourselves in new surroundings what is the "prognosis" for endodontics as it relates directly to the undergraduate? I believe that emergency treatment for children will have a much greater personal meaning for those within the clinic than has been possible under the crowded conditions in the College Street Dental Building. It is only when it has happened to your patient will you realize the depth of friendship which can result from your ability to relieve pain and yet retain the tooth. It is only when you have heard a father's fervent "Thank God" or have seen a mother's smile of relief when you tell them that their little daughter's fractured anterior tooth can be restored to health and beauty will you truly appreciate the thrill which comes from a knowledge of endodontic treatment. While we think of the child, however, do not let us forget about the older patient. There is a tendency to think that endodontic treatment should be reserved for the young. This supposition is far from the truth. Each year sees more and elderly pateints seeking endodontic assistance. The retention of a tooth which holds a partial denture may mean the difference between happiness and distress for a patient in the closing years of life. There are, however, important problems associated with treatment of the very mature tooth and I hope that you will have an opportunity for practice in the new clinic on many of these patients. One final thought I would like to impress upon you. Endodontics is not a specialty but rather an important part of the whole practice of dentistry. Every dentist should have a thorough understanding of the diagnostic factors which are of primary importance in the acceptance or rejection of a tooth for treatment. Once having decided to proceed with treatment, it is my hope that in the basic considerations of aseptic instrumentation which members of the Faculty have tried to keep before you, you will find a sound foundation for an ever widening sense of satsfaction in your endodontic practice of the future.

G. C. Hare