Chairside - Glidewell Dental Labs
Chairside - Glidewell Dental Labs
Chairside - Glidewell Dental Labs
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Figures in Dentistry Spotlight:<br />
• Doc Holliday •<br />
– ARTICLE by Michael C. DiTolla, DDS, FAGD<br />
and Megan Strong<br />
onsidering the incredible<br />
fear surrounding<br />
extractions, root canals<br />
and dental work in general,<br />
being known as “history’s most<br />
fearsome dentist” wouldn’t exactly<br />
bode well for one’s private practice. You<br />
get the feeling that his reviews on Yelp<br />
would have been less than stellar, and that<br />
word-of-mouth referrals would be few and far<br />
between. As a dentist in a time when any dental<br />
procedure seemed like something out of a nightmare,<br />
Dr. John Henry “Doc” Holliday was a man unafraid of<br />
blood, guts and violence. Doc spent his short but historically<br />
eventful life roaming the dusty trail in search of<br />
danger, fortune and caries.<br />
Born in Georgia to a wealthy family, Doc came into this<br />
world on Aug. 14, 1851. After losing both his mother and<br />
adopted brother to tuberculosis,<br />
Doc went on to attend the<br />
Pennsylvania College of <strong>Dental</strong><br />
Surgery, which his cousin, Robert<br />
Holliday, founded. He graduated in 1872<br />
with a thesis titled “Diseases of the Teeth.”<br />
The next time you feel like complaining about<br />
how difficult state boards were, consider yourself<br />
lucky that you didn’t have to write a thesis. Or even<br />
read a thesis, for that matter.<br />
Shortly after graduating with a dental degree, Doc began<br />
work as a dentist in the office of Dr. Arthur C. Ford in<br />
Atlanta, Ga. It wasn’t long after starting his practice that<br />
he came down with tuberculosis, the same disease that<br />
claimed his mother and brother. Thinking the drier climate<br />
of the Wild, Wild West would be better for his health, he<br />
headed to the other side of the country.<br />
Figures in Dentistry Spotlight65