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19th Century
Technical 19th Century Technical Developments
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Amalgam
Anesthesia James Beall Morrison: The Visionary Who
Dental Chairs Revolutionized the Practice of Dentistry
Dental Engines
Part 2 Malvin E. Ring, DDS, MLS
Dental Tools Part:
Neal Hurley, PhD, MS
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Metallurgy & Abstract
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Porcelain, etc. Background and Overview. For centuries dental patient's sat on makeshift
Radiology contraptions or modified straight-backed chairs, which took a toll on the health of both
Rubber Dam patient and dentist. In addition, the lack of a suitable drill retarded the development of
restorative dentistry, allowing minimum care for only a tiny segment of the population.
Vulcanite
One farseeing American dentist, James Beall Morrison, changed all that in the 1870s
American with his innovative, fully adjustable chair, which made sit-down dentistry possible.
Dentistry Moreover, his monumental invention of the foot-powered drill allowed dentists to place
Emerges restorations that were theretofore impossible. Dentists the world over became able to
Miscellaneous treat patients more comfortably and satisfactorily, and with less stress to themselves.

Clinical Implications. A newly discovered collection of letters in the Smithsonian

Institution to Morrison from colleagues in London provides insight into how
collaboration between inventor and user helped bring about great changes in the way
dentistry is practiced. These letters also shed light on what dentistry was like one and
one-quarter centuries ago, how far dentistry has come and what changes may be
forthcoming.

A Monumental Development: The Power Drill

The lack of an efficient instrument for breaking through the enamel of a tooth held up the
development of restorative dentistry more than anything else. Most early drills were
cumbersome, hand-held devices that were intolerably slow and difficult to work with; in
addition, most required that they be held in two hands. (John Greenwood, George
Washington's favorite dentist, was reputed to have made a mechanical drill from his mother's
spinning wheel; however, many authorities are skeptical about this.) Other drills of the day
included miniature versions of a carpenter's drill as well as regular jewelers' drills.

In 1858, John A. Chevalier of New York invented a geared drill with a mechanism somewhat
like that of an eggbeater. The advantage of this drill was that it was offset at an angle that
allowed better access to the tooth; the disadvantage was that it took two hands to operate. At
about the same time, Charles Merry of St. Louis introduced a drill with a flexible shaft, an
innovation with which Morrison doubtlessly was familiar and which he ultimately incorporated
into his invention.

Still, most dentists broke through the enamel with long steel burs that were merely twirled in
the fingers. An improvement was the "ring" drill, designed by Amos Westcott in 1846. This
drill had a metal cup attached to a ring that was worn on the index finger. The end of the drill
rested in the cup and the shaft was twirled between thumb and forefinger. 4

Other drills were introduced over the years, including an English drill run by a clockwork
mechanism, but it was heavy and clumsy and ran for less than two minutes before needing
rewinding. Even an electric drill was introduced in 1870, but this, too, was unwieldy and was
overshadowed by Morrison's monumental invention.

It has been said that before Morrison left Europe to return to America, one of his London
friends remarked that the next thing he would hear about him was that he was filling teeth
with machinery. This comment was not far from the truth. Morrison's erstwhile associate in
London, Dr. Sercombe, was privy to the knowledge that Morrison was working on just such a
machine and, in a letter to Morrison dated Feb. 1, 1871, he wrote, "I am getting quite
impatient to know more about your machine. Your promised particulars have not yet turned
up. Give me a line as soon as possible and let me know what it is like in form and how it is to
be used and what it might be capable of doing." 5

As soon as Morrison returned to St. Louis—and reentered practice with his brother—he
began working on his invention. On Aug. 16, 1870, U.S. patent 106498 was granted him for a
dental engine, which was driven by an endless belt. Originally, the endless belt turned a gear
onto which the handpiece was attached. In an improved design, a flexible shaft connected
the gear and handpiece. This first engine was to be attached to a bracket that could be
fastened to the wall. However, no motive power yet existed that could drive the endless belt.

Morrison solved this problem by using a foot treadle to drive the endless belt, an idea he no
doubt got from the Singer sewing machine, which had been introduced in the 1850s. Patent
111667 was granted to him on Feb. 7, 1871, for his new engine.

Word of the invention got out to the profession even before it was ready for sale. Sercombe
wrote to Morrison on March 21, 1871, "I see by the Missouri journal that your Baby is born. I
omitted to say in my last letter to you that I wish you to send me one as soon as you possibly
can. I have been tempted to buy a machine brought out in England but I much [prefer] the
Morrisonian."6 Sercombe was probably alluding to the aforementioned clockwork drill.

Morrison immediately turned manufacture of the drill over to Johnston Brothers, a

manufacturing firm in New York City, and the first one was sold at a dental convention in
Binghamton, N.Y., on April 17, 1872. 7 In the meantime, Morrison received another letter,
dated June 13, 1871, from Sercombe, in which he wrote that he was "impatiently waiting for
your promised machine. I should advise you to send over half a dozen." 8

The Engine Demonstrated in England

By the winter of 1873, Dr. Sercombe had
received one of Morrison's machines, had
used it in his practice, and was enthusiastic
about it. He decided to enter it in an
international exhibition to be held that
spring in London. On Feb. 24, 1873, he
wrote to Morrison that since it had to be
entered soon, he would submit the one he
was using, which created a hardship for
him since it was the only one he had. "As it
will have to be there for some months," he
wrote, "you must get Johnston's people to
send one over which I will substitute for
mine as soon as I get it, as mine is a daily
necessity." 9

Claudius Ash and Sons, the London

company that had been manufacturing
Morrison's chair, apparently was miffed
that Morrison had not given it the rights to manufacture his engine. 9 (In his haste to bring his
new drill to market, Morrison chose Johnston Brothers since it was closer to home.
Unfortunately, its work was not always satisfactory.)

In a Feb. 24th letter, Dr. Sercombe cautioned Morrison that Claudius Ash and Sons was on
the verge of manufacturing another man's invention and advised him to transfer manufacture
of the engine to Ash. This recommendation was important to the success of Morrison's
invention, for the Ash company was England's leading and most respected manufacturer and
dealer in dental instruments and equipment, with customers throughout the continent.
Eventually, Morrison did switch manufacturers, giving the work to Ash.

In the meantime, however, there were serious problems with the way Johnston Brothers was
turning out the engines. In the same Feb. 24th letter, Sercombe complained that "the last
machine sent to me by Johnston is by no means as good as the first. It is not so silent nor
has it the same driving power. It will stick at the slightest pressure." 9

Drilling machine demonstrated. At the monthly meeting of the Odontological Society in

London on March 3, 1873, Sercombe demonstrated his friend's new drilling machine. He told
the group that the engine reached a speed of about 2,000 revolutions per minute. However,
he admitted that this blunted the burswhich apparently were poorly manufactured -and led to
undue pressure being applied by the operator, with consequent heat generation. Yet, he felt
that if the burs were kept in good condition, this problem could be avoided. The president of
the society asked Sercombe if there was any increase in pain when the tooth was prepared
by means of the new engine, and Sercombe replied that most of his patients were in favor of
the apparatus, and that the cavity might be cut with a corundum wheel without any pain at
all. 7

This latter adaptation was Sercombe's great

contribution to the success of his friend's
machine. The existence of corundum, an oxide of
aluminum, had been known for many years.
However, it wasn't until 1813 that the American
chemist Benjamin Silliman, founder and first
editor of the American Journal of Science and
the Arts, showed that the mineral could be fused
by heat. The material was first introduced into
dentistry by Robert Arthur, and Sercombe used
this knowledge to devise wheels and stones of
corundum that worked far better in preparing
teeth than the poorly made burs. In a letter to
Morrison dated Feb. 11, 1873, Sercome
complained that Johnston Brothers sent him burs
that were so untrue that they couldn't be used.
However, he added, "the corundum wheels are
the greatest fact. I think with them I do
wonders."10
Sercombe was enthusiastic about the Morrison engine and talked it up widely. He wrote to
his friend, "I had the opportunity of showing it to several surgeons as it might be turned to
valuable use in general surgery for drilling into carious bone or trephining the skull, for
example. I have also suggested it as a valuable engine for sculptors. In fact, I don't know
where its use is to end." 11 In this, Sercombe was prescient. On April 7, 1873, a Berlin
surgeon named Heinrich Breslauer demonstrated the use of Morrison's drill for the resection
of bone, and stated that his patients judged that "this type of operation with the aid of this
machine is completely painless and relatively more pleasant than any other method of
resection."12 Today, the dental drill is used widely in general surgery. In fact, an adaptation
of the high-speed drill designed by Pittsburgh oral surgeon Robert Hall is an indispensable
tool in brain surgery, where it has cut the time needed to remove the calvarium from 45
minutes to 45 seconds.13

Improved drill. Morrison introduced an improved model of the drill in 1875. Where the
original model had the handpiece attached directly to a gear, which was turned by the
endless belt, the new model had a flexible shaft between the handpiece and the belt-driven
gear. This allowed for much more flexibility and ease of operation.

Morrison's Last Years

When Morrison invented the foot-treadle drill, he was deeply in debt, so much so that he sold
the rights to his engine for a mere $5,000, which included a bill-of-sale for 100 engines. 14 But
Dr. Morrison's fate turned around, and where so many inventors die in poverty, Morrison died
a wealthy man. Although the foot-treadle drill was his greatest contribution, it was his dental
chair that brought him substantial royalties for many years. When he sold his interest in the
chair to the S.S. White Company in 1887, he received a fairly large sum, which he invested
in real estate and built a small fortune.

Dr. Morrison was a modest man, and when "Who's Who" wanted to include him in its listing,
he refused to give the publication any information. In his later years, his only contact with the
dental profession was his occasional attendance at a dental meeting. He died quietly at his
home in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 22, 1917, and was buried in Mount Washington
Cemetery in Independence, Mo. His survivors included his wife—who followed him in death
six years later—and two daughters. He shall long be remembered as one of dentistry's
greatest benefactors.

4. Ring ME. Behind the dentist's drill. Invention Technol 1995;11:27.

5. Letter from Edwin Sercombe, Feb. 1, 1871. Dr. James Beall Morrison
Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
6. Letter from Edwin sercombe, March 21, 1871. Dr. James Beall Morrison
Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
7. Vinski L Two hundred and fifty years of rotary instruments in dentistry. Br Dent J
1979;146:217-23.
8. Letter from Edwin sercombe, June 13, 1871. Dr. James Beall Morrison
Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
9. Letter from Edwin Sercombe, Feb. 24, 1873. Dr. James Beall Morrison
 Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
10. Letter from Edwin Sercombe, Feb. 11, 1873. Dr. James Beall Morrison
Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
11. Letter from Edwin Sercombe, May 18, 1873. Dr. James Beall Morrison
Correspondence, 1869-1873. Washington: Archives Center, National Museum of
American History.
12. Hoffmann-Azthelm W. History of dentistry. Chicago: Quintessence; 1981:305.
13. Ring ME. Dentistry's contributions to medicine. J Maryland State Dent Assoc
1991;34:12-9.
14. Obituary. Dr. James Beall Morrison. The American Dentist 1918;6:11.

Malvin E. Ring. James Beall Morrison: The Visionary Who Revolutionized the
Practice of Dentistry. Journal of the American Dental Association, 131:1164-67
Aug. 2000.

Basil Manly Wilkerson:

Dental Inventor Extraordinaire
John M. Hyson, Jr., DDS, MS
Audrey B. Davis, PhD

[Excerpt, see Dental Chairs for complete article]

The Air Turbine Drill: 1877

In 1877, Dr. Wilkerson patented his "improvement in dental engines" (U.S. patent no.
189,409, 10 April 1877). His turbine drill was "automatically driven by water, steam,
compressed air, or other motive power." It added a "fine stream of water to wet or cool the
operative part of the tool when it becomes heated." The drill shaft was operated by a
"waterwheel" propellant. The "incoming stream" operated "upon the paddles." It could also
be attached to a "dental plugger." Although "compressed air or steam" could be used "to
drive the wheel and engine," water was preferred. It would be another seventy-five years
before his invention became the standard. 2,5

Conclusion

Dr. Wilkerson became internationally known as the inventor of his dental chair. His other
dental inventions beside his turbine drill included a reservoir spittoon and bracket attachment
for a dental chair, a combined instrument case and dental engine, and an anesthetic inhaler.
He also invented a scrotal "Suspensory" (1880). Dr. Wilkerson died of a coronary at
Harrisonburg, Virginia, on 13 June 1910. Until the time of his death, Wilkerson continually
tried to improve and promote his chair as indicated by correspondence between Wilkerson
and the S.S. White Company (in the collections of the Hagley Museum and Library at
Wilmington, Delaware). 1,4,3,6

References

1. Foley GPH., ed. Proceedings of the 125th Anniversary Celebration of the Baltimore
College of Dental Surgery. Baltimore, Alumni Assoc & Fac of the Baltimore Coll Dent
Surg, Dent Sch, Univ MD, 1966, pp 737-38.
2. Nelsen RJ, CE Pelander; and JW Kumpula. Hydraulic turbine contra-angle handpiece.
J Am Dent Assoc, September 1953, 47: 325.
3. New Liquid Gas Apparatus and Dental Cabinet. Independent Practitioner, August
1883,4: 431.
4. Obituary. Dr. Basil Manly Wilkerson. Dental Cosmos, October 1910, 52:1176.
5. US Patent Office. Improvement in Dental Engines. BM Wilkerson,10 April 1877, patent
 no. 189,409, pp 1, 2
6. _____. A Suspensory. Practitioner, February 1880,1: 81.

John M. Hyson, Jr. and Audrey B. Davis. Basil Manly Wilkerson: Dental Inventor
Extraordinaire. Journal of the History of Dentistry, 47(2):61-64 Jul. 1999.
1. Courtesy of Collect Medical Antiques, Alexandria, Virginia,
(collectmedicalantiques.com).
2. Reprinted with permission from Dentistry—An Illustrated History by Dr. Malvin
E. Ring, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1985, 251. All rights
reserved. National Library of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
3. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland.
4. Courtesy of Collect Medical Antiques, op. cit.
For more information see Dental Chairs.

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