Claude Mouton is a name synonymous with dental history. His story, and the amazing career that he led, were integral to the early advancements in dental techniques and oral science. Thanks to him, all modern dental patients can expect state-of-the-art care and treatments that weren’t possible in Mouton’s time.
In dentistry and medicine, it is often the early pioneers who pave the way for the next generation of doctors and dentists. Their important discoveries and creative theories help to push patient care forward, ensuring future patients have it better than those who came before. Understanding the story and struggles of early dentists like Claude Mouton can help us better appreciate how good we really have it today.
You may not normally think of Grove, Oklahoma as a hotbed of advanced dental care, but when you read about Claude Mouton and the struggles of patients in the 1700’s, you’ll understand how fortunate we are to have a modern facility like Grand Lake Dental.
Who was Claude Mouton?
The truth is, as it is with many historical persons from prior to the 19th century, little is known about Claude Mouton’s life. What is certain is that he was an early surgeon and dentist from Paris, France, who became famed for his advances and discoveries having to do with dental treatments. He was also alive at the time when the renowned Pierre Fauchard, a French surgeon, who is best known as “the Father of Modern Dentistry,” published his seminal work, “The Surgeon Dentist, A Treatise on Teeth.”
We’ve written about Fauchard previously, and it should come as no surprise that his work would be so influential on the dentists who would follow, as it appears to have been with Mouton. Fauchard conducted a great deal of research into the causes of tooth decay and was possibly the first to introduce the use of fillings in modern dentistry.
While we don’t have a good idea about Mouton’s early life, we do know what the state of dentistry was like when he began his career and how his accomplishments would go on to shape the profession.
What was dentistry like in Claude Mouton’s era?
Dentists like Mouton and Fauchard who lived in the early 18th century faced many hurdles and a general lack of knowledge about even the most basic afflictions that led to tooth and gum disease. It’s not an exaggeration to say that dental treatments in their time were extremely primitive by today’s standards, with the most likely treatment for decay being to extract the offending teeth.
One major hurdle was that dentists and surgeons at the time had very little in the way of instruments available to them. In fact, the reason that barbers were often expected to be dentists and surgeons in addition to shavers and hair cutters is that they at least had access to cutting tools. There was no such thing yet as the metal probes and scalers that are so strongly associated with dentists today. Anesthesia was also not invented yet.
Another difficulty when it came to being a dentist was a lack of proper lighting. There was no such thing as an electrical light yet, so dentists would have need to use oil lamps or torches to look down a patient’s mouth. Metallurgy was also still in its infancy, which adversely affected what was available to dentists in terms of both metal instruments and cavity fillings, the latter of which we’ll see was an important part of Mouton’s scientific journey.
What were Claude Mouton’s contributions to dentistry?
As a dentist, Mouton was responsible for a number of key advancements, and he is probably best known for his development of the gold crown, but his achievement that was most impactful was the publication of his 1746 book entitled, "Essay on Odontology, or a Dissertation on Artificial Teeth." It was through this work that his contributions to the fields of prosthodontics and cosmetic dentistry were disseminated to dentists throughout Europe and beyond and helped to advance the way dental patients were treated.
It would be hard to overestimate how far ahead of his time Mouton was. His work went far beyond simply creating treatments for the pain associated with tooth decay, but he was actively developing solutions that would help improve people’s quality of life long after their dental visit. By creating the first gold crowns and other innovations in the area of prosthetic dentistry, he was helping to treat severe tooth decay in such a way that people could continue to have healthy lives.
He was perhaps the first person to come up with treatments that both solved the problem of decaying teeth while at the same time restoring an aesthetically appealing appearance. He experimented with creating gold shell crowns with a layer of enamel over them to match the neighboring teeth. He also paved the way for future innovators, including Nicholas Dubois de Chemant, who invented the porcelain tooth, and John Greenwood, dentist to George Washington and creator of the foot pedal-powered dental drill.
Unfortunately, in many cases, it would be decades, or even centuries, before Mouton’s ideas and techniques took hold.
Your Grove, Oklahoma Dental Specialist
Patients at Grand Lake Dental and other Oklahoma dentists might easily take all of the modern machines and techniques for granted. But it wasn’t that long ago that dentistry was in its infancy and even the simplest procedures could prove dangerous or even life threatening, not to mention extremely painful. Dr. Jobst is well aware that we must thank the early pioneers like Claude Mouton for their tremendous contributions to dentistry. It is due to their dedication to discovery and scientific curiosity that we have the many benefits of modern medicine we enjoy today.
Of course, the modern facilities and equipment that you’ll find at Grand Lake Dental are far more advanced than anything Mouton had available to him in his time. Our entire staff, led by Dr. Jobst, is committed to effectively and reliably serving the families of Oklahoma with the best dental care possible. With any visit to Dr. Jobst, you can rest easy knowing you’ll receive the best possible treatment and personal, attentive care.
Call us today to make your next appointment.