Daniel Demers is a semiretired businessman whose hobby is researching and writing about 19th and 20th century historical events and personalities. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from George Washington University and a master's degree in business from Chapman University.
Ouch ouch ouch: Profile of Dr. Charles Edmund Kells
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early operators paid the price for being pioneers in the work." Like Dr. Kells, most would pay the ultimate price. In her article "The Miracle and the Martyrs," Sarah Zobel of the University of Vermont makes reference to a 1920s banquet honoring many radiation pioneers. A chicken dinner was the entrée: "Soon after the plates were set down, it became apparent that few of the attendees were able to enjoy the meal. After years of working with x-rays, so many had lost fingers or hands to radiation-induced damage that almost no one was able to cut the meat by themselves."
The first American to die of radiation exposure was Clarence Dally, an assistant to Thomas Edison. Edison began investigating x-rays almost immediately after Röntgen's discovery, assigning Dally the mundane detail task work. Dally's death in 1904 prompted Edison to abandon any further x-ray research. Edison was so fearful of them that that even on his death bed in 1931, he refused his physician's recommendation that he be x-rayed. "The Wizard of Menlo Park," Zobel noted, "who had watched his assistant die piece-by-piece so many years before, resolutely refused to submit to the x-ray."
Besides his innovative approach to dentistry, Dr. Kells is also credited with hiring the first female dental assistant. He was controversial during his lifetime. At the time, most dentists liberally extracted decaying teeth, while Dr. Kells espoused dental conservation and advocated saving "pulpless" [dead] teeth through restoration. C. M. Kratcher of Indiana-Purdue University wrote that Dr. Kells' ideas and theories have all been scientifically validated "almost one century later." "Because of Kells' persistence, dental professionals today continue to benefit from his inventions and procedures," Kratcher continued.
In 1928, the same year that 71-year-old Dr. Kells died, the first x-ray safety guidelines were adopted and issued by the International Congress of Radiology.
Sources
Books
Ichord LF. Toothworms and Spider Juice. Brookfield, CT: Milbrook Press; 1999.
Kells CE. Three Score Years and Nine. New Orleans, LA: 1926.
Wynbrandt J. The Excruciating History of Dentistry. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press; 1998.
Articles
Jacobsohn PH, Kantor ML, Philstrom BL. The x-ray in dentistry, and the legacy of C. Edmund Kells: A commentary on Kells CE. The x-ray in dental practice. J Am Dent Assoc. 2013;144(spec suppl): 15S-19S. http://www.ada.org/sections/scienceAndResearch/pdfs/FebCommentenaryCentennial.pdf.
Kells CE. The x-ray in dental practice. J Natl Dent Assoc. 1920;7(3):241-272. http://www.ada.org/sections/scienceAndResearch/pdfs/Kells_1920_part_one.pdf and http://www.ada.org/sections/scienceAndResearch/pdfs/Kells_1920_part_two.pdf.
Kells CE. Thirty years experience in the field of roentgenology. J Natl Dent Assoc. 1926.
Kracher CM. C. Edmund Kells (1856-1928). J Hist Dent. 2000;48(2):65-69.
Websites And Related Reading: ------> See Page 4
E-MAIL ME ddemers901@sonic.net