The Flower of Remedies Against the Toothache (review)

Jacques Fouré (1912–94), a dentist, began his distinguished career (after receiving the D.D.S. in 1936 from Ohio State University) by becoming an associate of the American dentist Dr. Daniel Keely-Smith, whose patients were the elite of Paris. Fouré continued the tradition of the well-educated American dentist becoming the professional of choice to the wealthy and royalty, which began in the mid-nineteenth century. He seized opportunities to further his profession as a member of the surgical team in a French hospital during World War II and provided dentistry at the Red Cross Hospital for prisoners of war. He established a school to train dental hygienists and improved other dental institutions, thus becoming prominent in Paris, and he was active in the American Dental Club of Paris. His interest in dental history culminated in the translation of M. Arnauld Gilles’s book, which was the first dental text in French, originally published in 1621.

Fouré’s death occurred before he could complete the Gilles translation, which was edited by the noted American dental historian Milton Asbell. The short text, which reads well except for a few instances, reveals the lack of respect for treating the teeth that was prevalent at Gilles’s time. Aching teeth were minimized, and those who sought relief were dismissed with little sympathy. Physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists removed aching teeth—a situation that sometimes had serious consequences when the operator did not wash his hands after treating a venereal patient and the dental patient subsequently became ill with venereal disease. Hence Gilles recommended that patients seek the assistance of those who specialized in treating teeth, to avoid this contamination. Hemorrhaging after the extraction of a tooth was another major problem, which the dental specialist was best prepared to control. Almost half the text is devoted to assorted remedies for aching, discolored, and loose teeth.

This edition would have benefited from an explanation of dentistry in the early seventeenth century and of the rationale for providing the text in translation at this time. What does the long delay in translating the text imply about the history of dentistry and the development of dental practice in France? Thomas Evans is the most noted American dentist to have practiced in Paris, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, and his biography reveals a fascinating personality; however, he is among hundreds of other American dentists who raised the quality of European dentistry by introducing American-made equipment and techniques learned in American dental schools. The story of this group of professionals, which continues to the present, would make a fine historical topic and would add to the discussion of the liaison between American and European medical treatment.