Though now it seems hard to believe, the first electrical-equipped dental office appeared only 100 years ago. Until that time, the late 1000s, dentistry was performed In front of a window, or under a gas lamp. The dental drill was foot-powered, similar in design to a treadle-driven sewing machine. Electrical drills had been developed in 1868, but they were powered by storage batteries. The drills were inconvenient and remained unpopular.

An American dentist, C. Edmund Kells, pioneered the first use of electricity in a dental office. Born in 1856, Kells grew up exposed to dentistry, learning lab techniques from his father, a New Orleans dentist. Young Edmund enrolled at the New York College of Dentistry, graduated in 1878, and returned to New Orleans to join his father's practice. Edmund proved to be not only an outstanding dentist, but an innovator and inventor as well. Over thirty patents were granted to him, including such varied discoveries as the fire extinguisher, the automobile jack, and the brake and starter components of the building elevator.

In dentistry, Kells contributed a long list of innovations. He was the first to use compressed air 1 n the dental of f ice. This helped him to dry the teeth for better visualization. Kells developed an oral suction pump, which, during surgery in the mouth, enabled him to clear blood and saliva from the operating area. He was the first to hire a female dental assistant, a decision met with scorn from his more conservative father.

When commercially produced electricity become available, Kells built an electrical control panel, to which he attached an electric dental drill. Soon after, Kells initiated what Is considered his greatest contribution to dentistry: the application of X ray photography, or radiography. In early 1696, Kells read about the discovery of the X ray by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. Kells ordered the needed equipment and built his own X-ray machine. He bought large sheets of X-ray film, which he cut down to the proper size. He wrapped the film in thin rubber to keep it dry in the mouth, and he made a film holder from modeling compound. He used his dental assistant as subject, and, though he was unsure how long to expose the film, he became the first to take a dental X ray on a live patient.

According to Kells, he seated his assistant "In a chair with the film holder in position. With the teeth held together and the mouth closed, she could swallow without causing any movement of the film. With the face leaning against a firmly fixed thin board in order to steady her, the tube was placed on the other side of the board. Thus, I unknowingly used a filter, which possibly prevented my patient from being burned during the long exposure."

In July 1696, a mere eight months after Roentgen's initial discovery of the X-ray, Kells packed up his X-ray machine and headed f or Asheville, North Carolina. There, in front of members of the Southern Dental Association, he demonstrated the use of the X ray in dentistry. Dentists, at first, were slow in utilizing X ray photography. Most believed that the technique was too difficult. They felt it should be left to a specialist and used only in rare cases.

By 1909, a study found that less than a dozen dentists were using X-ray diagnosis. And even then, dentists had to build their own machines--no commercial X-ray units were available. Sadly, Dr. Kells paid a tragic price for his work. When, at age 40, he first began hi s work with X-rays, he was unaware of the unseen danger of cumulative doses of radiation. He often held the films in place with his own fingers. By the time Kells reached 50, he had developed cancer in his right hand. Over the next 20 years, Kells endured 42 operations. He lost, progressively, his hand, his arm, and his shoulder.

Throughout the trauma, Kells still served the profession. He lectured on preventive dentistry and the conservation of teeth. He wrote books, and he contributed over 150 articles to dental journals. At last, however, Kells suffering became intolerable. On May 7, 1928, at age 72, he committed suicide.