Making the American Mouth: Dentists and Public Health in the Twentieth Century

Why are Americans so uniquely obsessed with teeth? Brilliantly white, straight teeth?

Making the American Mouth is at once a history of United States dentistry and a study of a billion-dollar industry. Alyssa Picard chronicles the forces that limited Americans' access to dental care in the early twentieth century and the ways dentists worked to expand that access--and improve the public image of their profession. Comprehensive in scope, this work describes how dentists' early public health commitments withered under the strain of fights over fluoride, mid-century social movements for racial and gender equity, and pressure to insure dental costs. It explains how dentists came to promote cosmetic services, and why Americans were so eager to purchase them. As we move into the twentyfirst century, dentists' success in shaping their industry means that for many, the perfect American smile will remain a distant--though tantalizing--dream.

Author: Alyssa Picard
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 03/14/2013
Pages: 242
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.72lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.51d
ISBN13: 9780813561615
ISBN10: 0813561612
BISAC Categories:
- Medical | History
- Medical | Dentistry | General
- Medical | Public Health

About the Author
ALYSSA PICARD, PhD, is a union organizer whose work focuses on expanding health care access for non-tenure-track faculty at public universities in Michigan. She writes about the history of health care and twentieth-century social movements.