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I went about creating a list, but since most the people are not that notable, or from a period it was much easier to be a dentist in, I chose not to elaborate very much. The most interesting one is definitely the first one, and I tried to work my way down from there.

Jack Miller

Born June 14th, 1961 and he was famous for his race car driving, all the while he was a practicing dentist. Thus, he was known as “The Racing Dentist”.

John Henry Holiday

John Henry “Doc” Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

Barney Clark

Barney Clark got famous for being the first to receive an artificial heart. He was also a Seattle based dentist.

Mark Spitz

Professional Athlete and in 1968 won nine Olympic golds, plus a silver and a bronze. He became educated and qualified to become a dentist, but other opportunities emerged and he never able to to open his own clinic.

Miles Henry Davis

Known to some as the father of Jazz, he was a practicing dentist. Even with that fact, he was better know for even his Hog raising then he was for his Dentistry.

Paul Revere

Famous for his Midnight ride letting us know of enemy troop movements, he was also a dentist and you can find his dentistry tools in museums.

Thomas Welch

Inventor of grape juice. While Grape juice is bad for your teeth, is was also a dentist, but since he practiced in 1875 he did not have the knowledge we have. He is where Welch Grape Juice Company’s name comes from.

Zane Grey

Famous for playing baseball, he originally studied dentistry and graduated at the University of Pennsylvania.

Edgar Buchanan

Famous for being over 100 movies back in the 1940s into the 1970s, he was also a successful dentist.

A new research report published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology has been studying the habits of Gingivitis (Porphyromonas gingivalis). They have noticed it starting to manipulate the immune system in an attempt to try to keep the body from destroying it. It releases a pathogen that prompts the production of an anti-inflammatory. This in turn, inhibits the production of things that help combat the Gingivitis. This makes sense because gum diseases tend to be infections that are incredibly stubborn when it comes treatment.

The research is helping to show why its so hard to treat. And it appears like the disease doesn’t evade the body’s defenses, but actually manipulates it. A lot of research has been put in to attempt to learn more about Porphyromonas gingivalis, including the Porphyromonas Gingivalis Genome Project, where they map the genome of Porphyromonas gingivalis in an attempt to understand it more. P. Gingivalis is a gram-negative that works with other bacteria to create biofilm in the mouth, causing the inflammatory response that results in the gums, which detaches teeth. This is known as gingivitis and periodontitis.

About half of the United States population over fifty has a form of periodontal disease. This can help lower the amount of people over the age of fifty by providing easier treatment methods. Until then, focusing on catching it early is the best method we have to solve the issue.

Scientists have been looking at the way mussels use to attach themselves to rocks, and have decided to try a similar method in recovering people’s outer layer of enamel. Dr. Quan-Li Li and ChungHung Chu have developed a substance that rebuilds enamel and dentin, they they build a sticky substance like the mussels use. They reasoned that it could help to keep minerals in contact with dentin long enough for rebuilding to occur. They would bath teeth with worn away enamel in a liquid containing the substance, and the teeth that were bathed would begin to reform lost enamel.The gooey substance “may be a simple universal technique to induce enamel and dentin remineralization simultaneously,” they concluded.

Enamel is lost when acids slowly dissolve the tooth enamel. This typically comes from sugars raising the acidic levels in the mouth, and from soft drinks. The sugar feeds the bacteria, and the bi-product of the bacteria lowers the pH of the mouth, which causes the crystals of enamel to demineralize. The most important bacterium involved with tooth decay is Streptococcus mutans, but the number and type of bacteria varies with the progress of tooth destruction. This is what causes teeth to get sensitive to hot, cold, and other triggers. By rebuilding the enamel, we will be able to help keep cavities and sensitivities away.

This research comes from people noticing that shark teeth are just as strong as our teeth. Even shark teeth that are incredibly old. The similarities between shark teeth and human teeth caused them to look to other naturally occurring creatures to figure out methods of helping humanity’s teeth.

There was a stop-motion animated television series you might have missed about a dentist- Glenn Martin, DDS. It was around in late 2009 and aired on Nick at Nite. It revolves around a traveling dentist- who is also trying to get closer with his family. For the most part, the dental aspect of his life stays in the background of the show. More important then that, is that many people found the series to be “laugh free”… even though it featured a laugh track.

Here is a direct sample of the show, if you are interested:

It even has a flash game associated with it, if you were interested in a game where you pretend to be a dentist.

Here is a sample directly from Nick at Night- it is definitely a visually odd show.

The real point of interest here is that its main character of the show is a dentist. Dentists are rarely represented in television shows to begin with, so its nice to see one actually leading a show.

Technology is being put in place to be able to detect smells, with reports that it will be able to smell as well as the average dogs nose! They take a chip that can detect smells and even touch to digitize them, it has about 2,000 scent sensors. There are only about 400 sensors in the average human nose. This is based on a start of company in San Fransisco, where they are planning on adding apps designed to function with the chip. Including the app to detect what your breathe smells like. “Halitosis, or bad breath tracking, is something we’re really interested in,” said Khamis. He added that the app will tell users if they have bad breath and indicate what exactly caused it. Other apps planned by the firm include one that will test blood sugar for diabetics and measure blood-alcohol levels.

Adamant Technologies real goal is to be able to detect any chemical they encounter from its surroundings to help people gain insight on their environment. Its disappointing because Adamant Technologies doesn’t comment very much on what they are doing, as you can tell from their website. Adamant says that accessory will cost $100 or less, which some might think is high, but when I actually get to thinking about it it isn’t really for bad breathe- its to check for toxic agents in the air or anything abnormal. Its current issue is smelling when there is two potent scents in the air, but with that said its still an amazing technology.

When you combine it with other technologies that are coming down the pipeline, such as Asian technologies to have devices that can generate smells. So at some point you might even be able to text people smells from your phone. Its an interesting concept but I doubt I would ever trust people I know enough to use it.