Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Canadian Dental Collection
Category
Diagnostic & Treatment Artifacts
Classification
Dental
Accession Number
010020063 a-f
Description
Metal foot-powered dental drill; triangular base with foot pedal attached (a) enamelled in black with gold decoration around base; pedal has manufacturer's logo embossed in middle; metal pole attaches foot pedal to wheel, which spins when foot pedal is pushed down; wheel has four green curved spoke…
Metal foot-powered dental drill; triangular base with foot pedal attached (a) enamelled in black with gold decoration around base; pedal has manufacturer's logo embossed in middle; metal pole attaches foot pedal to wheel, which spins when foot pedal is pushed down; wheel has four green curved spokes, yellow, green and gold decoration around edges, and is attached to upright support; dental drill (b) made up of silver metal handpiece, coiled tube and metal end attached to black fabric-covered rubber tube leading to silver metal attachment with wheel at end; silver metal pole (c) with two knobs near bottom goes into base; smaller silver metal pole connects larger pole to drill; screw (f) attaches two poles together at adjustable heights; green fabric belt (e) attaches to wheels
Number Of Parts
6
Part Names
a - base - Size: Length 62.0 cm x Width 47.0 cm x Depth 30.0 cm
b - drill - Size: Length 99.7 cm x Width 10.7 cm x Depth 5.7 cm
c - pole - Size: Length 62.1 cm x Width 5.5 cm x Depth 1.6 cm
d - pole - Size: Length 30.1 cm x Width 2.5 cm x Depth 2.1 cm
e - belt - Size: Length 1.31 m x Diam. 0.2 cm
f - screw - Size: Length 2.3 cm x Width 2.0 cm x. Depth 2.0 cm
Provenance
Transfer from the Dental Canada Fund; previously housed in the Dentistry Canada Museum (Ottawa)
(b) Engraved on handpiece: "JAPAN // THE S.S. WHITE DENTAL MFG. CO."; engraved on attachment: "U.S.A PAT. MAR. 17. 03 // DRGM. 189146"; (f) engraved on screw: "THE S.S. WHITE DENTAL MFG. CO."
Permanent Location
Storage Room W2
W2-536-2-1
Condition Remarks
Some gold decoration faded on wheel; heel of foot pedal chipping away; metal tarnished on poles and handpiece
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Book
Person
JPG
Reference Comments
“S.S. White Dental Catalog, Catalog-B”, S.S. White Dental Mfg. Co., 1917, p. 2-3 (similar to S.S. White Cable Engine); "James Beall Morrison: The Visionary who Revolutionized the Practice of Dentistry", Malvin E. Ring and Neal Hurley, Journal of the ADA, 2000:131, p. 1165-66; J. Diane Snow
CD #9
Research Facts
Dr Ralph and Mrs Olga Crawford donated their extensive Canadian dental collection to the DCF to create the museum in 1997; further donations were received while Dr Crawford was Curator Emeritus at the Dental Canada Museum until its closure in 2008; the foot-powered dental drill was patented in 1871 by American inventor James Beall Morrison; this item was donated by J. Diane Snow from Vancouver, British Columbia and was originally owned by her father Dr. Cecil Montague Snow, who used it during 1929-1942 while traveling around rural Saskatchewan, after which he settled in Calgary, Alberta; he graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of Maryland in 1916