Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Canadian Dental Collection
Category
Dental
Classification
Dental
Accession Number
010020271
Description
Silver metal dental rubber dam punch; two handles, curved inward, connected via hinge at top; one end with protruding horizontal cylinder with triangular tip; the other end with rotating disc with five cut-out circles of various sizes around top edge; when handles are squeezed together, the triangu…
Silver metal dental rubber dam punch; two handles, curved inward, connected via hinge at top; one end with protruding horizontal cylinder with triangular tip; the other end with rotating disc with five cut-out circles of various sizes around top edge; when handles are squeezed together, the triangular tip goes through one of the circles and punches a hole through the dental dam
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Transfer from the Dental Canada Fund; previously housed in the Dentistry Canada Museum (Ottawa)
Engraved on handle: "MADE IN // U. S. OF A. // SSW"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-C6-2
Dimension Notes
Length 15.8 cm x Width 5.7 cm x Depth 1.8 cm
Condition Remarks
Metal is slightly tarnished
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Book
Reference Comments
“S.S. White Dental Catalog, Catalog-K”, S.S. White Dental Mfg. Co., 1914, p. 3 (The Perfected Rubber-Dam Punch)
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; this item punched holes in rubber dental dams, used to protect the tooth and operating field from moisture; an S. S. White catalogue states the instrument's popularity was growing due to its ability to cut the smoothest, cleanest hole; the 1914 catalogue states that the instrument was patented in 1898 but as of 1914 only had four holes, instead of five, as this model does