The following item was published in the British Dental Journal on 16 February 1914.

Commenting on the death of a Warwickshire blacksmith who used to extract teeth, the Warwick Advertiser says:

“Years ago the blacksmith's forge was the recognized dentistry, and even now one often meets aged folk in out-of-the-way places who can recall having teeth extracted in the village smithy. The idea may seem very quaint to-day, although many people daily submit themselves to tooth-pullers who have even fewer qualifications than the blacksmith had. The result is that many people who have failed in other directions feel they have a bent for dental surgery. Thus there is a case on record of a gentleman who had not thriven remarkably well as a bookmaker's clerk starting business as an unqualified dentist and doing well. Then again, recently, a man living in a country district visiting a 'dental parlour' in a neighbouring town, was surprised to find that the 'dentist' was a former insurance agent who had canvassed him a few weeks before. So that people of half a century ago who had to rely upon the blacksmith's skill with the forceps were not in much more evil case than many of us to-day.”