Volume 219 Issue 4, 28 August 2015
'HISTORY OF DENTISTRY IN 12 OBJECTS' SERIES: BOILING WATER STERILISER The cover series for volume 219 celebrates 80 years of the British Dental Association (BDA) Museum. Each front cover features an object which highlights a landmark in dental history. The catch is that the object is placed out of its historical context and in a modern environment, causing you to look twice at each picture. The landmark objects were chosen by BDA Museum volunteers.
This cover features the boiling water steriliser. Louis Pasteur, in his scientific papers in the early 1860s, proved bacteria could be destroyed by heat or filtration or just by the use of carbolic acid. By 1865, Joseph Lister, the father of surgical sterile techniques, was implementing Pasteurs recommendations; thereby saving countless lives from a suppurating death. In 1881 sterilisation by boiling water was introduced but it was not until the 20th century that portable boiling water sterilisers became generally available to the practising dentist. In the D.M. Co. catalogue of 1925-28 a similar boiling water steriliser to the one on the cover of this issue was illustrated. Instruments were placed in a tray suspended in the boiling water bath heated from below by wickless spirit lamps. Bicarbonate of soda would usually be added to stop the instruments from rusting. Boiling water sterilisers remained the mainstay for instrument cleaning until the advent of the autoclave (seen in the background of the cover image) in the early 1960s.
Photography by Filip Gierlinski
Website: www.filskifoto.com
Email: filip@filskifoto.com
With thanks to the Harley Street Dental Group for making their practice available for this photo shoot. Address: 52 Harley Street, London W1G 9PY; Tel: 020 7363 5981 Website: https://www.harleystreetdentalgroup.org
Editorial
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