Volume 219 Issue 9, 13 November 2015
'HISTORY OF DENTISTRY IN 12 OBJECTS' SERIES: THE HYPODERMIC SYRINGE 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.
The hypodermic syringe is depicted on this issue. The injection of fluids into body cavities has been undertaken for millennia with both the Greeks and Romans using the technique to administer medicines. In Tudor times, metal syringes were used to inject mercury into sailors urethras in the forlorn hope of curing syphilis. This procedure often causing far more discomfort to the patients than the original symptoms! In 1853 Dr Alexander Wood, Secretary to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and, independently, the French veterinary surgeon Charles Pravaz developed hypodermic syringes with needles fine enough to pierce skin.
Initially, syringe barrels were made of metal, usually brass or silver, with a steel needle. The brass syringe on the cover was made by Down Bros, long established instrument makers, of St. Thomas Street London. By 1866 metal barrels were being replaced by calibrated glass tubes, allowing, for the first time, the exact amount of drug injected to be accurately measured. In 1956 Colin Murdock, a New Zealand pharmacist, developed the first fully disposable plastic syringe. Needles were reusable until the early 1960s when disposable ones became widely available.
Photography by Filip Gierlinski Website: www.filskifoto.com; Email: filip@filskifoto.com
With thanks to Henry Schein for making their London Showroom available for this photo shoot.
Email: everything@hentryschein.co.uk; Tel: 020 7298 1980
Website: https://www.henryschein.co.uk/gb-en/dental-gb
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