Glimpses of Canadian History, one vibrant moment at a time
  • Home
  • Admin
  • About me

Dr. Barnabas Day: dentist established the ODA in 1867

  • By Susanna McLeod
  • Oct-29-2022
  • Fascinating Canadian History
  • Comments Off on Dr. Barnabas Day: dentist established the ODA in 1867

 

Realizing the need for healthy and sanitary dental care in the mid-1800s, Barnabas Day organized a group to submit a bill to government, leading to the first regulations on dental profession.

Pick up a box of dental instruments in the 1800s or earlier, set out a shingle with your name and new title, and presto! You could become a dentist. There was no licence to receive, no certificate of training to earn. The patients did not know if you were trained or not, didn’t know if you had knowledge of teeth and gums. Their mouths were trusted to your inexperienced care. Some paid a steep price for that trust, since the man sticking his fingers and dental instruments may have been fresh off the wagon and have no idea what he was doing. Dr. Barnabas Day instigated changes to benefit patients and honest-to-goodness dentists.

Dr. Barnabas Day. The professional dentist was born in Kingston, Ontario. He organized the first Ontario Dental Association in 1867 to develop patient safety procedures. Photograph from Ontario Dental Association.

Short Apprenticeship for Barnabas Day

In 1855 at age 22, Barnabas Day paid $200 for a year’s apprenticeship under dentist John Sutton in Kingston, Ontario. Sutton moved west six months later, leaving Barnabas short on training but long on enthusiasm. With his dentist’s instruments and at least some experience, he opened a practice, and did his best to provide good dental care to his patients. He was quoted as saying that he was “determined to make no mistake, for I knew in my own mind that I was not qualified,” noted Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Barnabas continued his studies in New York, learning the techniques required to make dentures.

Dr. Day a Trained Dentist and Physician

Expanding his training into medicine in 1858, the young dentist entered medical school at Queen’s College in Kingston, graduating in 1862 as a physician. Barnabas found that the dental profession suffered from disrepute – too many people could call themselves dentists that had no training or expertise whatsoever. There were no regulations, no controls over the proper practice of dentistry; inexperienced drilling, savage tooth extraction and no sanitation could be disastrous. It was a real threat to public welfare and safety. Though several other dentists had tried before to initiate government regulation, Barnabas made another attempt.

Ontario Dental Association 1867

Organizing a meeting of professional dentists in Upper Canada – only nine men came to the gathering of the approximately 175 in Ontario – the group met in Toronto on January 3, 1867. Determined and energized, committees were formed to create an association and by-laws and to address potential legislation. Another meeting in July of the next year lead to the formation of the Ontario Dental Association and Barnabas was named president.

First Dental Legislation in the World

The next January, a bill was prepared and a petition signed and ready to submit to the government, said the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, “by 68 dentists, 28 physicians, one judge, the mayor of Toronto and one druggist.” On March 4, 1868, the bill put forward by Dr. Barnabas Day and the Ontario Dental Association was made into legislation. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario was incorporated and given “full powers of licensing and regulating dentistry in the province.” The dental legislation was the first to pass in North America, and in the world.

A set of surgical instruments representing the tools dentists and surgeons used in the late 1800s. Ouch.

DDS from University of Toronto

In 1875, the RCDSO opened the first official dental school in Canada in Toronto. Beginning in 1888, graduates of the program received Doctor of Dental Surgery degrees upon passing examinations in conjunction with the University of Toronto. The dental school was absorbed by the University of Toronto in 1924, becoming the Faculty of Dentistry.

Dentists with five years practical experience were admitted to the RCDSO without having to return to school. Given admission automatically, Barnabas was also installed as president of the College in 1872. Moving back and forth between Kingston and the United States, Barnabas settled in California, becoming an American citizen in 1887. Dr. Barnabas Day died in Los Angeles, California in 1907.

This article first appeared on Suite101.com on October 28, 2009. (c) Susanna McLeod

 

Comments

← Previous Post Next Post →

Categories

  • Fascinating Canadian History
  • Those Canadian Women, they got this

Search:

Archives

  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
About This Site

A cras tincidunt, ut tellus et. Gravida scel ipsum sed iaculis, nunc non nam. Placerat sed phase llus, purus purus elit.

Archives Widget
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
Categories
  • Entertainment
  • Technology
  • Sports & Recreation
  • Jobs & Lifestyle
Search

Powered by WordPress  |  Business Directory by InkThemes.