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JADA Centennial

JADA Centennial

This year marks JADA's 100th year of publication. To commemorate its centennial, JADA is revisiting landmark articles that have been published during its 100-year history. Each month, JADA will publish a landmark article in its entirety, along with newly written commentary about it. Below you will find information about the most recently released JADA centennial landmark articles and accompanying commentaries, each of which is available for download.

From January: A Century of Progress
From February: The X-ray in Dental Practice: The Crime of the Age
From March: The Dental Education Problem
From April: The Development of the Human Dentition
From May: Hydraulic Turbine Contra-Angle Handpiece

From the January 2013 issue of JADA

A century of progress
(3 pages; PDF)
By Bruce Lee Pihlstrom,
DDS, MS;
Michael Glick, DMD

Summary: The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), originally published as the Official Bulletin of the National Dental Association, is celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2013.

From the February 2013 issue of JADA

The X-ray in dental practice:
The crime of the age
Part 1 (15 pages; PDF)
Part 2 (17 pages; PDF)
By C. Edmund Kells, DDS
Originally published: March 1920 in the Journal of the National Dental Association (forerunner to JADA)

Commentary: The X-ray in dentistry, and the legacy of C. Edmund Kells
(5 pages; PDF)
By Peter H. Jacobsohn, DDS; Mel L. Kantor, DDS, MPH, PhD; Bruce L. Pihlstrom, DDS, MS

Summary: C. Edmund Kells was a dental pioneer who championed the use of X-rays in dentistry during the late 19th century and early 20th century. "The X-Ray in Dental Practice" is a paper read by Dr. Kells at a 1919 Association meeting in New Orleans. Much of the paper discusses focal infection theory, which Dr. Kells argued was leading to the unnecessary extraction of teeth. He also made it clear that dental X-rays should be used to enhance dentistry, and not to encourage the "mania for extracting devitalized teeth."

From the March 2013 issue of JADA

The Dental Education Problem
(12 pages; PDF)
By William J. Gies, FACD
Originally published: February 1924 in The Journal of the American Dental Association

Commentary: The Contributions of Dr. Gies
(4 pages; PDF)
By Richard R. Ranney, DDS, MS

Summary: Even though it was published nearly 90 years ago, “The Dental Education Problem” by Dr. William John Gies addresses issues that resonate with modern dentistry. The prescient Gies warned against dental schools that valued profit over research, and voiced concern about rural areas not having access to care if dentists, like physicians, “prefer…to go to the larger centers of population.” Gies also advocated for dentistry to be its own division within health services, instead of just a minor subset of medicine.

From the April 2013 issue of JADA

The Development of the Human Dentition
(8 pages; PDF)
By Issac Schour, DDS, PhD; Maury Massler, DDS, MS
Originally published: July 1941 in The Journal of the American Dental Association

Commentary: A Landmark Report on Understanding the Human Dentition
(5 pages; PDF)
By Louise Brearley Messer, BDSc, MDSc, PhD; Michael J. Till, DDS, MS, MEd, PhD

Summary: As noted in the commentary, this JADA Landmark article by Drs. Isaac Schour and Maury Massler “proved to a starting point for recognition of normal development of the dentition and occlusion, forming the basis of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.” Originally published in July of 1941, the article has gone on to be one of the most cited articles in dental literature. It also produced development tables and charts (see image) that were frequently used upon publication, and continue to be referenced in educational settings.

From the May 2013 issue of JADA


Photograph reproduced with permission of Dentsply International, York, Pa.

Hydraulic Turbine Contra-Angle Handpiece
(6 pages; PDF)
By Robert J. Nelsen, DDS.; Carl E. Pelander; John W. Kumpula
Originally published: March 1953 in The Journal of the American Dental Association

Commentary: How the development of the high-speed turbine handpiece changed the practice of dentistry
(4 pages; PDF)
By J. Robert Eshleman, DDS; David C. Sarrett, DMD, MS

Summary: This 1953 article by Dr. Robert J. Nelsen, Carl E. Pelander and John W. Kumpula helped pave the way for using increased rotary speeds in tooth-cutting procedures. Dr. Nelsen and colleagues went on to create the prototype for the first commercially produced dental handpiece with the turbine placed in the head of the handpiece. Drs. J. Robert Eshleman and David C. Sarrett explain how high-speed air turbine handpieces improved dentistry for both dentists and patients, sparking a practice transformation, arguably, more rapid than any the profession has ever seen. Commentary includes an interview with five dentists who were in dental school when the handpieces made their debut in the 1960s.