John Mankey Riggs
John Mankey Riggs (October 25, 1811 – November 11, 1885)[1][2] was the leading authority on periodontal disease and its treatment in the United States, to the point that periodontal disease was known as "Riggs' disease."[3]
Biography
Riggs was born in
He practiced dentistry in Hartford, and was seemingly the first individual to limit his practice to periodontics; he is thus considered to be the first specialist in the field.[3]
Riggs was an associate of Horace Wells, and was the first surgeon to operate with a patient under anesthesia by extracting Wells' tooth in 1844 while he was under the influence of nitrous oxide.[3]
Role in early periodontology
Riggs was an opponent of periodontal surgery, which at the time consisted of
Riggs first demonstrated his method of conventional periodontal therapy in 1856: he removed salivary and serumal deposits and necrosed bone from the teeth with scrapers that he designed. He then applied a tincture of powdered myrrh and polished the teeth. He published his treatment in 1876.[4]
References
- ^ While Carranza's Clinical Periodontology provides a middle initial of "W.", Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary, 2002. page 721 provides a middle name of "Mankey". The dictionary, however, provides only years of birth and death (1810-1885), while Carranza's provides dates, albeit with a different year of birth.
- ^ Second source with dates as provided by Carranza's[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d Shklar, G; Carranza, FA: The Historical Background of Periodontology. In Newman, MG; Takei, HH; Carrana FA, editors: Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology, 9th Edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 2002. page 7.
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary, Revised Edition. Springfield, Mass. 2002. page 721.