John Tomes

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Tomes in 1873
John Tomes by Carlile Henry Hayes Macartney

Sir John Tomes (21 March 1815 – 29 July 1895) was an English

dental surgeon
.

Life

The eldest son of John Tomes and Sarah, his wife, daughter of William Baylies of

King's College, London and the Middlesex Hospital, at that time united. He was house surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital during 1839–40.[1]

Research with Madder on histology of bone and teeth brought Tomes to the notice of

general anæsthesia, shortly after the introduction of ether into surgical practice by William T. G. Morton, and in 1847 he administered it at the Middlesex Hospital for the extraction of teeth as well as for operations in general surgery. He was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Society on 6 June 1850.[1]

Tomes was one of those who in 1843, and again in 1855, unsuccessfully approached the Royal College of Surgeons of England with the aim of allying dentists with surgeons. In 1858 he was successful in inducing the Royal College of Surgeons to grant a license in dental surgery. He was also one of the main founders in 1856 of the

Dental Hospital, where he was the first to give systematic clinical demonstrations. After the dental licentiateship had been established about twenty years, Tomes, with James Smith Turner, was instrumental in obtaining the Dentists Act 1878 for the registration of dental professionals.[1]

After carrying on a good practice for many years, Tomes retired in 1876 to Upwood Gorse,

golden wedding he was presented with an inkstand, and the rest of the money subscribed was devoted to the endowment of a Royal College prize for researches in the field of dental science.[1] The first recipient of this prize was his son, Charles Sissmore Tomes, in 1896[2]

Tomes died on 29 July 1895, and was buried at St. Mary's, Upper Caterham.[1]

Works

At the Middlesex Hospital, Tomes invented an innovative tooth-extracting forceps with jaws adapted to the forms of the necks of teeth, in place of the

Society of Arts.[1]

Tomes published:[1]

  • A Course of Lectures on Dental Physiology and Surgery, London, 1848. These classic lectures from 1845 were delivered at the Middlesex Hospital, but Tomes had trouble attracting an audience.
  • A System of Dental Surgery, London, 1859, which became a standard work. A third edition was revised and enlarged by his son C. S. Tomes, London, 1887; it was also translated into French, Paris, 1873.

He contributed a series of papers on "Bone" and dental tissues to the

dentine led to the nomenclature "Tomes's fibrils".[1]

Over 1300 tooth preparations made by Tomes and his son were presented to the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1920. This collection is still held at the Royal College of Surgeons and is particularly rich in microscopic preparations of mammal teeth.[2]

Family

On 15 February 1844 Tomes married Jane, daughter of Robert Sibley of Great Ormond Street, London, an architect. They had one surviving son, Sir Charles Sissmore Tomes, who was also a dental surgeon.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Tomes, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b c "Lives of the Fellows". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2020.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Tomes, John". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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