Fauchard

FAUCHARD Pierre (Pierre Fauchard; 1690-1762), French surgeon and dentist, creator of modern dentistry. His famous work 'Le chirurgien dentiste ou traite des dents' (v. I-II, P., 1728) is the first in time guide in which scientific and practical knowledge in the field of dentistry has been systematized. In his work, F. for the first time classifies dental diseases based on etiology and clinical signs and gives about 150 names of dental diseases. F.'s treatment of teeth, their extraction, and a rich casuistic material are described in detail. F. contributed especially much to the field of dental prosthetics. His inventions include: metal springs for fixing prostheses, pin teeth, palatal obturators, enameling of artificial teeth made from animal bone. F.'s work created an era in that he broke with the tradition of dentists of his time to keep their improvements secret so that competitors would not use them. The example of F. found numerous followers and gave impetus to the appearance in the 18th century of extensive literature on dentistry and dental prosthetics (Mouton, Bourdet, Gerody, Pfaff, etc.).