A DENTAL THERAPIST is a member of Dental team,trained and licensed to

carryout preventive,curative,andemergency dental health services through

oral health Education,oral health promotion and oral prophylaxis.

Is a member of oral health professional who practice as a dental team to

provide educational,clinical and therapeutic services to patients.

1. Scaling and polishing

2.Oral examination in both Adult and children

3. Pulp treatment of deciduous teeth

4. Intra oral and extra oral assessment

5. Dental radiographs

6.Extraction of pathological Deciduous Dentition.

HISTORY OF DENTISTRY

Origin of Dental: The Word Dental originated from early latin word Dense-dent meaning tooth, the late latin called it Dentalis (Dental) as at 16th century.

Dentistry in some form has been around as long as civilization itself – from primitive drills to tooth-pulling barbers.

However, the evolution of dentistry has also gone hand in hand with ongoing advances in technology designed for more effective and comfortable treatment.

Here, we’ll be looking at how dentistry has developed into the modern dental office you visit today.

The First Dentists?

According to the American Dental Education Association, the history of dentistry is one of the oldest medical professions – can be traced back to 7000 BCE and the Indus River Valley Civilization in what is now Pakistan, northeast Afghanistan, and northwest India.

There’s evidence that these budding dentists plied their trade by attempting to fix cavities with bow drills originally used as woodworking tools.

Several thousand years later, in ancient Greece, and Aristotle and Hippocrates are musing on dental topics such as methods of tooth extraction.

If you had a toothache in the Middle Ages in Europe, you’d see your barber – pulling teeth was a routine part of their job description.

In the Middle Ages barbers would also perform tooth extractions.

The first Dentist was traced to Egypt,by name Hesy-Re. Death of Hesy-Re, an Egyptian scribe, often called the first “dentist.” An inscription on his tomb includes the title “the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.” This is the earliest known reference to a person identified as a dental practitioner.

Now we’ll skip ahead to the history of modern dentistry.

How Modern Dentistry Has Evolved.

In the early 18th Century, along came a French surgeon who’s now recognized as the Father of Modern Dentistry. Pierre Fauchard defined the first comprehensive dentistry system in an influential 1723 book called The Surgeon Dentist.

In the States, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery opened in 1840 – the first dental school in the world.

The American Dental Association (ADA) – the world’s largest and oldest national dental organization – was founded in 1859.

The same year saw Emeline Roberts Jones become a partner in her husband’s dental practice in Connecticut. Emeline is often credited as being the first female dentist in the U.S.

The Beginning of Dental School

The first dental college, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, opened in Baltimore, Maryland, US in 1840. The second in the United States was the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, established in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1845. The Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery followed in 1852.

Early Dental X-Rays:The first dental X-ray was taken in 1896, and five years later Edward H. Angle started the first school of orthodontics.Shortly afterward, in 1905, anesthesia began to make dental treatment much more comfortable, and the first oral hygiene school opened in 1913.

The high-speed dental drill made its debut in 1957, quickly followed by lasers to treat gum disease. Around the same time, composite resin fillings were developed.

In the 1990s, cosmetic and advanced dentistry such as teeth whitening, dental veneers, digital X-rays, laser dentistry, dental implants and crowns, Invisalign, etc. became widespread.

The Beginning of Dentistry in Nigeria

The beginning of modern dentistry in Nigeria was traced to Dr. Ewart Gladstone Maclean who established his Practice in Lagos in 1903. Dr. MacLean joined the Baptist mission and worked at Saki, Ogbomoso, and Iwo.