Alfred Fones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alfred Civilion Fones | |
|---|---|
 Alfred C. Fones | |
| Born | 1869 |
| Died | March 15, 1938 |
| Education | New York College of Dentistry |
| Occupation | Dentist |
| Parent | Civilion Fones |
Alfred Civilion Fones (1869 – March 15, 1938) was an American dentist from Bridgeport, Connecticut, who has been called the founder of the profession of dental hygiene, starting in 1906. Fones created the name "dental hygienist" and in 1913 established the first school of dental hygiene.[1] Fone's father was mayor of Bridgeport from 1886 to 1888 and was also a practicing dentist, becoming the first "dental commissioner" for the City of Bridgeport. Alfred Fones graduated from the New York College of Dentistry in 1890.
In 1906[2] he trained his chairside assistant[3] (and his cousin), Irene M. Newman, to clean teeth and perform other preventive treatments on children, making her the world's first dental hygienist.[4] Newman's training consisted in large part in learning to clean teeth under Fones' guidance. For teaching aids, Fones took the many extracted teeth from his practice, mounted them in a modeling compound and painted plaster of Paris around the neck of each tooth to represent calculus and stains. Newman started performing oral prophylaxis for the public in 1907.[3] (She later received the world’s first license as a dental hygienist in Connecticut in 1917,[5] and she became the first president of the Connecticut Dental Hygienists Association; she died November 15, 1958, at the age of 83.[6])
Fones once said: "It is primarily to this important work of public education that the dental hygienist is called. She must regard herself as the channel through which dentistry’s knowledge of mouth hygiene is to be disseminated the greatest service she can perform is the persistent education of the public in mouth hygiene and the allied branches of general hygiene."[7]
