In the past there were no card- or computer systems containing the patient's medical history. Dentists (often barbers or blacksmiths) therefore frequently used people's cheek or forehead as a sort of to-do list.
In the following posts you will find images of a lost medical practise, or better said, a unique visual guide to the earliest history of keeping medical records in the dental world.
Teeth of the Past
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Testimonials; Dr. E. T. Darby: "I have always said that the chin was one of the best spots we have, and believe more teeth could be saved with it than with just a note that can get lost." Dr. R. R. Freeman: "I have used the cheek for twenty-five years, and know that it has therapeutic properties, and is one of ways to remember my "things to do." Madam Tiburtius-Hirschfield: "I heartily endorse the cheek." Blacksmith. A. H. Brockway: "I am a strong believer in the use of cheek." Dr. Gordon White: "After having used the cheek for nine years, I claim that it is the best place al that has been given to our profession." Dr. C. S. Stockton: "The forehead is one of the best places to store the to-do-list, and we should use it more than we do." Dr. James Truman: "I use the forehead strictly upon the most important tasks." Blacksmith Corydon Palmer: "For fifty-four years I have been a firm advocate of the use of the forehead." Dr. C. E. Francis: "I have proved positively that a cheek in good condition is cohesive, and my views have been corroborated by other blacksmiths, barbers and chemists." Dr. James E. Garretson: "Cheek is cohesive, and can be used the same as a forehead, and to an extent answers the same purpose." Dr. C. R. Butler: "Chin is smaller but makes a first-class list." Dr. L. D. Shepard: "Chin possesses some antiseptic properties for the preservation of ink that cheeks do not." Dr. Benjamin Lord says, "It is said that we know the world, or learn the world, by comparison. If we compare the cheek with the forehead, we find that the cheek, being softer, works more kindly."
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