DENTAL EDUCATION. 
By J. H. McQUILLEN, M.D., D.D.S, 
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND HYGIENE IN THE PHILADELPHIA DENTAL COLLEGE. 
Read before the Merrimack Valley Dental Association, and published by request 
of the Society. 
Mr. President and Gentlemen:-I was quite surprised to find in a 
printed notice, received a few days since, that I was expected to be pres- 
ent at the meeting of the Merrimack Valley Dental Association to 
be held at Concord, on the 2d of November, and although nothing could 
afford me greater pleasure than to be with you on that occasion, I regret 
to say that professional and collegiate duties of the most engrossing 
nature preclude the possibility of my leaving home at this time. Under 
these circumstances, I have concluded to forward to you, as a substitute 
for my presence, a communication on Dental Education. The subject 
is suggested to my mind by the fact that the period has again arrived 
for the opening of the dental colleges, and if, as has been reiterated on 
different occasions in our magazines, dental education is tending down- 
ward rather than upward, it becomes a matter of grave moment to the 
student who has at heart his own best interests and those of the pro- 
fession of which he desires to become an honored member, that he should 
be exceedingly careful in selecting the source whence he shall derive 
his professional education. In other words, that he should institute a 
rigid personal examination of the facilities afforded by such institution 
or institutions as he may have the opportunity of visiting, and thus de- 
termine for himself, unbiased by prejudice and uninfluenced by the opinions 
of others, where he will be the most likely to obtain the greatest amount 
of knowledge and be the best prepared to serve his fellow-man. 
The course indicated, which would be appropriate at anytime, is pecu- 
liarly advisable at a period when such an assertion as that referred to 
above is made, and it becomes a matter of some moment to determine 
whether it has a foundation in fact. Not only is this a matter of vital 
importance to those just entering upon their studies, but to the profession 
generally it is also of immense moment, for anything which tends to lower 
the standard of education must exert a prejudicial influence upon the char- 
acter and position of the profession in the estimation of the world. 
1 2 
As one who has long felt a deep interest in the subject, and has made 
it an object of careful study for years, and as a student, a practitioner, 
and a teacher has had a somewhat extended and varied experience, I feel 
that it requires no labored argument to prove the reverse of the position, 
viz., that dental education is tending upward rather than downward, and 
that, living as we are in an eminently progressive age, the march of den- 
tal science is by no means falling behind, but, on the contrary, maintains 
a pace equal to if not in advance of other departments of science. And in 
the active operations of the past as in the present, whether in the trans- 
actions of associations or as contributors to the literature of the profes- 
sion, the teachers in our collegiate institutions have performed no insig- 
nificant part in aiding this progress. 
Owing to the small number of students heretofore in attendance at the 
colleges, the influence of the faculties in this direction on dental educa- 
tion has been exceedingly limited, but the efforts of individual members 
in the magazines and in the associations have been powerful incitives to 
young and progressive minds to become more thoroughly acquainted with 
the science and art of the profession. And in this way a large class of 
minds have been reached who have never entered the portals of any in- 
stitution. 
That dental education is not yet what it should be, or what its ardent 
devotees hope it will be, is undoubtedly true. It is still in an infantile and 
immature condition, but it is gradually and steadily developing its powers 
and resources. Like individuals and nations, it must have its origin, 
growth, and maintenance, its trials and difficulties. It does not, Minerva 
like, spring into full vigor and perfection from the brain of the heathen 
god. Its beginning must be in the microscopic germ, and the feeble 
bantling needs much careful nursing, let its after-growth be what it may. 
Its origin is gradual, its growth tardy, often almost imperceptible, and 
yet, nevertheless, advancing. What it is, it has become by slow degrees, 
by hard labor, by the indomitable Zeal, devotion, and constant self-sacrifice 
of men who, having its best interests at heart, willingly dismiss for the 
time mere mercenary considerations. 
When one reflects upon the history of our country from the Colonial 
period down to the present time, and recalls the constant struggles for 
liberty and the maintenance of political existence, it is rather a matter of 
felicitation, that in spite of all those chilling, and apparently blighting 
influences, knowledge in all directions should be so generally diffused 
among our people, and one cannot but entertain a feeling of respect and 
gratitude for those wise and far-seeing men, the pilgrim fathers of New 
England, who, at the earliest period, and long before the savage had been 
tamed, the forest felled, or the fields cultivated, established seats of 
learning, and these begetting others, until at last our favored land rivals 3 
the old country, not only in the number but in the character and reputa- 
tion of some of its institutions. 
Thus is it with the dental profession; while still in its infancy and its 
members only numbering a few thousands, colleges have been established, 
not merely to meet the wants of the present, but also to supply the de- 
mands of the f uture. What influence they shall exercise remains to be 
seen, but as the present may be justly said to foreshadow and mould the 
future, it is reasonable to infer that they will be able to sustain a fair 
comparison with time-honored institutions devoted to other departments 
of science. 
As this great country advances, as it is destined to do, from a popula- 
tion of thirty, to fee hundred millions of souls, year after year these in- 
stitutions, if properly managed, will be sought after as indispensable means 
of education by the large number of dental students who now, as it was 
formerly with the medical students, receive a limited and necessarily de- 
fective instruction from preceptors in private offices. 
In England, France, and Germany, the most learned and scientific 
nations of Europe, it has taken ages to develop and mature the general 
plan of instruction, and the facilities afforded by their educational insti- 
tutions, and again, existing as these do under the shadow of monarchical 
forms of government, any innovation upon old established routine, and 
particularly any attempts to establish a new order of things, is not only 
looked upon with doubt and jealousy, but, as a general thing, most vio- 
lently opposed ; as a consequence of this, little or no effort has been made 
in the Old World, except in England, toward the founding of institutions 
devoted to teaching the principles and practice of dentistry, and dental 
students from Europe, of necessity are compelled to seek our colleges for 
that theoretical and practical knowledge which has given to American 
dentistry its world-wide and justly merited reputation. 
I have said that dental education is tending upward rather than down- 
ward ; the evidence in support of that conclusion is as follows: When 
the dental institutions first came into existence, the members of the facul- 
ties very naturally not only lacked experience as teachers, but many of 
them were in other respects poorly fitted for that responsible position. 
Well do I remember the feeling of distrust with which, ten years ago- 
after having declined in preceding years the position-I entered upon the 
discharge of such duties, deeply conscious of my own deficiencies, and 
fully recognizing those of my colleagues. 
Years have rolled by since that, and with these have come-it is trusted 
to all (along with new schools)-experience, enlarged attainments, and 
increased capabilities for imparting knowledge. Again, when I recall 
the entire absence at that time of anything like materials for illustrating 
the lectures in the various departments (and which are as indispensable 4 
to the teacher as they are to the student), and contrast the ample and valu- 
able collections now presented, one cannot but be impressed with the fact, 
that the opportunities and facilities for gaining knowledge are vastly 
improved in that direction. In addition to this, I feel satisfied that the 
standard of requirements for graduation on the part of all our institu- 
tions is of a decidedly higher order than used to prevail; and should be 
exceedingly sorry to think otherwise, for it certainly was low enough at 
the time when a sense of duty prompted me, as an individual member of 
a faculty, to protest to the Board of Trustees against the laxity which 
existed in that particular; this, however, was in another institution than 
that with which I now have the honor to be connected. Like some other 
experiences of the past, which I have been disposed to permit to sink 
into oblivion, rather than bring' them under the notice of my fellow- 
practitioners, I should have made no reference to this, but for the asser- 
tion, that of late students have been guaranteed their diplomas before 
matriculating, and then graduated upon two months' instruction. That 
such things may have been done, is possible. I sincerely believe, how- 
ever, that such charges cannot justly be brought against any dental 
institution. It is true that practitioners who have been diligent stu- 
dents for years, and thus by close application to their books, have made 
themselves as thoroughly acquainted with the various departments of 
science as they were skillful as operators, have after an attendance 
upon lectures for a few months come forward as candidates for gradu- 
ation and passed the ordeal with the highest honors, and in a manner 
which would reflect credit upon any one, let his abilities and attain- 
ments be ever so exalted; but who shall assert that by such a course 
as this, dental education is tending downward rather than upward? So 
that a man has knowledge, it matters not where he gets it, whether in- 
side of schools or out of them. That knowledge may be acquired more 
readily and easily in good schools, with able and competent teachers as 
aids and guides to the student, is undeniable, but that it can be secured 
outside of them by minds possessing an indomitable will and concentration 
of purpose with a greater expenditure of time, patience, and money, is 
equally true. The influence upon education is far more salutary when 
such men come forward and submit to an examination on the part of a 
capable and reliable faculty, who shall decide upon their right to possess 
a diploma, than when the so-called honorary diplomas are distributed 
ad libitum upon gentlemen who, however worthy as men and prac- 
titioners, have neither attended lectures, submitted to an examination, 
nor distinguished themselves in any way as contributors to the science and 
art of the profession. There may have been a period when such practices 
were to a certain degree admissible, but that has passed away, and it may 
be safely said that the liberal distribution of diplomas in this way is cal- 5 
culated to render them as valueless in the estimation of their possessors 
as they are in that of the profession and the community at large. 
To say that the increase of schools, by inducing competition, tends to 
degrade education, indicates, if not an entire ignorance of the subject, at 
least narrow and contracted views of it. No country in the world has 
left upon the page of history a more valuable and enduring record of 
mental cultivation and development, and the advancement of science and 
art, than the Grecian Republic. Was this due to the action of a single 
school or the operation of numerous academies, lyceums, etc.? In our 
own free country, and particularly in the Northern section, is the general 
intelligence of the people attributable to the operation of a single insti- 
tution or to the numerous universities, colleges, high-schools, and the 
public and private primary schools ? Again, any one who is at all familiar 
with the literature of science is aware of the fact that to Germany, more 
than to any other country, we are indebted for some of the most important 
discoveries made in every department of science during the past half 
century. To such an extent is this true, indeed, that with propriety this 
may be almost called the Teutonic age. In substantiation of this it is 
only necessary to mention the names of a few among the many active 
German minds to whom the world of science is under lasting obligations, 
viz., Schwann, Schleiden, Oken, Liebig, Virchow, Kolliker, etc. 
The German discoverers and writers have first been called transcend- 
ental, visionary, idealistic, and then at last when their facts and argu- 
ments have proved irresistible, they have been adopted, and too often by 
unprincipled plagiarists, without acknowledging the source whence their 
matter was obtained. 
Is this truly wonderful activity on the part of the German mind, and 
which has completely revolutionized organology in particular, attributable 
to the operation of a single university or to the beneficent influence of 
numerous universities in various parts of that great country, affording, as 
they do, the most ample facilities not only to students, but also giving em- 
ployment and securing opportunities to a number of professors to devote 
themselves to favorite departments of science, and thereby extend each 
year the boundaries of science in all directions? 
It demands no argument to prove, that the more institutions of learn- 
ing a country possesses the more extended is the diffusion of knowl- 
edge and the more enlightened and useful are its people. That which is 
true of general education is equally true of professional education, and 
although self-interest may prompt men to oppose the establishment of new 
institutions of learning, it is a generally recognized fact that private in- 
terest, beyond a question of doubt, must ever be held subsidiary to the 
general good. 
In the ordinary operations of the world, mem of marked ability and 6 
integrity do not complain of competition, but rather favor it than other- 
wise, satisfied that by such means the latent powers of all are more likely 
to be fully developed. They know that the unreal cannot always pass for 
the real; that shoddy, however complete the cheat may be, will not wear 
like good broadcloth; and that, although the paste brilliant may glitter 
in the rays of the sun, its meretricious lustre pales before that of the genu- 
ine diamond. The same thing is true of men and institutions; they may 
be overrated or underrated, but sooner or later, time, which settles all 
things, solves such matters, and permits the truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth, to stand forth in the clear light of noon-day. 
No better evidence can be afforded that dental education is advancing 
than the elevated character of the discussions in the national and local 
dental associations. In place of the old topics which formerly were 
discussed over and again until they almost became threadbare, those 
difficult and intricate subjects which require an intimate and extended 
acquaintance with science are taken up and handled in a manner which 
indicates a perfect familiarity with them. Not only is this true of the 
theoretical, but the practical is also attended to, for at the meetings of 
all the associations now clinics are held, and thus opportunities are 
afforded for demonstrating the manipulative abilities of operators, as the 
discussions test their mental capacities and attainments. Some of those 
who engage in these various directions, and in a manner highly creditable 
to themselves and the profession, are gentlemen who have recently gradu- 
ated from the dental colleges. 
In the ages progress implies deficiency to be supplied, and error to be 
corrected. It may be doubted whether the perfection of science and art will 
ever be reached; indeed, I believe it is decreed by an all-wise Providence 
that endless struggle and approximation should be the law of our intellec- 
tual being, the condition on which we have the activity of busy life, and not 
the sluggish indolence of possession, which is mental death. Recognizing 
this, it is a source of satisfaction to notice a number of young and gen- 
erous minds, engaged in the effort to urge forward with eager and emulous 
hands the ball of progress, and while this amicable struggle continues, little 
apprehension need be entertained relative to the cause of dental educa- 
tion. 
In conclusion, as one who favors and desires the honorable success of 
all institutions, not only those now in existence, but in addition those 
which may be established hereafter, I have studiously avoided advoca- 
ting the claims of any school, and have only aimed to respond with truth 
and justice to an unjust and depressing assertion, affecting alike the in- 
terests of the profession and the community at large, and with the facts 
and arguments which have been presented, I leave you and the profession 
to decide whether dental education is tending upward or downward.