ABOUT THIS BOOK

Why are Americans so uniquely obsessed with teeth? Brilliantly white, straight teeth?

Making the American Mouth is at once a history of United States dentistry and a study of a billion-dollar industry. Alyssa Picard chronicles the forces that limited Americans' access to dental care in the early twentieth century and the ways dentists worked to expand that access--and improve the public image of their profession. Comprehensive in scope, this work describes how dentists' early public health commitments withered under the strain of fights over fluoride, mid-century social movements for racial and gender equity, and pressure to insure dental costs. It explains how dentists came to promote cosmetic services, and why Americans were so eager to purchase them. As we move into the twentyfirst century, dentists' success in shaping their industry means that for many, the perfect American smile will remain a distant--though tantalizing--dream.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

ALYSSA PICARD, PhD, is a union organizer whose work focuses on expanding health care access for non-tenure-track faculty at public universities in Michigan. She writes about the history of health care and twentieth-century social movements.

REVIEWS

"This fascinating book is the first to explore the social and cultural history of dentistry in the United States. Picard skillfully illuminates the relationship between the emerging dental profession and contemporary developments in child health, American consumer culture, and gender and race relations in the United States. She draws on an impressive range of primary sources to illustrate the historical roots of Americans' 'dental obsession.' This important book has significant implications not only for historians but also for those interested in contemporary dental health policy. "

— Heather Munro Prescott, Central Connecticut State University

"Picard describes how American dentists were involved in various social movements during the 20th century. Their involvement encompassed public health starting in the early part of the century, efforts to fluoridate the nation's water supplies to prevent tooth decay, social movements for racial and gender equity at mid-century, and the promotion of cosmetic services at the end of the century (a movement that continues today). The book is well written and well researched, interesting, and highly informative. It helps explain the obsession in the US with having perfect teeth and a gleaming white smile. Anyone who wore braces as a child or adult will find it fascinating. Recommended."

— Choice

"Good teeth signal social class and intellectual achievement in America, as Alyssa Picard
knows well. In Making the American Mouth, she provides an engaging history of the evolution of American dentistry, including the profession's influence over our social norms and health policy. It's a book that anyone keen to understand and improve our current national state of oral health ought to read."

— Health Affairs

"In Making the American Mouth, Alyssa Picard provides us with a much needed and long overdue illumination and analysis of the important role that dentistry has played in twentieth-century American health care and public health."

— Richard Meckel, Brown University

"An intriguing social history of American dentistry."

— American Historical Review

"Picard has provided a well-written, accessible, insightful study of dentistry in the United States that should be of interest to a wide variety of readers with an interest in the history of public health, health care, and dentistry."

— Social History of Medicine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
American Dental Hygiene
Diet and the Dental Critique of American Life
"Like a Sugar-Coated Pill"
"This National Stupidity"
Behind the Fluorine Curtain
The "Satisfaction of Dentistry" and the End of Public Health
The Look of the American Mouth
Epilogue
Notes
Index