Pedodontia, circa 1940s

Warning: graphic content including footage of oral surgery performed on children.

Silent, color film about the care of children’s teeth and preventive surgical measures that should be taken to ensure dental health in adulthood. Footage of surgeries includes display of the instruments used and preparation with alcohol swab and novocaine in addition to step-by-step demonstrations of the procedures with intertitle cards describing each step.

Reel 1 includes: the removal of an abnormal labial frenum performed on a young girl; and exposing an erupted central incisor performed on a young child.

Reel 2 includes: display of a model and the inside of a child’s mouth showing the results of premature loss of deciduous teeth; the construction of a space maintainer including taking impressions of a child’s mouth, creating a model, and casting a gold crown with a space-saving bar attached; the extraction of a deciduous tooth with forceps; and placement of the space maintainer, including an x-ray illustrating the relation of the space-saving bar to an unerupted tooth.

By G. W. Teuscher and A. F. Romnes, Northwestern University Dental School.