Call for Papers – Teeth, Dentists and Dentistry : History of Odontology and its Practicians in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

Submission deadline August 31, 2011

On March 8th, 9th & 10th 2012 for the VIe Meeting of History of Medicine, medical practices and medical representations in ancient societies will be held at the MSH de Paris-Nord, the Université de Nanterre Paris-Ouest & the université de Versailles Saint-Quentin an international colloquium.

Visible or hidden, teeth play different parts in human life ; they express aggressiveness they allow chewing and contribute to deliver articulate speech. Sometimes they also interfer in the seduction process.

From Antiquity on, medical texts have dedicated many lines to mouth and teeth affections and to their possible treatments. We have access to anatomical knowledge, pathological descriptions and therapeutic means. Illustrations of teeth-puller in modern times won’t be forgotten, so that we will also ask the delicate question of the competence, reputation and status of the ancestors of dentists in society. Our chronological limit is 1728, when Pierre Fauchard published a treaty which helped dentistry to enter modern times.

This meeting intends to confront the mental and iconographical representations of the teeth as well as the various ways, medical or not, to improve hygiene and health. Odontology and stomatology should be submitted to historical analysis thanks to specialists of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern History.

Organisation : Franck Collard, Professeur d’histoire médiévale (Paris-Ouest Nanterre) et Evelyne Samama, Professeur d’histoire ancienne (Versailles Saint-Quentin)

Further information: Franck Collard, Professeur d’histoire médiévale (Paris-Ouest Nanterre) collard.franck@wanadoo.fr; et Evelyne Samama, Maître de conférences habilitée d’histoire ancienne (Reims) clevesam@wanadoo.fr.