Frederick Sumner McKay

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Frederick Sumner McKay, 1915

Frederick Sumner McKay (also: Mckay ; born April 13, 1874 in Lawrence , Massachusetts , † August 21, 1959 in Colorado Springs ) was an American dentist who discovered the cause of dental fluorosis .

Life

McKay was born to Edward and Harriet Barilla (nee Wells) McKay. The same year the family moved to Milford , Massachusetts, where his father opened a dry goods store. When his father later gave him a cornet , the young Frederick wanted to become a musician. He started playing in a band but had health problems that were attributed to tuberculosis in the way . On the advice of his doctor, he moved to Colorado, where he first milked cows on a farm. In Boston he took a job as a tram conductor . In the evenings and weekends he played alto horn again in local bands. One day his uncle, the dentist Arthur W. Howland, advised him to study dentistry . In 1897 he enrolled in the Boston Dental School, now the Dental College of Tufts University . The following year he moved to the University of Pennsylvania Dental School. Physically weakened, he almost collapsed during the final exercise in 1900. Frederick S. McKay returned to Boston to recover and traveled to Colorado Springs that fall , where he initially worked in a group practice for $ 75 a month. In 1903 he studied orthodontics at the Angle School in St. Louis ( Missouri ) and taught there from 1905. On December 31, 1903 McKay married Gertrude Eleanor Ronaldson. The first daughter, Helen Gertrude, was born in 1904. A second daughter, Virginia Mary, and later a third daughter, Roberta Henrietta, were born in Missouri. In 1908 he returned to Colorado Springs for health reasons. There he practiced as an orthodontist until 1917. In 1917 he moved to New York City , where he worked with William Dwight Tracy until his death (1937). In 1940 he returned to Colorado Springs. In his second marriage, he was married to Honora Bailey Fink since May 14, 1941.

Fluorosis research

Moderate dental fluorosis
GV Black (left) with Dentists Isaac Burton and FY Wilson from Colorado Springs (photographed by Frederick McKay)

McKay made a surprising observation in the health resort and gold prospector paradise of Colorado Springs. The teeth of many residents had unsightly brown spots. This was strange to a newcomer and also an “Eastern national”, but the local dentists and doctors did not attach great importance to it, especially since the discoloration had no obvious health effects. However, McKay wanted to find out the cause and devoted 30 years of his life to this arduous search.

For practical reasons, his studies on the regional frequency ( endemic ) of tooth staining were carried out on school children and the parents were asked about further details. Various hypotheses were made and then rejected. Some excluded the local water as a problem in advance, because it was clear and clean. People who ate a lot of meat came into focus . Then the suspicion fell on the milk of the local cows, which could be inferior due to a lack of calcium in the water or in the forage of the animals. Were only freckled children affected or was measles the cause? Finally, he asked Greene Vardiman Black , dean of Northwestern University Dental School, for assistance, known from his previous histological studies of teeth, which would give prestige to McKay's research efforts. While a meeting minutes of the Colorado Springs Dental Society from May 8, 1908 first contained the word combination "brown stain" to denote the phenomenon, the term "mottled teeth" ( English : speckled teeth) is traced back to GV Black. The first results of the joint work were published shortly after Black's death in 1916. In the meantime McKay had learned of the occurrence of these brown tooth stains in Naples as well . The residents there had "denti neri" (black teeth) or "denti scritti" (which looked as if they were labeled), which the locals attributed to the gas emissions from Vesuvius . John Eager, a doctor of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) stationed in Naples, reported about it in 1901, where the tooth damage was called "Denti di Chiaie" (after the district of Naples, Chiaia ). Eleven years earlier, the Italian doctor and mineralogist Arcangelo Scacchi had written about the fluoride content of the volcanic exhalations , the soils and fossil bone finds in the area - but no one thought of a connection between fluoride and the later reported tooth damage.

Since 1923 the discoloration has also been described in the dry coastal regions of North Africa (there “Le darmous”, later also called “Velu-Charnot-Spéder syndrome”), where both locals, but especially herbivores , were affected. Similar symptoms of fluorosis were found in Holland , Mexico, and many cities in the United States.

Drinking water as the cause

McKay suspected that there must be a connection with the drinking water , although it was initially unclear whether this water was missing something in particular or whether an undesirable component was to be blamed. The first thing he did was test the Colorado Springs water source, including arsenic , but found nothing out of the ordinary. Other bodies of water also showed some similarities or differences in terms of composition, but nothing that somehow correlated with the occurrence of the spotting. A decisive experience for McKay was when he visited some Portuguese families who had immigrated from the Cape Verde islands of Brava and Fogo (west of Senegal ) to Nantucket , an island in the state of Massachusetts. McKay visited these people and found that the Brava natives had teeth with the ominous brown spots, but the Fogo natives did not. With the same environment and nutrition on the neighboring islands of the southern group, the Ilhas de Sotavento , the only difference could be their drinking water. He had similar experiences with other population groups, but he still had no explanation for it.

As early as 1925, McKay was so convinced of the idea that there must be some connection with the composition of the regional drinking water that he could in good conscience advise the Oakley , Idaho community to change the water source in order to remedy the tooth damage found there for future generations. However, he was only able to achieve actual success eight years later.

Fluoride in the water

The breakthrough for McKay's project came in 1931 with water tests carried out by Harry V. Churchill (1886–1967), chief chemist in the research laboratories of the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in New Kensington . Churchill had come into contact with McKay in a roundabout way and had the drinking water of Bauxite ( Arkansas ) tested for trace elements . The reason was the suspicion that aluminum cookware made by this company could be responsible for the brown stains. This thesis was supported by the fact that in the affected areas in Colorado the water could absorb aluminum from the cryolite- containing soil, as well as from the bauxite ore that was mined in the city of bauxite. In addition, a chemist hired by Alcoa at the Mellon Institute had found that high doses of aluminum and iron salts could hinder the absorption of phosphate from food and thus indirectly cause tooth and bone damage. With a newly acquired spectroscope, Churchill had the water samples examined for rarer constituents that were usually ignored in standard tests at the time. Before 1930, spectral analysis was not in use as a key technology for trace analysis due to the high acquisition costs for the required instruments. While examining the evaporation residue of the water samples, Churchill found unexpectedly, but relieved, that it contained fluoride. He then, under the seal of secrecy, had water samples sent to him from various areas via McKay, the fluoride content of which he examined. While the fluoride content of the water in some cities roughly correlated with the severity of the dental fluorosis found by McKay there, no endemic damage was observed with a fluoride content of less than 1 ppm . With the help of the chemist's results, McKay had finally found the long-sought differences in drinking water as the cause of dental fluorosis .

It was the responsibility of the dentist Henry Trendley Dean , who dealt with the problem in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) from the end of 1931, to quantitatively represent this connection . Dean had met with McKay before taking up his new job and obtained details from him. McKay was initially skeptical of the USPHS based on his experience in connection with the bauxite investigation. In a letter to Frank McClure, he expressed his doubt that the agency was really acting now and that the new man in charge would play a more active role than that of a silent observer. However, the cooperation turned out to be more gratifying than feared.

economic aspects

McKay's primary concern was to combat dental fluorosis; but his research was not welcomed everywhere. Because of the potential impact on tourism, the unwanted attention his activities generated about dental damage caused him the resentment of the Colorado Springs City Council, colleagues and fellow citizens, as he told the aforementioned dental colleague, Greene Vardiman Black , in the course of his correspondence . The city government had given him $ 300 in funding in 1910, of which McKay had spent about $ 125 when the balance was suddenly reclaimed and no further assistance was approved. McKay had to finance his project out of his own pocket, until much later Weston Price granted him financial support as a member of the research advisory board of the American Dental Association . Frustrating were his experiences with the city of Lake Elsinore ( California ), about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles . As he reported in a letter to Grover Kempf, all the locals there had dental fluorosis. The city lived from tourism, however, the hot springs, which also supplied the city with drinking water, were used by spa guests for drinking and bathing cures. The owners of the spa buildings opposed a change of water sources, although McKay believed that there were a greater number of them to choose from. The problem was only resolved decades later after violent (also political) disputes and great pressure. There was similar resistance in other regions of the USA, as well as in North Africa (see main article dental fluorosis ).

Importance for the dental profession

At the beginning of the twentieth century, when McKay began his arduous quest, American dentistry was in a great dilemma. On the part of the medical professionals there were various takeover attempts, in the course of which the abolition of dentistry as an academic profession and a shift of dental treatment ("it is only a manual activity") into the hands of technicians were spoken of Should exercise supervision by a doctor. Academic training made treatment more expensive and created barriers that led to staff shortages. During this discussion, one of the famous dental politicians, William John Gies , although originally a biochemist, argued for the importance of an academic education for dentists. This becomes particularly clear with the example of McKay's project, which testifies to interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists. After all, doctors would not have cleared up the cause of dental fluorosis. At the same time, Gies expressed the vision of drinking water hygiene under the direction of the dental profession .

Through the American College of Dentists, in which Gies played a leading role, dentistry finally became a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a subdivision of the medicine section , at whose meeting in December 1932 dental fluorosis was discussed. The American Dental Association (ADA) subsequently recognized the work of McKay, which left little doubt about the great benefit for the profession, in particular through the gain in recognition and prestige. Such a spectacular display does more to make the public aware of the importance of dentistry than years of ordinary dental endeavors.

Susceptibility to tooth decay and fluoride prophylaxis

In the course of his research, McKay also got the impression that, contrary to all expectations, these brown stains on the teeth did not favor tooth decay . Field studies by H. Trendley Dean and numerous other experiments by dentists, doctors and biochemists showed that 1 to 1.5 parts of fluoride per million parts of water (1–1.5 ppm ) would not cause stains and at the same time even have a caries-protective effect. This marked the beginning of the era of fluoride prophylaxis against dental caries. To determine dental health, Dean used the DMFT index , with which the number of carious (Decayed), missing (Missing) and filled (Teeth) is recorded and which he correlated with the fluoride content of drinking water in communities. This resulted in efforts to adjust the drinking water to the 'optimal' fluoride content to combat tooth decay. After Dean had initially expressed health concerns in 1944, he finally publicly advocated fluoridation of drinking water from the early 1950s, which is still controversially discussed today.

Memberships

  • New York Academy of Dentistry,
  • American Association of Orthodontists,
  • Rocky Mountain Society of Orthodontists

Honors

Fonts

Selection from over 50 publications:

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Downs: Orthodontic Profiles. Frederick Sumner McKay. Am J Orthodontics 46, No. 9 (Sept. 1960) pp. 695-699
  2. ^ HCP: Editorial. Dr. Frederick McKay and fluoridation. Am J. Orthodontics 52, No. 4 (1966) pp. 300-302
  3. ^ Jill Peterson: Solving the mystery of the Colorado Brown Stain. J Hist Dent 45: 2 (Jul 1997) 57-61
  4. ↑ Frederick Sumner McKay , PRABOOK. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  5. ^ A b Woodrow S. Monica, His Illness Led To A Cure , TIC, December 1977, VOL. XXXVI No. 12. Accessed June 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ WJ Maloney, M. Maloney: Dr. Frederick McKay: Father of Communal fluoridation. J Massachusetts Dent Soc 58: 1 (2009) 32-33
  7. ↑ James H. Pearce: A Colorado Story. J Colorado Dent Assn (Fall 2015) pp. 8-11
  8. ^ HA Fynn: Some remarks on the defects in enamel of the children of Colorado Springs. Items of Interest 32 (1910) 31
  9. ^ CE Bentley: Greene Vardiman Black, dentistry's greatest living scientist. Items of Interest 32 (1910) 161
  10. ^ William A. Douglas: History of dentistry in Colorado, 1859-1959 , Johnson Publishing, Boulder 1959, p. 190
  11. ↑ JM Eager, Denti di Chiaie (Chiaie Teeth) . Publ Health Rep Volume 16, 44, November 1, 1901, pp. 2576-2577
  12. ↑ JM Eager, Chiaie Teeth , Periscope, Dental Cosmos, Volume 44 (March 1902) pp. 300-303.
  13. ^ FJ McClure: Water Fluoridation. The search and the victory . NIDR, Bethesda, MD, 1970, pp. 1-3. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  14. ^ Arcangelo Scacchi: La regione vulcanica fluorifera della Campania. G. Barbera, Firenze, 1890
  15. ↑ L. Arnaud, [The darmous or disease-Hairy-Charnot Spéder, 1924-1934-1936]. In: L'Odontologie. Volume 70, Numbers 9-10, 1949 Sep-Oct, pp. 552-557, PMID 15390440 .
  16. ^ P. Meiers: A new water supply for Oakley, Idaho . Retrieved June 3, 2016
  17. ^ P. Meiers: The Bauxite Story. A look at Alcoa . Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  18. ^ FS McKay: Letter to Frank James McClure, May 9, 1932; Ruth Roy Harris papers, Natl. Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division
  19. ^ A b c d Hans Ludigs: Fluoride and the history of US dentistry, approx. 1900–1950 ; Master's thesis, University of Konstanz, 2013
  20. ^ Jill Peterson, loc. cit.
  21. ↑ Peter Meiers, Weston A. Price, DDS, MS , fluoride-history. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  22. ^ FS McKay: Letter to Grover Kempf, USPHS, March 29, 1927; Ruth Roy Harris papers
  23. ↑ Theodor Rosebury: The challenge to dentistry. A tribute to William J. Gies. Science 126 (November 22, 1957) pp. 1056-1058
  24. ↑ Thomas J. Hill: American Association for the Advancement of Science. Proceedings of the Subsection on Dentistry. J Am Coll Dent 5: Nos. 1-3 (1938) pp. 73-77; there footnote # 1
  25. ^ Burton E. Livingston: The Atlantic City Meeting of the AAAS and associated Societies. Science 77 (February 3, 1933) p. 151, Section N, Medical Sciences
  26. ^ Editorial: The value of dental research to the community. J Am Dent Assn 20 (July 1933) 1281-1282
personal data
SURNAME McKay, Frederick Sumner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mckay, Frederick Sumner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American dentist and discoverer of dental fluorosis
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Lawrence , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1959
Place of death Colorado Springs