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The British Dental Trade Association is a Company Limited by Guarantee and registered in England and Wales no. 3488299 Registered office: Mineral Lane, Chesham, Bucks, HP5 1NL
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History
A Century of Family Dental Practice in the Northeast of England - Part 1
Jul 14, 2009
Thomas Brown, Dentist, (1879—1954)
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In 1900, on his 21st birthday, Tom’s Berwick on Tweed apprenticeship came to an end and he moved 100 miles south to work for Dr. Salt in Newport Road, Middlesbrough. He brought with him both clinical expertise and a flair for technical work including the swaging and fabrication of wrought gold crowns and denture bases. As part of his duties, he spent one half day each week in several local towns, visiting by train, carrying cases of tools, materials and vulcanite denture work. On return to Middlesbrough he would work long hours on the next mechanical stages as well as doing clinical work in the main practice as demand required.
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| Thomas Brown with wife Mabel and son Thomas Henry 1907 |
| Shortly after arriving in Middlesbrough he met Mabel, the best friend of his landlady’s daughter. They married in 1905 and my father, Thomas Henry Brown was born the following year.On his Dental Assistant’s wage of £1.15s (£1.75) a week, money was tight for a married man but Tom adapted his large bathroom to serve also as a workshop to begin to develop his own denture practice at home on evenings and Sundays. In addition, he blacked out the windows when he needed a photographic darkroom for his hobby which also brought in some extra cash when he took portraits of friends and neighbours. |
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| Thomas Brown's spittoon c.1912 |
Vulcanite dentures made personally by Thomas Brown in the 1920s |
| Tom loyally served Dr. Salt for 18 years until his wife, Mabel, an ambitious lady, convinced him that it would be much better to branch out on his own. In 1918, a large terrace house was rented on Parliament Road, a nearby through route, and for the first time a highly polished brass plate proudly announced to passers by “T. Brown, Dentist.” The front room served as parlour and waiting room whilst the bathroom doubled up as workshop with workbench, vulcaniser and a home made treadle polishing lathe converted from an old treadle sewing machine.
The surgery was situated in the back room and was economically equipped with a rocking chair whose angle could be adjusted by the simple means of the dentist’s foot on the back of the rocker. Next to the patient was a treadle operated foot dental engine and a table to hold a brown enamel spittoon. Nearby was an oak dental cabinet, custom made by a local cabinet maker, and also a stand for a large water jug and a kettle of boiling water for sterilisation. In addition to denture work, an increasing number of extractions was carried out with cocaine solution drawn up into a glass barrelled syringe. Extractions cost one shilling (5p) but for youngsters, Tom would return sixpence to the child for good behaviour! Surgery hours were not fixed but operated on the “open all hours” principle and at this stage, daily appointments were made with no fixed time.
In 1921, the Dentists Act brought in compulsory registration for the first time and Tom successfully applied to join the register on the grounds that although not qualified academically, he had practised dentistry for a minimum of five out of the last seven years. With business flourishing and in anticipation of the imminent dental qualification of his son, Thomas Henry, two adjacent terrace houses were bought nearby in 1925 and this provided space for more surgeries and a larger workshop accommodating four dental technicians. Electric lighting was installed and surgery hours were now fixed at 9 am to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday with half day, Wednesday.
After a long, hard working and interesting life, Tom died in 1954, aged 75 and to quote his son, Tom:
“A pleasant, kindly man who never did anyone a bad turn but did many good ones.”
Dr. A. T. Brown
The author would welcome any feedback from this short synopsis via the website. |
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