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How a Dentist's Name Became a Synonym for a Life-saving Device: The Story of Dr. Charles Stent
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001 |
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by Malvin E. Ring, DDS, MLS, FACD (DR. RING is author of Dentistry An illustrated History. Requests for reprints should be directed to the author at 2 Roby Drive, Rochester, NY 14618.)
Stents have been used in numerous medical disciplines, as well as in oral surgical procedures. Uses range from rebuilding mandibles and constructing new ureters, to keeping coronary arteries patent after angioplasty. The earliest use of the word listent" to describe this item was in 1916, when a Dutch plastic surgeon described how he used a dental impression compound as a matrix around which to form tissue in the process of rebuilding a shattered face. What is generally unknown is that the word "stent" derives from the name of an English dentist, who invented this impression compound in 1856. |
Surgeons trained in both England and the United States during the early years of the 20th century were aware of Stent's material and its use in dentistry as well as in plastic surgery. "In the generalized training of surgeons, principles and applications of one specialty merged into another, an outcome that extended Stent's concept and Stent's dressing into other anatomic applications and hence new technologies."16
A cardiac surgeon, T. 0. Cheng, in commenting on the use of the name Stent as a noun says, "The greatest accolade that can be given to any inventor is to have the initial capital letter dropped from his name, for that is recognition that the word is now in the general language .3 Today stents are used everywhere, and the word stent has now become one of the most commonly used words in a number of medical disciplines. An investigation of MEDLINE searches for the year 1995 listed more than 500 instances in which the word stent appeared in the title or subject heading of a published article! Stents were apparently used in a large variety of procedures including nasal reconstruction; in gynecology, where different ducts and tubes had to be reconstructed; in surgery of the trachea; in plastic surgery, especially in rebuilding of the mandible; and most well-known, in cardiac surgery.1 Stents are now produced commercially by a number of firms and are most commonly made of inert metals. However, a major breakthrough occurred when a new bioabsorbable stent, sold under the trade name SpiroFlo, was introduced in 1992 by the Bionx Company of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. (Fig. 2) This is especially useful where the stent would normally be removed when the desired reconstruction of the deficient part was completed. Another firm, MoBeta, of Los Altos, Califon-da, devised a method to make stents radioactive so that they could be more easily seen on a radiograph. |
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Journal of the History of Dentistry Vol. 49, No. 2/july 2001 |
page 77-78
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The Story of Dr. Charles Stent cont'd
Journal of the History of Dentistry/Vol. 49, No. 2/July 2001 |
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A former English army surgeon, H.D. Gillies, cited Esser's work in his 1920 book, Plastic Surgery of the Face, when he wrote "The dental composition for this purpose is that put forward by Stent and a mould composed of it is known as a 'Stent."" This is probably the first use of Dr. Stent's name as a noun.
Notwithstanding this very obvious reference to Dr. Stent by one of the first physicians to use a "stent" and to publish a paper regarding how he came to call it that, several medical researchers still are trying to seek a more ancient source for the name. One English physician prefers the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of a stent as "a stake for stretching out fishing nets upon a river." To compare this to the use of Stent's compound as a form around which to build a tube, is stretching things indeed! 15 Another medical researcher tackling this problem of the etymology of the word seems to clinch the case when he wrote "We have been unable to find the word used in medical literature with a lower case "s" before the publication by Esser in 1917, in which the word changes from a capitalized surname to an adjective, to a common noun."13 The Contribution of Charles Stent In the nineteenth century the principal dental impression materials were bees wax and plaster of Paris. Both had inherent weaknesses; wax distorted upon removal from the mouth, and plaster was very difficult to use. In 1847 the English dentist, Edwin Truman (1819-1905) introduced gutta percha as a denture base. 12 He patented a method of refining this crude form of rubber, and won renown when he suggested using this material as a coating for the undersea Atlantic Cable which had broken several times as a result of corrosion by sea water. His accomplishments led to his appointment as "Dentist to the Royal Household" in 1855.14 Dr. Stent had two sons, Charles Robert Stent and Arthur Howard Osborne Stent, who were also practicing dentists. The senior Dr. Stent's home and dental office was at 21A Coventry Street in the heart of downtown London. Here, assisted by his sons, he began producing his impression compound and marketed it under the firm name C. R. and A. Stent. |
References 1 . Bloom, D. A., Clayman, R. V. and McDougal, E. "Stents 2. A Century of Dental Art: A Centenary Memoir. London, 4. Cohen, R. A., Leamington Spa, England, personal communication, August 14,2000. 5. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 27th Edition. 6. Esser, J. F. "Studies in plastic surgery of the face." Ann 7. Gillies, H. D. Plastic Surgery of the Face. London, Oxford 8. Hedin, M. "The origin of the word stent." Acta 10. Morgan, B. D. G. and Osborn, R. M. "What's in a word: 12. Mulliken, J. B. and Goldwyn, R. M. "Impressions of 13. O'Brien, J. C. jr. "More on the word "Stent." Amer I Cardiol 2000,85:919. 14. Ring, M. E. "From the fertile minds of dentist-,.. " Calif 15. Sigwart, U. "What is a Stent and where can you get one?" Amer j Cardio, 1997, 80: 1122. 16. Sterioff, S. "Etymology of the word "stent." Mayo Clin 17. Van Urk, H. "Repairing the body" in Duin, N. and 18. Ward, G. "Impression materials and impression taking." |
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Journal of the History of Dentistry Vol. 49, No. 2/july 2001 |
page 79-80
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