Dentists
Hawai‘i’s first professional dentists were itinerant practitioners who came into port, set up shop for a month or two, and then sailed on. The earliest were Dr. M. B. Stevens, in Honolulu for twelve weeks beginning in December 1847, and Dr. George Colburn, in late 1849. Otherwise, residents with dental woes had to rely on missionary amateurs, who undertook countless extractions, and an occasional medical doctor.
The first resident dentist was Dr. John Mott Smith, who arrived in 1851 and remained on O‘ahu until his death forty-four years later. Dr. Smith had studied dentistry by himself, using the textbooks of a friend who was then attending dental college. After passing the New York State dental exams, Smith practiced for several years in Albany and California before moving to Honolulu.
Dental hygiene slowly improved, along with the quality of dental surgery. Honolulu newspapers began advertising toothbrushes in 1840 and toothpaste and powder a decade later.
The earliest recorded use of anesthesia in an extraction took place in 1868 in Hilo. Hawai‘i’s most respected dentist of his era, Dr. John M. Whitney, adopted the newly developed electric dental drill soon after its introduction in 1875. Even royalty benefitted. According to Dr. Whitney, Kamehameha V “had a remarkably fine set of teeth, and withstood pain with the greatest fortitude.” Princess Ka‘iulani received checkups every three months, and, said the dentist, had “beautiful ivories.”