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Report of the Scientific Foundation and Research Commission of the American Dental Association
REPORT OF THE SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION AND RESEARCH COMMISSION OF THE AMERICAN DENTAL ASSOCIATION By F. O. HETRICK, D.D.S., Ottawa, Kansas (Read before the American Dental Association, Cleveland, Ohio, September 10-14, 1923) H O P E to make this report as brief as possible and yet bring before your mind the importance of this depart ment of your activity. In many ways we are like pioneers, blazing a way through uncharted territory, then again we come to a place where a trail has been blazed and, if we follow it blindly, it may lead to a crossing of some river that is dangerous because of the quick sands of guesswork. This is where the Dental Index is proving of inestimable worth in pointing out just who has been along this way before and the deduction he made from the materials at hand. In other words, we are trying not to cover the ground that has been covered before. I want to make clear to your minds the value of the hearty cooperation of the universities that have permitted us to become affiliated with them. We could not hope in many years to own an equipment that would be anywhere near equal to that which we have been per mitted to use in these various institu tions. They have not only permitted us to name a problem and a research worker, but have paid most of the salary of the worker. Our directors of research in different places all work without pay. I do not at this moment recall a single technician whose salary we pay entirely.
I
Jour. A .D . A., February, 1924
It has been a cooperative plan in which the universities and institutions have per mitted us a share. Research workers of the type that we want are necessarily high-priced men. They must be men with an open mind without preconceived ideas of the solu tion of all problems under the sun. The directors who are getting the best work out of their assistants and techni cians are the ones who give them the problems to work out in their own way and then let them alone. They do not tell what conclusions they want or how they are to reach them. Truths and facts are the two great things to be attained. Last year, while in Los Angeles, Dr. C. M . Murphy pre sented to our body a request for a grant for working on the problem of brown stains or mottled enamel of teeth. Your chairman has been in Amarillo three times since our last annual meet ing, January 29, 1923. Dr. Percy Howe accompanied him to Amarillo and at tended a meeting of the West Texas Den tal Society. Men there from a widely covered area afflicted with this trouble gave us a very good idea of the sort of survey that we wish to make. The best of the meeting was the enthusiasm created among the members of the West Texas society.
161
162
The Journal of the American Dental Association
I feel confident that we will eventually solve this brown stain problem. You may hear something of the matter at this meeting in the reports of Dr. Theo. B. Beust and Dr. Percy Howe. I should like to go into detail as to what they found down there; but the time is limited and, if any of you care to hear the details, I should be pleased to have you interview me. I recommended that their request for a grant be allowed— $1,500 for the year 1923-1924, under the direction of the chairman of the Commission. They are asking for the grant under the direc tion of Dr. Percy Howe, but I think some of the experiments should be made on the ground— in the matter of trying out the diet of animals which should be sent there, and where the food and water can ■be secured without shipping to some central point. Also I think a systematic effort should be made in securing the cooperation of parents whose older chil dren are affected by this trouble, but whose younger children have not yet erupted their permanent teeth. This may not be the solution of the problem, yet we have found indications that it is a good line to follow; for instance, we found a family in which there was a pair of twins, one of which was badly afflicted with this brown stain and mot tled enamel, while the other was almost practically immune. In questioning the mother, she said they had eaten at the same table and the same food. Yet when questioning the twins themselves, Martha, the one affected, said she lived mostly on meat and potatoes, but that she disliked milk, eggs, spinach, car rots and oranges, and never ate them raw, while Mary loved them and all the raw vegetables and fruit she could get. Hence Martha had a typical case, while Mary was practically immune. We have a request for a grant of $500
from Dr. E. A. Thomas, Hastings, Ne braska, to pay for a technician to work on the problem, under his direction, on the subject “Dentistry’s Relation to Psychopathology.” We have been in correspondence with Dr. Thomas and the dentists of Nebraska, as well as some of the superintendents, in reference to the qualifications of Dr. Thomas to carry on this work. Dr. Thomas states: “The unanimous opinion of over two hundred medical superintendents of as many in sane institutions representing every state in the Union is that dentistry is an asset to a state in the care of its wards, but they do not venture a conjecture as to degree or relationship.” Therefore, our first objective: “How and in what degree is dentistry an asset to a state in the care of insanity?” A resume of texts and literature on insanity and psychiatry reveals no standard classification appli cable, so I have chosen for my work four general classifications. The matter was taken up with some of the leaders in the dental profession in Nebraska. They fitted up an office with equipment suitable for this work, and they now have the help and cooperation of many of the leaders of the dental as sociation in the state, who have un qualifiedly endorsed Dr. Thomas as thor oughly competent to direct this work. Those interested may have the oppor tunity of hearing him read a paper be fore the section of which Dr. Price is chairman at this annual session. I recommend that this request be granted. I would also recommend that our grants cover twelve months, instead of ending with the fiscal year. To keep competent technicians, it is necessary to hire them for at least a year. If the directors know that their grants extend for the full twelve months, they will arrange their budget so they may not have an interval when they will not
Hetrick— Report of Scientific Foundation and Research Commission have money to pay their workers. I believe, also, that we should have fore sight enough to see that in working our research problems there should be a con tinuity of endeavor that will lead stead fastly toward solved problems as the goal. I refer you to the report of the secretary of this Commission as to the various problems on which the research workers are engaged, which I think will enlighten your minds as to the way the research money is being spent. Other problems will be taken up as rapidly as we have funds to stimulate their prose cution. I want to stop just here and recall to your mind that without the cooperation of institutions having well-equipped laboratories our activities would be lessened to a marvelous degree, for they pay the greater proportion of the salaries of the workers and all the overhead ex penses. I would recommend that a set sum be allowed the president’s office and the secretary’s office, that they may have competent help, and not have to sacrifice too much of their time to the work of the Research Commission. Each of them should be able to maintain a room in their offices devoted exclusively to re search work. It is true that a few years ago you authorized them to pay necessary office expenses, but the ridiculously low ex pense account indicates that they have done most of the work themselves. I would also recommend that wherever you have a research worker in your immediate field, you show appreciation of his work by taking an interest in it. If a man fails of appreciation, he is robbed of a large part of his compensation. Let us therefore take interest and appreciate and try to understand their work in hand, and we will lighten their labors very much. We have had the utmost harmony in our Commission this year, and it has been a year devoted to pro gressive, constructive work; and while
163
perhaps some of the research workers, working on the same problem with some one else, have thought the other fellow was piffling around or treading on their toes, they have gone ahead goodnaturedly, working on the problem from their point of view, willing that the other man from his point of view might win out or lose out. This Commission can not afford to engage in any contention of priority of thought or plagiarism. What difference does it make, if Truth is the one thing sought after, if we find it? Nearly all of our research units of work are attracting considerable atten tion from professions other than our own. Especially is this true of the medical profession, as they are follow ing with keenest interest the work on the kidney and urine, and the possibili ties of physical changes brought about by variations of diet. I herewith enclose the auditor’s re port of the first of July, also the secretary-treasurer’s report and a list of grants allowed for the ensuing year. Since this report has been read to the Research Commission, it is learned that an amendment to the Constitution has been passed by the House of Dele gates that will reduce the income of the Commission. This reduction is regretted by the Commission as it will necessitate the reduction of the research effort. True it is that a surplus has accumulated in the research funds, but the reason for this accumulation is explained by the fact that since the Research Institute has been closed three years ago, the Commission has been attempting to build slowly and carefully a competent and safe research program. The budgets each year have been progressively larger as competent men have been found and enlisted. This year’s appropriations are larger than last. I believe that if the best results in research are to be obtained, it is neces sary that we attempt a continuity of pro gram and therefore increased support rather than curtailment.
I
Jour. A .D . A., February, 1924
It has been a cooperative plan in which the universities and institutions have per mitted us a share. Research workers of the type that we want are necessarily high-priced men. They must be men with an open mind without preconceived ideas of the solu tion of all problems under the sun. The directors who are getting the best work out of their assistants and techni cians are the ones who give them the problems to work out in their own way and then let them alone. They do not tell what conclusions they want or how they are to reach them. Truths and facts are the two great things to be attained. Last year, while in Los Angeles, Dr. C. M . Murphy pre sented to our body a request for a grant for working on the problem of brown stains or mottled enamel of teeth. Your chairman has been in Amarillo three times since our last annual meet ing, January 29, 1923. Dr. Percy Howe accompanied him to Amarillo and at tended a meeting of the West Texas Den tal Society. Men there from a widely covered area afflicted with this trouble gave us a very good idea of the sort of survey that we wish to make. The best of the meeting was the enthusiasm created among the members of the West Texas society.
161
162
The Journal of the American Dental Association
I feel confident that we will eventually solve this brown stain problem. You may hear something of the matter at this meeting in the reports of Dr. Theo. B. Beust and Dr. Percy Howe. I should like to go into detail as to what they found down there; but the time is limited and, if any of you care to hear the details, I should be pleased to have you interview me. I recommended that their request for a grant be allowed— $1,500 for the year 1923-1924, under the direction of the chairman of the Commission. They are asking for the grant under the direc tion of Dr. Percy Howe, but I think some of the experiments should be made on the ground— in the matter of trying out the diet of animals which should be sent there, and where the food and water can ■be secured without shipping to some central point. Also I think a systematic effort should be made in securing the cooperation of parents whose older chil dren are affected by this trouble, but whose younger children have not yet erupted their permanent teeth. This may not be the solution of the problem, yet we have found indications that it is a good line to follow; for instance, we found a family in which there was a pair of twins, one of which was badly afflicted with this brown stain and mot tled enamel, while the other was almost practically immune. In questioning the mother, she said they had eaten at the same table and the same food. Yet when questioning the twins themselves, Martha, the one affected, said she lived mostly on meat and potatoes, but that she disliked milk, eggs, spinach, car rots and oranges, and never ate them raw, while Mary loved them and all the raw vegetables and fruit she could get. Hence Martha had a typical case, while Mary was practically immune. We have a request for a grant of $500
from Dr. E. A. Thomas, Hastings, Ne braska, to pay for a technician to work on the problem, under his direction, on the subject “Dentistry’s Relation to Psychopathology.” We have been in correspondence with Dr. Thomas and the dentists of Nebraska, as well as some of the superintendents, in reference to the qualifications of Dr. Thomas to carry on this work. Dr. Thomas states: “The unanimous opinion of over two hundred medical superintendents of as many in sane institutions representing every state in the Union is that dentistry is an asset to a state in the care of its wards, but they do not venture a conjecture as to degree or relationship.” Therefore, our first objective: “How and in what degree is dentistry an asset to a state in the care of insanity?” A resume of texts and literature on insanity and psychiatry reveals no standard classification appli cable, so I have chosen for my work four general classifications. The matter was taken up with some of the leaders in the dental profession in Nebraska. They fitted up an office with equipment suitable for this work, and they now have the help and cooperation of many of the leaders of the dental as sociation in the state, who have un qualifiedly endorsed Dr. Thomas as thor oughly competent to direct this work. Those interested may have the oppor tunity of hearing him read a paper be fore the section of which Dr. Price is chairman at this annual session. I recommend that this request be granted. I would also recommend that our grants cover twelve months, instead of ending with the fiscal year. To keep competent technicians, it is necessary to hire them for at least a year. If the directors know that their grants extend for the full twelve months, they will arrange their budget so they may not have an interval when they will not
Hetrick— Report of Scientific Foundation and Research Commission have money to pay their workers. I believe, also, that we should have fore sight enough to see that in working our research problems there should be a con tinuity of endeavor that will lead stead fastly toward solved problems as the goal. I refer you to the report of the secretary of this Commission as to the various problems on which the research workers are engaged, which I think will enlighten your minds as to the way the research money is being spent. Other problems will be taken up as rapidly as we have funds to stimulate their prose cution. I want to stop just here and recall to your mind that without the cooperation of institutions having well-equipped laboratories our activities would be lessened to a marvelous degree, for they pay the greater proportion of the salaries of the workers and all the overhead ex penses. I would recommend that a set sum be allowed the president’s office and the secretary’s office, that they may have competent help, and not have to sacrifice too much of their time to the work of the Research Commission. Each of them should be able to maintain a room in their offices devoted exclusively to re search work. It is true that a few years ago you authorized them to pay necessary office expenses, but the ridiculously low ex pense account indicates that they have done most of the work themselves. I would also recommend that wherever you have a research worker in your immediate field, you show appreciation of his work by taking an interest in it. If a man fails of appreciation, he is robbed of a large part of his compensation. Let us therefore take interest and appreciate and try to understand their work in hand, and we will lighten their labors very much. We have had the utmost harmony in our Commission this year, and it has been a year devoted to pro gressive, constructive work; and while
163
perhaps some of the research workers, working on the same problem with some one else, have thought the other fellow was piffling around or treading on their toes, they have gone ahead goodnaturedly, working on the problem from their point of view, willing that the other man from his point of view might win out or lose out. This Commission can not afford to engage in any contention of priority of thought or plagiarism. What difference does it make, if Truth is the one thing sought after, if we find it? Nearly all of our research units of work are attracting considerable atten tion from professions other than our own. Especially is this true of the medical profession, as they are follow ing with keenest interest the work on the kidney and urine, and the possibili ties of physical changes brought about by variations of diet. I herewith enclose the auditor’s re port of the first of July, also the secretary-treasurer’s report and a list of grants allowed for the ensuing year. Since this report has been read to the Research Commission, it is learned that an amendment to the Constitution has been passed by the House of Dele gates that will reduce the income of the Commission. This reduction is regretted by the Commission as it will necessitate the reduction of the research effort. True it is that a surplus has accumulated in the research funds, but the reason for this accumulation is explained by the fact that since the Research Institute has been closed three years ago, the Commission has been attempting to build slowly and carefully a competent and safe research program. The budgets each year have been progressively larger as competent men have been found and enlisted. This year’s appropriations are larger than last. I believe that if the best results in research are to be obtained, it is neces sary that we attempt a continuity of pro gram and therefore increased support rather than curtailment.