There was a time long ago when a simple toothache did not mean you would schedule an appointment with your local dentist. Quite the contrary actually: you would walk down the street in search of a red and white pole affixed to the front of a building. Once located you would walk in the door and greet your local barber.
Sliding gently into the waiting area, you would sit patiently as the barber finished shaving a customer and trimming hair. The barber would call out “next customer” and you would approach the barber chair. You would state your concerns for that day “I don’t need a haircut. I don’t need a shave … I have a toothache and need help.”
The local barber would retrieve his tools as you opened your mouth. Selecting the correct tool, he would reach into your mouth and remove the bothersome tooth. You paid your fee and left both your barber and your tooth behind.
It was actually somewhere back in the Middle Ages when barbers assumed the role of dentists. This continued for hundreds of years into the middle of the eighteenth century. It was an acceptable fact that barbers knew how to use sharp tools such as razors and knives, this skill allowed a level of comfort for the people seated in the barber chair. In addition to haircuts, shaving and tooth extractions, you might also find your local dentist practicing the act of blood letting to enhance your health. That red and white pole placed in front of barber shops held meaning; the red stripes were symbolic of blood and bloodletting while the white stripes represented clean bandages.
As the local barbers here in Concord were scaling back on dentistry, the need for a professional dentist was frequently discussed. Dentistry in the early 1800s was considered a basic sideline for a physician, but Concord sadly lacked a doctor willing to practice dentistry. It was not until the year 1823 when Doctor Elijah Colby arrived in Concord. A graduate of medical school in Hanover he set up his medical practice in Concord and referred to himself as a surgeon-dentist.
This title and method of practice worked very well for Colby as well as the residents of Concord. It was one-stop shopping to visit the office of the local surgeon-dentist to treat anything that ailed you in the early 1800s.
In 1834, a new doctor arrived and settled in Concord. His name was Doctor Moses Willard and he also enjoyed dentistry just like Doctor Colby did. Willard enjoyed his new home in Concord and quickly settled into the routine that old time Concord offered. He practiced medicine and dentistry and in time he became a politician. Apparently, Willard enjoyed his new venture into Concord politics because he eventually became the Mayor of Concord as well as the Concord Postmaster.
As the years continued, both Doctor Colby and Doctor Willard kept the residents of Concord very well. It was not until the end of the year in 1859 when we find multiple doctors and dentists practicing in Concord. Doctor Eben G. Cummings opened a practice in the Phenix Block down on Main Street. Cummings was young and adventurous and willing to embrace the latest technology that 1859 could offer him. He was the first dentist to use adhesive gold to fill cavities in teeth. Another young doctor named George A. Young arrived in Concord in 1860 and joined Cummings as a partner in his Phenix Block practice. Cummings and Young spent the next 20 years together until they eventually parted and operated their practices independently.
In 1891, Doctor William Albee opened his practice in Concord focusing on the dental needs of residents. The likeable fellow grew up in Charlestown and often told stories of his rich lineage dating back to the Colonial and Revolutionary period. By 1914, Albee was President of the New Hampshire Dental Society as well as the Concord District Association of Dentists.
As more dentists arrived in our community, it was the general consensus that “barberites”
practicing tooth extractions were now a thing of the past. Science had prevailed and trained dentists were widely available in Concord.