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Newell Sill Jenkins (* December 29, 1840 Falmouth, Massachusetts — September 25, 1919
Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
) was an American dentist who practiced most of his life in
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.Dr. Newell Sill Jenkins
Revue d'histoire de l'art dentaire, p. 20.
He developed and improved the ''Jenkins
porcelain enamel Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between . The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word comes from the Latin ...
'', thus making a composition of porcelain paste into porcelain inlays, dental crowns and
bridges A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
. He is thus the founder of
aesthetic dentistry Cosmetic dentistry is generally used to refer to any dental work that improves the appearance (though not necessarily the functionality) of teeth, gums and/or bite. It primarily focuses on improvement in dental aesthetics in color, position, shape, ...
.


Biography

Jenkins comes from a shipping family. Immediately after completing his studies at the
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery The University of Maryland School of Dentistry is the dental school of the University System of Maryland. It was founded as an independent institution, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, in 1840 and was the birthplace of the Doctor of Dent ...
of the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
, he opened in 1863 his dental practice in Bangor, Maine. He corresponded with Frank Abbott, a practicing dentist in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
who was one of Europe's most renowned dentists. Abbott encouraged him to emigrate to Germany. November 20, 1866 he emigrated with his family to Dresden, where he practiced 1866-1909. Since 1893 the Royal Saxon Privy Councillor appointed dentist was owner of the famous villa Thorwald in Dresden's Loschwitz, For years he practiced one month per year in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. In 1907 he moved to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where he continued his research and enjoyed wide recognition. Twice he was elected president of the
American Dental Club of Paris American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
. He received numerous awards from Germany, England, France, USA, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain. 1916, during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he returned to the US. September 18, 1919, after the war, he entered a sailboat in New York to spend the winter months in southern France. However, this was not granted. He died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
upon arrival at the port of Le Havre on September 25, 1919. His remains were transferred to the United States, where he was buried in Bangor.


Friendship with Richard Wagner

His clientele includes not only members of European royal houses, but also celebrities like Richard Wagner, a friend of Jenkins. Jenkins demanded no fee for his dental treatment, making him very likeable by Wagner, as Wagner was financially clammy. "It’s not impossible that I will decide to emigrate forever with my whole family and my last works to America," Wagner wrote, as he experienced the financial disaster of
Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...
(The Ring of the Nibelung) performance at the first Festival 1876 at the
Bayreuth Festspielhaus The ''Bayreuth Festspielhaus'' or Bayreuth Festival Theatre (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspielhaus, ) is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, built by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner and dedicated solely to the performa ...
. Wagner talked about his plans to emigrate to the US with Jenkins and put in a three-page letter the conditions ensuring his existence beyond the ocean and which would have brought his opera
Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...
to the Americans. Thanks to Jenkins’ persuasion Wagner cancelled his plans to emigrate to America. Parsifal premiered at the second Bayreuth Festival on July 26, 1882 in Bayreuth.


Career

Jenkins was for a long time ignored by dental historians despite his high achievements in dentistry. He published 32 scientific articles about improving aesthetic tooth restoration with porcelain fillings, methods that were partly patented.J. M. Hyson, S. D. Swank: ''Dr. Newell Sill Jenkins: progenitor of cosmetic dentistry.'' In: ''Journal of the California Dental Association.'' volume 31, No 8, August 2003, p. 626–629, .


Introduction of the rubber dam in Germany

Jenkins had his first success introducing the rubber dam in Germany, two years after it had been developed 1864 by the New York dentist Sanford Christie Barnum. The rubber dam is an elastic band, which isolates the tooth to be treated from the oral cavity especially against liquids and saliva. Originally it was used to keep the working area dry because at that time there was no dental suction apparatus.


Development of porcelain masses

Jenkins developed and improved porcelain enamel, thus making a composition of porcelain paste into porcelain inlays, dental crowns and bridges and the associated processing equipment. It was helpful living close to Sächsische Porzellanmanufaktur Dresden (Saxon Porcelain Manufactory in Dresden). He also developed steel drills, which were coated with diamond dust, to create a smooth cavity. The porcelain inlays opened for the first time the possibility to produce tooth-colored anterior restorations and thus initiated the era of esthetic dentistry. At that time fillings were usually made of gold in the anterior region. For the production and distribution of "Jenkins Porcelain Enamel" he founded the manufactory ''Klewe & Co''. His personal friend, a certain Samuel Langhorne Clemens bought the manufacturing and distribution rights for the US market. This man became known by his pseudonym as the writer Mark Twain.


Development of the toothpaste Kolynos

Together with
Willoughby D. Miller Willoughby Dayton Miller (1853–1907) was an American dentist and the first oral microbiologist.Shklar, G; Carranza, FA: The Historical Background of Periodontology. In Newman, MG; Takei, HH; Carrana FA, editors: ''Carranza’s Clinical Periodo ...
, who set up in 1890 the pioneering and still valid theory that
bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...
of the oral flora degrade carbohydrates to acids, that damage the enamel and allow bacteria to access and destroy the dentin by caries, Jenkins developed a toothpaste and named it
Kolynos Kolynos was the name of a line of oral care products created by Newell Sill Jenkins in 1908 and acquired by Colgate-Palmolive in 1995. The products were very popular in the thirties and forties, and sponsored several well-known radio programs, ...
, the first toothpaste containing
disinfectants A disinfectant is a chemical substance or compound used to inactivate or destroy microorganisms on inert surfaces. Disinfection does not necessarily kill all microorganisms, especially resistant bacterial spores; it is less effective than st ...
. The name´s origin is Greek ''Kolyo nosos'' (κωλύω νόσος), meaning "disease prevention". Numerous attempts to produce the toothpaste by pharmacists in Europe were uneconomic. After returning to the US, he continued experimenting with
Harry Ward Foote Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
(1875-1942), professor of chemistry at Sheffield Chemical Laboratory of
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
. After 17 years of development of Kolynos and clinical trials Jenkins retired and transferred the production and distribution to his son Leonard A. Jenkins, who brought the first toothpaste tubes on the market on April 13, 1908. Within a few years the company expanded in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Far East. A branch operation opened in 1909 in London. In 1937 Kolynos was produced in 22 countries and sold in 88 countries. In recent times Kolynos is widespread mainly in South America and in Hungary. Colgate-Palmolive took over the product of
American Home Products Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth i ...
in 1995 at a cost of one billion US dollars.Kolynos Toothpaste and Nalgiri Cosmetics – A curious blend of Greek and Hindu


Selected publications


Reminiscences of Newell Sill Jenkins
archive.org. * *Newell Sill Jenkins
Porcelain Enamel Inlays
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 40, Issue 8, August, 1898, pp. 633–635. *Newell Sill Jenkins
Porcelain Enamel Inlays
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 41, Issue 9, September, 1899, pp. 888–892. *Newell Sill Jenkins
Porcelain Enamel Inlays
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 42, Issue 11, November, 1900, pp. 1109–1111. *Newell Sill Jenkins
Porcelain Enamel
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 44, Issue 5, May, 1902, pp. 456–458. *Newell Sill Jenkins
The Porcelain Inlay in Europe
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 58, Issue 3, March, 1916, pp. 269–272. *A. F. Brosius
Porcelain, with Special Consideration of Jenkins' Inlay Porcelain
Collection: Dental Cosmos, Volume 54, Issue 2, February, 1912, pp. 243–244.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Newell Sill American dentists 1840 births 1919 deaths 19th-century dentists