today CDA Presents San Francisco August 20

its space in the new school building, which opened last summer in down- town San Francisco. A virtual pres- entation was the solution that would allow broader access to the museum and digitally showcase artifacts that have been in storage due to space limitations.Someoftheartifactshave now been gifted to other dental muse- ums or sold at auction. Ateamofcolleaguesintheschool’s design and photo, marketing and communications, and information technologydepartmentsworkedwith Dechant to put finishing touches on the website and kiosk exhibits. “Please Have a Seat: Evolution of the Dental Chair” charts the dental chair during a 300-year span. Prior to the 17th century, tooth extractions were performed with patients sit- ting on the floor, their heads wedged between the dentist’s knees. Dentists then took matters into their own hands, constructing their own dental chairsuntilthemid-1800s,whencom- mercialmanufacturerstookover.The chair has come a long way since then, andtoday’sdesignmaximizespatient comfort while providing the dentist with adjustability that provides opti- mal access to the oral cavity. “A Dynamic Decade: Speeding Up the Handpiece” includes this bit of history: Bur speeds increased dra- matically in the 1950s when the idea of using turbines in airplane design inspired a new patent for the air turbine handpiece, accelerating the average handpiece from 6,500 rpm to 250,000 rpm. Pacific’s very own Dr. Arthur A. Dugoni (then serving as assistant clinical professor of opera- tive dentistry at the College of Physi- cians & Surgeons, which later became Pacific Dugoni) was one of the first to share his confidence in the new high- speed handpiece. Awealthofinformationisstoredin the A.W. Ward Museum, and Dechant has unique insight into the school’s place in the histories of dentistry and San Francisco. One of the exhibits, “There & Back Again: Our San Fran- cisco Story,” charts the school’s circu- lar path through the city to its most recent move to its current Fifth Street location — almost the same spot as the school’s original location in 1896. The “Still Lives in Dentistry” and “Business Cards of the Victorian Den- tist” exhibits showcase images of ornate objects from the 1800s and 1900s.Manyofthephotographsofthe smaller artifacts were taken using a new photo tent set up, which ena- bled Draper to control the lighting of the objects, minimizing shadows and isolating the subject from the background. Future exhibits being planned What’s next for the virtual museum? Dechant said that she would like to work on an exhibit comparing items usedin the dental school’s early years with modern instruments used by Pacific Dugoni students today. She thinks viewers would be particularly interested in seeing the materials and methods students once used and learned — such as the gold foil tech- nique and casting taught at the dental school up until 1980. The A.W. Ward Museum of Den- tistry was founded in 1974 in honor of one of the school’s early graduates and a pioneer of surgical periodon- tics, Abraham Wesley Ward, class of 1902. Since then, the collection has grown through donations, made pri- marily by alums. Most of the artifacts date from the mid-1800s to mid-1900s. Donated items are catalogued, with description and donor information maintained in an EmbARK database. Those interested in studying the collections may contact Dr. Dorothy Dechant, museum curator, at (415) 929-6627 or ddechant@pacific.edu. (Source: University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry) from page one4 CDA Presents — August 20, 2015 Ad 5 Virtual museum exhibit image, De Trey’s Synthetic Porcelain Powder kit (circa 1930), used for artificial teeth, complete dentures, facings, inlays, veneer crowns and other restoration work. MUSEUM 7 from page 1

today CDA Presents San Francisco August 20

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