Historical Comments with Contemporary Overtones

Historical Comments with Contemporary OvertonesAmongst the many definitions of the word Quack that are found in Merriam Websters Dictionary or the Cambridge Dictionary, one in particular that characterizes a professional as an ignorant, misinformed, or dishonest practitioner of medicine can be found.A perspective on the designation of being called a "Quack" was clarified by the editor of the Dominion Dental Journal, William George Beers, 125 years ago.Quack -A Self-Determined Designation No man is first called a quack or a quack imitator by his confreres.This stigma is self-made.Why should we desire to foul our own nest or to asperse in any way our own craft?Surely it is desirable that the public and the other professions should respect us as dentists.The best friends of the respectability of the profession are those who most vigorously defend it against defilement.Everyone has the choice for himself whether he will rank with the quacks or those who wish to be respected.No man can make another a quack-the quack is self-made. 1ers had been a leader in the dental profession in Canada since the 1870s and in 1889 he became editor of the newly established Dominion Dental Journal (Toronto).In 1892 he was named the first dean of the Dental College of the Province of Quebec.He published more than 200 articles on preventive dentistry and strove unceasingly to improve standards of practice, in addition to the professionalism of his colleagues.Furthermore, Beers exuded nationalism even in the context of his profession, the organization of which he liked to date from confederation.He used the occasion of addresses to dental societies to promote his nationalist views, as in 1888, when he declared to a gathering of American dentists discussing annexation, "Mr Chairman, Canada is not for sale," or two years later, when he told graduates of a Toronto dental school that "neither race, nor religion, nor color can separate us from the duty we owe to do some patriotic service for our land." 2 Repetitions of historical concepts being echoed in 2025?