Mechanical Dentistry: George Derby, An Unknown Artist, and Rube Goldberg.

J Hist Dent

Clinic Director, Cavity Busters Doylestown, Doylestown, PA Adjunct Professor, Pediatric Dentistry University of Texas HSC at San Antonio (Dental School) Clinical Professor, Pediatric Dentistry Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine.

Published: June 2023

For more than a century, at least, tooth extraction by ingenious mechanical contraptions has piqued the interest and imagination of illustrators, especially cartoonists. George Derby, an unknown British talent, and Ruben Garrett Lucius "Rube" Goldberg all dabbled in oral surgical mechanical humor.