**EXHIBIT:**
Tales of the
Terrible Tooth Worm!

Explore ____________
**Location:**
Kellogg Institute Building (__________)
**On View:**
January, 2023 - __________

Introduction

The idea that dental caries and toothaches are caused by a tooth worm gnawing at the teeth goes back thousands of years. Historical sources from around the world, from ancient times through the early 1900s, associate the mythical worm with demons. Remedies against the tooth worm were often a mix of spiritual and physical undertakings. It was not until the eighteenth century that doctors began to reconsider this theory. Among the lay population, it lasted much longer.

View of exhibit at the Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry

A Year of Change

In 1890, MacNaughton moved to Washington, D.C. where her practice centered on women and children, turning nurturing, a “female” quality, into a professional advantage. In an 1889 article in the Woman’s Tribune, she said, “…a great many women prefer to come to us, and we are, we believe, peculiarly successful with children because we understand better how to manage them.”

A Global View

MacNaughton traveled extensively, frequently in the service of dentistry. In 1889, she was a delegate to the International Dental Congress in Paris. In 1893, she participated in the World’s Columbian Dental Congress in Chicago, Illinois.

19th Amendment Guarantees Women’s Right to Vote

MacNaughton campaigned for more than 30 years until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920. She pressed for women’s rights in other ways, writing legislation to give married women civil liberties, equal parental rights, and the ability to own property separate from their husbands. She also lobbied for female physicians and staff in women’s prisons, reform schools and police stations.

Introduction

A Year of Change

A Global View

19th Amendment Guarantees Women’s Right to Vote

ONLINE RESOURCES

FURTHER READING