Acton is known historically for its ties to the leather industry, hence the name of ‘Leathertown,’ but few, if any, residents are aware of its link to the world of dentistry.
As the month of March marks the birth of a historical figure regarded as a philanthropist and the father of public dental health in Canada, we’re taking a closer look at the life of local native Dr. John Gennings Curtis Adams.
The son of Ezra Adams, settler of Acton in 1825, and Amy Curtis, Dr. Adams was born on March 16, 1839 in Adamsville, now known today as Acton.
Dr. Adams, first a farmer and then a missionary for the Methodist Church, was a dentist who was keen on providing a program of preventing tooth decay as he had seen many patients, especially children from less-fortunate families, who suffered from bad teeth.
Before Dr. Adams’ time, dentistry was a very primitive trade, as in those days dentists were considered more of “tooth-pullers” rather than doctors of oral health, and practices of brushing one's teeth was not yet commonplace, nor was the repairing of cavities.
While having been born and raised in Acton, it was in Toronto where Adams would operate his dental practice. Convinced that a great deal of suffering among the poorer classes could be avoided, much illness prevented and decaying of teeth stopped at an early stage, in 1872 Adams opened up the first location of a free dental hospital called ‘Christ Mission Hall and Dental Institute.’
This dental hospital was located in Toronto at 57 Elm St., and was completely funded by Dr. Adams - the first of its kind not only in Canada, but in North America. Any money made from his private practice was put towards the free clinic.
Along with offering free dentistry, his philanthropy work was equally matched by his life-long dedication to preventative oral health through education, understanding the importance of teaching families and physicians about dental education and prevention of decay before resorting to extraction. Adams was even the author of a number of books on the subject of tooth decay prevention and trained missionaries to carry out dental education around the globe, such as in Asia and Africa.
In 1883, Adams became the first dentist of record at Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, while still operating his own practices, and it was during his time at the children’s hospital where he would continue to advocate for free dental check-ups for underprivileged children and the implementation of dental examinations in public schools.
With his free dental hospital being a charitable organization, he pleaded to be exempt from taxes and had asked for a grant from the City of Toronto to fund the clinic, but to no avail. His free clinic was forced to close in 1899 due to a failure to pay property taxes. It was not until 1911 when the City would fund school check-ups and two years later, Toronto would open its first publicly-funded dental clinic.
After 50 years of being an active dentist and advocate, Dr. Adams passed away on May 21, 1922 at the age of 83 while visiting family in Burlington.
In 2015, 93 years following his death, Dr. Adams was officially honoured by SickKids for his work with the unveiling of a plaque which was installed at the site of his free dental hospital on Toronto’s Elm Street - a plaque representing the Acton native’s lasting legacy on public dental health in Canada.
Article written by Scott Brooks, with information from Dills Collection/HHPL/The Adams Family Tree/The Hospital for Sick Children.
