Bonwill electromagnetic mallet

Made:
1880-1890 in United States
Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased
© The Board of Trustees of the
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Webb's improvements, cased
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Bonwill electromagnetic mallet, with Dr. M.H. Webb's improvements, cased, by the S.S. White Co., USA, 1880-1890

This was the first dental device to utilize electricity, patented by William Bonwill in 1873. An electrified dental hammer or mallet (nicknamed a dental plugger), It was used to ‘plug’ cavities with gold - like modern day fillings.

Bonwill’s design was improved and successfully marketed by Dr. M.H. Webb in 1877, and this mallet is an example of this design.

These devices were also used in early tattooing, with Samuel O’Reilly – the inventor of the electric tattoo machine – stated in a number of interviews in the 1890s that an adapted dental plugger was his first tattoo machine.

Details

Category:
Dentistry
Object Number:
1980-1865/1
Materials:
case, leather, lining, velvet, mallet, brass and mallet, vulcanite
Measurements:
overall: 55 mm x 175 mm x 50 mm, 0.178 kg
depth: 180mm
height: 58mm
width: 92mm
width: 148mm
type:
automatic mallets
credit:
British Dental Association