It may be asked why were there so many American dentists in France at that time. There are two main reasons: the first is that by the mid 19th century there was a large and growing American colony which had been attracted to France- particularly to Paris-by the growing prosperity which the peaceful reign of Napoleon III had brought about after the disastrous Napoleonic wars and the politically chaotic years that followed. When Louis Napoleon became President in 1848 and then Emperor in 1852 the economy of France recovered and in the 1860s it was very good, business expending with the spreading of the railway system and the increased production brought about by the industrial revolution. The Americans who had, on the other side of the Atlantic, also enjoyed an increased prosperity and had acquired considerable wealth, were happy to come to Paris where they could live lavishly in comfort, surrounded by the amenities and life style that America could not yet give them.
The second reason can be said to date back to the French revolution, exactly to August 4, 1789; when the National Assembly decreed that all privileges should be abolished, resulting in the elimination of professional schools. All kinds of diplomas and licenses were abolished including that of the title of “dental experts”. Anyone was free to give dental care.
It was not until a century later that the first private denial school was to be opened and that the profession began to be aware of its importance and responsibility to society. During all this time French dentists had no formal education and they acquired their professional knowledge solely through apprenticeship Hence it can be said that, for dentists, the 19th century is a total vacuum in which, by and large, incompetence and charlatanism characterizes the type of existing dental practice.
On the other hand, in America, dental schools had existed since 1840, the profession was organized and Doctors in Dental Surgery could share experience in surgery and prosthetics through specialized journals. Dental societies and their meetings, where knowledge was exchanged and experiences compared, was to contribute to enhance the quality of denial care.