Ask Dentists from Austin, TX – Famous Dentists From Around the World

There are many a dentist that have done a lot of good and bad in the world. Some of them have gained influence based on their career choice. Others have found fame from what they do outside of their job, such as inventing or robbing banks. Whatever they may be, they still shaped the world. So, we will talk about famous dentists both in and outside of the Austin, TX area.

Doc Holliday, a Deadly Dentist

Anyone who is a fan of the Western Genre, or just the genre might have heard the name “Doc Holliday.” This famous outlaw was a participant of the shootout at the O.K Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, and was an associate of Lawman Wyatt Earp. Nicknamed the “Deadly Doctor of the West”, he was an influential reference to modern day attitudes about the Western genre in popular media. However, there is a lot more to the man than his depiction in books and television shows.

How does a respectable member of society, in this case a dentist, become one of the most notorious bad boys of the West? Where did he come from and how long did he keep his practice while he ran around and gambled or shot at people in a feud?

Early Life

Despite what people might think about how the Wild West can change an upright citizen into a scummy outlaw, Doc Holliday was not one of those who was made by his environment. Despite his upbringing as a Southern Gentleman in Georgia, he always had a terrible disposition.  His colleagues at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery knew that he had quite the temper and was quick to pull a gun over the smallest of personal slights.

Still, he was smart enough to graduate in 1872 and start his own dental practice. He was following in the footsteps as his father, a pharmacist with his own business. The death of his mother seemed to increase his zeal for higher education, so he poured into them as a distraction.

After he graduated, he began to open a dental practice in Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, for him this was short lived.

He had contracted tuberculosis, a disease that ravaged many people in the Southern States during the late 1800s. It had been so bad that it sent many people to quarantine in public hospitals if they could not afford a medical staycation at a health resort.

The recommended treatment for tuberculosis at the time was exposure to dry air, either in the mountains or the desert. So, he picked up his practice and moved westward.

A Dentist in the West

He continued his work as a dentist in Dallas, Texas at 23. According to Wikipedia, he partnered with a friend of his father and won awards for their dental work. At the Annual Fair of North Texas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Blood Stock Association, they received all three awards: “Best set of teeth in gold”, “Best in vulcanized rubber,” and “Best set of artificial teeth and dental ware.”

He felt confident enough to start his practice up again on March 2nd 1874 over the Dallas County Bank. However, he had a hard time keeping customers, thanks to the interrupting coughing fits common with tuberculosis.

Doc would make his income primarily through gambling over time, and it would pick up. However, when you combine alcohol, gambling and a terrible temper, you get shootouts, meaning he had to constantly go on the move. Meaning that his practice would go on hold.

He would befriend Wyatt Earp, who was hunting down a criminal and save his life. They became fast friends and were loyal to one another in the toughest of shootouts. Including the most violent one ,the Shootout at the O.K. Corral in 1881. He became the quintessential cowboy, assisting lawman Wyatt Earp in the capture of criminals. He even shot a few people in both selfdefense and in the name of gaining a bounty.

Doc would constantly be bombarded with fines, enemies, arrests, and angry mobs, all of which had it out for his head.  He would be arrested in Trinidad, Colorado in 1882 but would be released on bail when lawyers proved that this murder charge was a case of self defense.

The End of an Era

Unfortunately, Doc would never open his practice again, after settling down. His tuberculosis would catch up with him. He died in 1887 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, at 36 years old. He was a skilled gunfighter, a hothead, and a gambler who just constantly escape the most violent of situations unscathed. According to an interview with the man himself, he said that, “he survived 17 arrests, four hanging attempts, and that he survived five ambushes from mobs.” His temper combined with his luck and skill made him a poster boy for the Wild West.

He was a dentist in the beginning and a cowboy in the end, and seemed accomplished on both fronts when he put his mind to it.

If you want to know more about famous dentists, or dentists in Austin, Tx, visit us at www.austinfamilydentists. com