Simon Hullihen

Simon Hullihen
Born (1810-12-10)December 10, 1810
Pennsylvania
Died March 27, 1857(1857-03-27) (aged 46)
Education Washington Medical College
Known for One of the first person to be designated as Oral Surgeon in the world, Father of Oral Surgery
Medical career
Profession Dentist
Specialism Oral Surgeon

Simon Hullihen MD, DDS (December 10, 1810 – March 27, 1857) was a dental surgeon born in Point Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.[1] He completed his medical degree first and then he was inspired to develop a career in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He helped to develop many modern techniques of maxillofacial surgery and contributed to the establishment of oral and maxillofacial surgery as a surgical specialty in the United States, regarded as the first oral surgeon in the United States.[2]

Life

He was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1810 and had 2 younger male siblings. He was born into a family of farmers. At the age of 9, Simon fell into fire and hurt both his legs due to which he was bed-written for two years. It was during this experience when he was treated by local physicians, he decided to pursue medical for his career. He obtained his MD from Washington Medical College, Baltimore in 1832. He started his career as an instructor at this medical college but eventually moved to Canton, Ohio to practice medicine. He met his wife Elizabeth in Pittsburg and they got married in 1835. His life took him to Kentucky and eventually to Virginia where he settled in Wheeling, West Virginia. He devoted his time to the surgery of mouth, head and neck and opened a practice there.[3]

Career

Hullihen practice gained him accords with local physicians and he became well known due to his work on the treatment of cleft lip and palate. Hullihen advocated that a cleft lip can be repaired at the early age of an infant but a cleft palate cannot be repaired until a later date to the lack of cooperation of infants at the early age. In 1842, University of Maryland School of Dentistry or formerly known as Baltimore College of dentistry awarded an honorary Doctrate of Dental Surgery to Hullihen. He published a paper in American Journal of Dental Science named "Case of Elongation of the Underjaw and Distortion of the Face and Neck, Caused by a Burn, Successfully Treated" in 1849 which became to known as world's first published paper about an orthognathic surgery.[4][5]

Hullihen also founded the Wheeling Hospital which established the first hospital based dental clinic in United States.[6] In 1857 at the age of 47, Hullihen died of complications from typhoid pneumonia. During his career he performed around 1100 orthognathic surgeries. Due to his achievements, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons dedicated the 55th annual meeting for Hullihen's memory.[7]

He performed the first mandibular osteotomy surgery to correct a protrusive malposed alveolar segment of the mandible.

References

  1. ↑  Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L., eds. (1920). "Hullihen, Simon P.". American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.
  2. ↑ Kruger, Gustav (1984). Textbook of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. St. Louis, Missouri: CV Mosby. ISBN 978-0-8016-2793-4.
  3. ↑ Aziz, Shahid R. (2004-10-01). "Simon P. Hullihen and the origin of orthognathic surgery". Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. 62 (10): 1303–1307. doi:10.1016/j.joms.2003.08.044. ISSN 0278-2391. PMID 15452820.
  4. ↑ Church, L. E. (1988-04-01). "Simon P. Hullihen, pioneer and expert in oral surgery". Bulletin of the History of Dentistry. 36 (1): 39–43. ISSN 0007-5132. PMID 3061508.
  5. ↑ Nodyne, K. R. (1982-01-01). "Pioneer in oral surgery: Simon P. Hullihen". The Journal of the West Virginia Historical Association. West Virginia Historical Association. 6 (1): 41–48. ISSN 0270-4765. PMID 11620219.
  6. ↑ Hayward, J. R. (2016-09-01). "The legacy of Simon P. Hullihen". Journal of Hospital Dental Practice. 10 (3): 73–74. ISSN 0022-1600. PMID 10621743.
  7. ↑ Goldwyn, R. M. (1973-09-01). "Simon P. Hullihen: pioneer oral and plastic surgeon". Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 52 (3): 250–257. doi:10.1097/00006534-197309000-00005. ISSN 0032-1052. PMID 4579165.
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