John Mankey Riggs 1810(?)-1885: the first specialist periodontist, the first to perform surgery under general anaesthesia and dentist to Mark Twain

Abstract

Riggs was born in Connecticut, USA. He initially trained to be a church minister but, immediately after qualifying, he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College. One year into the course, he left the college and became apprenticed to the dentist Horace Wells. In 1844, following a public entertainment featuring the administration of nitrous oxide to members of the public, Wells had the idea that it could be used for benefit in dental practice. The following day, Wells self-administered the gas and Riggs extracted one of his molar teeth.Riggs was acclaimed as a successful practitioner for the treatment of periodontitis (Riggs' disease) and has been described as the first specialist periodontist. One of his patients was Samuel Clemens (alias Mark Twain) who, in an entertaining article titled 'Happy memories of the dental chair', described the treatment that he received from Riggs. Another of his patients was Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa, an international opera singer and co-founder of the Parepa-Rosa English Opera Company (later Carl-Rosa Opera Company).