UC Santa Cruz

This dissertation examines the historical development of dentistry and the discourse of oral hygiene in China from the late imperial era to contemporary times. It traces the development of dentistry from a marginal part of the colonial project ofNorth American medical missionaries to its establishment as a distinct field combining US surgical technology, Soviet medicine, and traditional Chinese medical theories under the People's Republic. Focusing on the connections between dental development, the discourse of oral hygiene, and everyday life, this study reveals how teeth and mouths transformed from intimate body parts into subjects of scientific study, consumerism, and healthcare in modern China.

To excavate a history that has not been told about dentistry in a non-Western context, the study focuses on two main themes. First, examining how dentistry became institutionalized and professionalized in modern China and to what extent its development diverged from that of Western medicine, the dissertation offers a new layer of complexity to the Western-China medical encounter. It highlights the transnational nature of knowledge production and circulation in the formation of modern Chinese dentistry. Second, the study historicizes the shifting perception of teeth in relation to the body. It analyzes the impact of oral hygiene on the formation of self-identity, its importance within the state public health initiatives, and how it reconfigured the body as a revolutionary subject.

By analyzing the historical trajectory of dentistry in China, this dissertation provides insights into the transformation of dental practices, the discourse of oral hygiene, and their meanings for different groups of people within Chinese society. It contextualizes the history of dentistry in China's twentieth-century revolutions, tracing its co-evolution with nation-state building, changing social norms of hygiene and personal image, and everyday consumption patterns. It thus establishes connections between the history of dentistry and the broader social and cultural history of modern China.