The Smile Gap

Contributor: Catherine Carstairs Catherine Carstairs is professor of history at the University of Guelph.

"A crucial contribution to a very small body of literature. Carstairs’ use of sources is commendable, and her work is an excellent example of reading against the grain and a model for all future publications. Health care practitioners, in particular, should note the importance of historical perspectives in informing current practices. The Smile Gap presents a well-written, well-researched history valuable to present-day health care practitioners and policymakers alike and begs consideration of the impact of non-insured, but essential, health care services on the population’s health." Canadian Journal of Health History --- "The Smile Gap is an important first book on the history of oral health in Canada. Kudos to Carstairs for weighing in on the ethics of cosmetic dentistry and for identifying dissension among dentists. Well written, well researched, and thought provoking ... all invested parties involved in shaping a publicly funded dental program in Canada should read this in an effort to understand how we arrived at this juncture." Canadian Historical Review --- "A welcome reminder that oral health is a valuable topic of historical research, as well as of huge contemporary relevance ... how health care is shaped by politics, medicine, industry and patient demand, how costs are balanced with medical need and individual responsibility with state provision and how the past shapes the present. An excellent and much needed study." History of Medicine --- “The Smile Gap engages a wide literature, including the sociology of public health as well as the cultural histories of health advertising, to offer a critical yet accessible account of dentistry in Canada after the First World War. Analyzing popular texts, medical dental journals, and a wide range of professional and institutional records, Carstairs provides readers with a broad social history of dental care from both patient and practitioner perspectives. Applying an equity lens throughout, it also offers important insights into the history of Canadian public health.” Sasha Mullally, University of New Brunswick and co-author of Foreign Practices: Immigrant Doctors and the History of Canadian Medicare --- “Catherine Carstairs broadens the public coverage of dental care in Canada with her study of oral health-related inequity and its various cultural, social, and professional determinants. The Smile Gap is a unique and welcome addition to the history of dentistry in Canada.” Carlos Quiñonez, Western University and author of The Politics of Dental Care in Canada