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

British Dental Journal volume 239, pages 791–795 (2025)Cite this article

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).

Key points

  • Riggs' disease was, for many years, the name given to what is now known as periodontitis.

  • Riggs worked in partnership with Horace Wells and extracted a molar tooth from him while Wells self-administered nitrous oxide; the first ever operation under inhalational general anaesthesia.

  • Riggs described the aetiology of periodontitis and was an innovator in the treatment of the disease.

  • One of Riggs' patients was Mark Twain who gives us an illuminating and entertaining account of the treatment that he received.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks go to Helen Nield and Rachel Bairstow of the British Dental Association Library and Museum for their assistance with source material. Also, Mark Sullivan, the History & Genealogy Librarian, Connecticut State Library, Hartford, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Retired Consultant in Restorative Dentistry (Periodontology), Stonehouse, United Kingdom

    David G. Hillam

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  1. David G. Hillam
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Correspondence to David G. Hillam.

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Hillam, D. John Mankey Riggs 1810(?)-1885: the first specialist periodontist, the first to perform surgery under general anaesthesia and dentist to Mark Twain. Br Dent J 239, 791–795 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-025-8882-1

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