Matthew Henry Cryer (July 11, 1840 – August 12, 1921) was an American oral surgeon who is known for founding the first hospital based dental service in United States. The hospital was named

Philadelphia General Hospital The Blockley Almshouse, later known as Philadelphia General Hospital, was a charity hospital and poorhouse located in West Philadelphia. It originally opened in 1732/33 in a different part of the city as the Philadelphia Almshouse (not to be co ...

. He is also known for developing the electrically operated surgical engine for cutting bone and the spiral

Osteotome An osteotome is an instrument used for cutting or preparing bone. Osteotomes are similar to a chisel but bevelled on both sides. They are used today in plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery and dental implantation. The chain osteotome, origina ...

and guard for cranial surgery.

Life

Cryer was born in

Manchester, UK Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 1840. He moved with his family to United States during his early years in childhood. Cryer started studying at

Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery The Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, sometimes referred to informally as the Pennsylvania Dental College, was founded in 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was the second-oldest operating school of dentistry in the United States by the ...

in 1874 and received his dental degree in two years. He also received his medical degree in 1877 from the same university. After his graduation, he taught at his learning institution about dentistry. He then spent next 17 years teaching Oral Surgery and eventually he became a Professor of Oral Surgery in 1897. He was also the uncle to Robert H. Ivy. Cryer wrote many textbooks about the anatomical textbooks. During his career, he collected many skulls and specimens to do research the collection is stored at what it is known today as Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians in Philadelphia.

Oral Surgery

Cryer made several contributions to the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery. He is also known for developing the electrically operated surgical engine for cutting bone for jaw surgery and the spiral osteotome and guard for cranial surgery. In 1904, he designed forces to extract teeth during dental surgery. These tools specifically were universally designed for incisor and their roots. The two forceps were designed for upper and lower teeth. The left and right elevators also developed from his contributions. He initially made the two left and right scaling instruments for the scaling purposes and eventually he was able to use them to elevate dental roots.

References

1840 births 1921 deaths English emigrants to the United States {{US-med-bio-stub