Dentistry emblem symbols explained

Creator

American Dental Association. Bureau of Public Relations
Melville Stenfels

Preview

Creation Date

1940

Description

The dental emblem has been in use since 1940. It was created and adopted at the urging of Josephine Hunt, director of the ADA Library, 1927–1948.

In 1938, Hunt suggested to Dr. Lon Morrey, head of the ADA Bureau of Public Relations, that the dental profession adopt an official insignia similar to the medical profession’s traditional symbol, the rod of Asclepius (a serpent entwined about an ancient wound-cauterizing instrument called a cautery). Morrey made a quick sketch of the design incorporating the rod, with input from Hunt and others on staff, and gave it to Melville Stenfels, a freelance artist employed by the ADA, to create the final design and camera-ready artwork.

As its central figure, the dental emblem uses a rod of Asclepius encompassed by the Greek letter delta (Δ), for dentistry, and the Greek letter omicron (Ο), for "odont", the Greek word for tooth. The word "DENTISTRY" is blazoned at the bottom of the omicron. In the background of the design are thirty-two leaves and twenty berries, representing the permanent and primary teeth.

The suggested colors for the insignia are: background in lilac (the official academic color of dentistry established in 1897); omicron in gold; delta in black; cautery in gold outlined in black; and leaves, berries, and serpent in white outlined in black on the lilac background.

The Bureau of Public Relations first presented the design to the Board of Trustees for approval in 1938. In 1940, the Board presented the original design to the House of Delegates, which adopted it as the official emblem of dentistry.

The House of Delegates reaffirmed the use of the emblem in 1965, at the prompting of the ADA Library Director, Dr. Donald Washburn, to make its use a standing policy of the ADA.