Roots: Extracted Tales From a Century of Dentistry at the University of Alberta

by Taylor Lambert

Ever since ancient peoples used bow drills to relieve their tooth pain, dentistry has been a universal human endeavour. Practised as haphazard butchery for millennia, some of its brutal elements were still the norm when the first Canadian dental school west of Toronto — the only one for more than a thousand kilometres in any direction — was founded in a remote community on the northern prairie where the railway ended. From a former fruit farmer creating instructional dental models by hand, to a determined woman battling institutional sexism to create the country’s second school of dental hygiene, to a desperate political fight against closure in the Ralph Klein era, the unlikely century-long story of the University of Alberta’s School of Dentistry is vividly brought to life here, alongside a history of dentistry from toothworms to virtual reality. Award-winning journalist Taylor Lambert is your historical tour guide for a witty narrative journey with surprising tales that even the most fervent dentophobe can sink their teeth into. Please note that this version of the book is printed in greyscale (except for the cover). To purchase the version with colour photos, please contact the UAlberta School of dentistry.

200 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2017

About the author

Taylor Lambert is an Alberta journalist and the author of four nonfiction books.