Earliest Innovations

Individual dentists designed and constructed their own dental chairs in the early days of the profession. In 1832, James Snell, a London dentist developed a reclining mechanism shown in the image here. Another early innovation (also shown here) featured a ball-and-socket joint beneath the chair, accessible by a foot pedal, which allowed the chair to tilt backwards and forwards as well as to the right and left. The chair also allowed for over three feet of vertical adjustment.