Dr. Charles C. Bass M.D.
The genius behind POH products and after whom the "Bass Method" of personal oral hygiene is named.
1875 ~ 1975
If ever a person deserved to have a Hollywood movie made about their life, it should be about Charles C. Bass, M.D. An unsung hero of Medicine. Over the last seven decades, around the world, Preventive Dentistry has taken hold.
Dr. Bass worked with Walter Reed. Not at Walter Reed, with Walter Reed. Without his contributions, Malaria still would not be understood very well. He was the first to take a microscope West of the Mississippi.
Dr. Bass was an expert, self taught, in the diseases of quail, because he wanted to make sure the covies he knew as a kid would still be there for his grandchildren. An original conservationist.
Dr. Bass ran the Tulane medical school in New Orleans. Before air conditioning.
When he reached the age of 65, he retired as few men do. In the years following his retirement, he published his most fruitful research on the causes and prevention of dental disease. Dr. Bass had learned beyond doubt what causes tooth decay and gum disease. More importantly, he learned how to prevent these diseases entirely. Further, he designed the proper tools for his theory. Thousands of Preventive Dentists and their millions of patients are the beneficiaries of his work.
For complete information and text of Dr. Bass' work, consult: http://www.personaloralhygiene.net/
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Dr. Bass published his first paper on the necessity of daily personal oral hygiene in 1943.
By observing thousands of subjects, mostly students, and what must be tens of thousands of extracted tooth specimens, Dr. Bass came to the unshakeable conclusion that the diseases of the teeth are microbial in nature, and entirely preventable.
Dr. Bass taught that as long as the uncleaned oral cavity continues providing a perfect environment, caries and periodontoclasia will establish and thrive, ultimately destroying the dentition and periodontal ligaments. His insight was that by disrupting and disorganizing the bacterial plaque roughly once every twenty four hours, the environment is less favorable for the formation of dental disease. If repeated every night, over time the oral flora and fauna change and disease is entirely prevented.
Over the door to his office and laboratory public entrance was a large sign stating:
"A Clean Tooth Does Not Decay"
Between 1943 and 1959, when Robert Jones, D.D.S. heard of Dr. Bass, thousands of Dentists had traveled from all over the world to study with Dr. Bass. Dr. Jones, the founder of POH, was one of those early Preventive Dentists.
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POH was started by Robert G Jones, D.D.S. in 1961, when the demand for Dr. Bass' toothbrush and floss grew beyond the supply. Dr Bass had graduate students with a whetstone in one hand, and a toothbrush in the other carefully polishing the very tips of each bristle smooth. Not high production.
Dr. Jones went to all the toothbrush makers of the day, and none would undertake the manufacture of Dr. Bass' type of toothbrush. "No customer demand", "Added expense", "Unecessary", "A hard bristle is best", they all said.
Dr. Jones, his preventive colleagues and their thousands of patients were having superior results using the Bass type toothbrush. More concerned with the efficacy of the toothbrush and floss than what it looks like, in Dr. Bass' design, form truly followed function. To this day, POH manufactures unique, effective products for preventive personal oral hygiene that follow his design.
To this day, the design of our floss and toothbrush complies with the specifications Dr. Bass set forth.
Credit: http://buypoh.com/ccbass.html