Dental chairs, also known as “dental chair unit”, are equipment used for oral surgery and examination and treatment of oral diseases. As one of the most important equipment in dental clinics, how much do you know about its development history? What is the difference between the dental chairs we use now and the dental chairs used by dentists 100 years ago?
This article takes you through the interesting 100-year development history of the first dental chair since its birth.
Early period (before 18th century)
In the early days of dental medicine, dentists usually used ordinary wooden chairs or let patients sit on home chairs for treatment. There was a lack of special dental chairs. Due to the backward medical technology, the treatment process was often very painful and lacked comfort and convenience.
👉 Main features
✅Use ordinary chairs for treatment
✅No fixed treatment angle
✅Doctors need to stand or squat for operation
The first dental chair (late 18th century to 19th century)
In 1790, American dentist Josiah Flagg is credited with inventing the first dedicated dental chair. He added a headrest and a tray to a Windsor chair for instruments, marking the birth of the prototype of the dental chair.
👉 Main features
✅ Adding a headrest and instrument tray to a regular chair
✅ Improves patient comfort and doctor convenience
✅ Doctors still need to move around the patient to perform the operation
Second Generation Dental Chairs (Early 19th Century)
By the early 19th century, dental chairs had added many features. In 1832, James Snell, a London dentist, invented the first reclining dental chair. In 1867, Dr. James Beall designed and built the first patented wooden dental chair. He added footrests to the chair, allowing the backrest to tilt slightly. Then, in 1871, a popular dental company called SS White Dental invented a completely metal chair that the doctor could adjust using a crank.
During this period, dental chairs began to focus on ergonomics, and the height and angle of the seat could be adjusted to a certain extent.
👉 Main Features
✅ Adjustable backrest and seat height
✅ Added metal structure for improved stability
✅ More ergonomic design
Third generation dental chair (late 19th century to early 20th century)
In 1877, the American company SS White launched the first dental chair with a hydraulic lifting system, allowing dentists to easily adjust the height and angle of the chair.
In 1887, electricity began to be introduced into the dental industry, and the first electric motor dental chair was born.
👉 Main Features
✅ Hydraulic lifting system
✅ Adjustable angle and height
✅ Electric motor inside
✅ More ergonomic
Fourth Generation Dental Chair (Mid-20th Century)
With the development of technology, dental chairs began to integrate more functions during this period, such as water supply system, saliva suction device, shadowless lamp and control panel.
In 1958, the American company A-dec launched the first integrated dental treatment chair, integrating dental handpiece, lighting and water supply system.
👉 Main Features
✅ Integrated saliva suction device and water supply system
✅ Introduced electric control system
✅ Better angle adjustment and comfort
Fifth generation dental chair (late 20th century to early 21st century)
Dental chairs of this period have achieved high automation, with electric motors, memory functions, digital control and comfort greatly improved.
This generation of dental chairs is now the most widely used dental chair by dentists around the world. 90% of the dental chairs sold by CENTURY DENTALÂ are of this generation. It is loved by many dentists because of its stable quality, complete functions, good appearance and affordable price.
👉 Main features
✅ Electronic control system for precise adjustment of angle and height
✅ Integrated LED shadowless light and camera system
✅ Ergonomic design for increased patient comfort
✅ Introduced touch screen and preset memory function
The sixth generation of dental chairs (21st century to present)
Today’s dental chairs have entered the era of intelligence and digitalization, integrating a variety of high-tech functions, including:
Voice control
AI smart assistant
Remote monitoring and diagnosis
3D imaging system
This generation of dental chairs is still a concept product. It is developed and sold by the world’s largest dental equipment brand. At present, it is expensive and has high maintenance costs. It is not suitable for large-scale promotion and use.
👉 Main features
✅ Wireless operation and cloud data storage
✅ AI learning and automatic adjustment
✅ Built-in patient health management system
✅ High-end materials and environmentally friendly design
Future trends of dental chairs
Further improve the level of AI intelligence
Implanting more advanced chips in dental chairs will further improve the intelligence level of dental chairs. It can be adjusted intelligently according to different patients, different surgical needs, and different doctors’ operating habits.
Enhance patient comfort and use more environmentally friendly and safe materials
CENTURY DENTAL is now also using more environmentally friendly materials to make dental chair parts. For example, we use edible silicone pads, human-contactable artificial leather as the seat cushion of the dental chair, and 316-grade stainless steel as the water faucet.
Tighter integration with digital oral scanners and CAD/CAM systems
Develop virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) functions to assist treatment and patient relaxation
Galaxy：Dental chairs of different periods
Let us feel the century-long changes in the development of dental chairs from these precious old photos.
CENTURY DENTAL expresses the highest respect to all dentists and dental equipment manufacturers who have contributed to dental chair. It is your creativity that makes dental chairs more and more functional, of better quality and more beautiful in appearance. We will insist on our mission “Designed by dentists, for dentists” and continue to develop the dental chair business.