Description

An automatic dental mallet manufactured by Samuel. S. White & Sons in England. An automatic mallet was used to condense gold foil and other restorative materials into tooth cavities—a technique especially popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The automatic dental mallet was invented following the 1867 development of a spring-driven device by Dr. William Bonwill of Philadelphia, with commercial models arriving by the 1870s. Its automatic mechanism delivers repeated, measured percussive blows to a dental plugger, enabling dentists to efficiently pack gold and amalgam fillings with control and less hand fatigue. Automatic mallets were eventually replaced by electric and pneumatic handpieces. This mallet dates from around 1890, an excellent example of Victorian ingenuity before the arrival of powered dental instruments.

Samuel. S. White, founded in Philadelphia in 1844, quickly became the world’s largest dental instrument manufacturer by the late 19th century. Their automatic mallets were widely sold in Britain and across the world. 

Items such as this are rare as they were made in very small numbers to the highest quality standards as price was not the primary concern, most good examples are now in museums and private collections.