The Early Adventures of Painless Parker

John H. Gryfe is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon practising in
Toronto.

Dentistry and the circus hardly make compatible companions, you say? Ah,
my friends, you’ve never heard about the exploits of the one and only
Dr. Edgar Randolph “Painless” Parker, dentist, entrepreneur, and
entertainer extraordinaire. Step right up to the back of the traveling
wagon and witness painless dental extractions before your very eyes. See
feats of dentistry never before offered to the public, performed through
the miracle of modern (late 19th- and early 20th-century) dentistry by
the irreverent and impetuous itinerant dental genius from Tynemouth
Creek, New Brunswick.

Learn about the Great William True, the gifted huckster who learned his
trade in the big tops of Barnum and Bailey, and perfected it, with
outrageous promotions and stunts, all in the name of dental health.

Dental historians and authors Peter Pronych and Arden Christen
accompany your whirlwind tour to ethereal heights and depressing depths
on an unpredictable journey through a professional career unparalleled
in the annals of dentistry. And all this, mind you, in the words of the
great man himself, a man who dared and even successfully managed to
officially change his given name to “Painless.” Here’s your
once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the man the dental profession will
never forget, try as they may. And this book covers only the early
years!