Unlike other books on the history of dentistry, The Long Climb: From Barber-Surgeons to Doctors of Dental Surgery outlines the personal struggles endured and victories achieved by the leading personalities of dentistry during its development from antiquity to the present. It showcases the courage and determination of dentistry's pioneers while exposing the episodes of weakness and dishonesty that tarnished the image of the dentist. By highlighting the controversies surrounding major advances in dentistry -- gold versus amalgam fillings materials, operative versus mechanical dentistry, the relationship between medicine and dentistry, and the restriction of practice imposed by patents -- this book gives life to the same old story, making this history book the most robust and entertaining of its kind.