STRICKLAND, BENJAMIN (27 July 1810-21 Feb. 1889), Cleveland's first permanent dentist, was born in Montpelier, Vt., son of Benjamin Strickland. He received an M.D. degree from an eastern school, and practiced medicine for a short time before coming to Cleveland in 1835. He opened an office in the Central Bldg. and advertised his services as a dentist; in the morning he made house calls, and in the afternoon received patients in his office.
In 1841, Strickland was admitted to the American Society of Dental Surgeons; two years later he received an honorary D.D.S. degree from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Strickland was later quite active in developing state and local dental associations, as a charter member of the Ohio State Dental Society, and president (1858-65) of the Ohio Northern Dental Assoc. He also organized the Forest City Society of Dental Surgery, which later became the Cleveland Dental Assoc.
Strickland advertised through the newspapers the painless extraction of teeth with the use of cold application; he also, for this purpose, was one of the first dentists in the state to use William T. G. Morton's "Letheon." A source for dental supplies, Strickland manufactured porcelain teeth and sold gold, tin, foil, and various instruments. Regionally, he was considered an authority on pulp treatment, fillings, and root-canal work. In 1875, Strickland retired. He died 14 years later of pneumonia.
Strickland married Hannah Walworth in 1841. He was buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY.
Gellin, Milton E. Cleveland Dentists before 1856 (1946).