Sydney Garfield; Dentist Wrote a Best-Seller
Sydney Garfield, who embarked on a career as an aerospace engineer but turned his attention to dentistry, writing a best-selling history of the human mouth in 1970 he called “Teeth Teeth Teeth,” has been killed in a traffic accident.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said he died Sunday afternoon after being struck by a car on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He was 72.
A student at Cooper Union School of Engineering in New York City who had additional experience as an aircraft designer, Garfield turned to dentistry when he moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the USC Dental School.
He established a successful practice in Beverly Hills and treated both human and animal film stars, once making a set of false teeth for a chimpanzee.
His book on the history of dentistry, descriptions of modern dental care and the folklore surrounding the human tooth brought him not only healthy sales but appearances on television talk shows.
Survivors include a brother and sister.
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