Casco Vulcaniser

Casco Vulcaniser (Catalogue Number: 082)

This exhibition highlight is the Casco Vulcaniser.

The vulcaniser was a tool that helped dentists to make more affordable, durable, and comfortable dentures. Before the mid-nineteenth century, dentures were often made of porcelain or ivory. These materials were expensive, brittle, and uncomfortable to wear. That was until the invention of vulcanite, a special kind of hardened rubber. The vulcaniser allowed dentists to heat and shape vulcanite into customised, flexible denture bases for each patient’s mouth. This innovation made false teeth far more accessible to ordinary people, and much more pleasant to wear.

What is vulcanite?

Vulcanite is a tough, durable form of rubber. It was invented in the 1840s by Charles Goodyear, who discovered that heating rubber with sulphur makes it stronger and longer lasting. By the 1850s, dentists were using vulcanite for denture bases on account of its low cost and comfort.

How did the ‘vulcanization’ process work?

Making a set of vulcanite dentures was a skilled job:

• Porcelain teeth were arranged inside a mould, held in place by a metal flask.
• Soft rubber was packed around the teeth to fill the mould.
• The flask was then closed and placed inside the vulcaniser.

As the vulcaniser heated up, the rubber melted and flowed into every part of the mould. Continued heating cured the rubber, turning it into solid, flexible vulcanite with the teeth securely embedded, ready to fit in the patient’s mouth.

The vulcanizer in our collection

The model in our collection is called the “Casco” Vulcaniser, made by the firm Claudius Ash Sons & Co. Ltd. This model included several safety features to reduce the risk of accidents, such as a lid that could only fit one way, stops to prevent the lid falling backward, and a safety plug in the steam tap. The company even advertised it as offering “an absolute guarantee against the risk of explosion”!

If you look closely, you’ll see the word “AdCo” on our machine rather than Claudius Ash. That’s because in 1924, Claudius Ash merged with de Trey & Company to form the Amalgamated Dental Company (AdCo), so we know our vulcaniser was made sometime after that merger.

We also have an original advertisement for this model in our collection. The marketing flyer shows the smaller two-flask version, while the one you see here is the larger three-flask size that was able to make more dentures at once (which would have been ideal for a large dental school like Leeds).