b'John Henry "Doc" Holliday was born in 1851 in Griffin, Georgia. He was born with a cleft palate and partial cleft lip.A young "Doc" Holliday However, his uncle operated on those dilemmas and fixed(top left) became one of them soon after he was born. He was brought up in a middle- the most highly skilled class home where his parents made clear the importance of a good and proper education. Turns out he was considered todentists of his time but, John Henry Doc Holliday D.D.S. Shootist be very intelligent and excelled in all his studies. due to his tuberculosis In 1872 by the age of 20, John Henry had earned his Doctorand coughing spells, had of Dental Surgery from the Pennsylvania College of Dentalto look for a new way to Surgery in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, he graduated fivemake a living. That is how months before his 21st birthday. The school was forced tohe met "Big Nose Kate" hold his degree until he turned 21 (which was the minimum age required to practice dentistry). The school required him(bottom left) and earned a to attend lectures and classes for five months, followed byreputation as a gambler.an eight-month apprenticeship. As an apprentice, his main function would be to fill and extract teeth. Oh, and about that part where I thought he went to the Baltimore Schooloccurred at the most inopportune times. He just couldntTo that end, Doctor Pam fetched a small amount of of Dentistrythat just wasn\'t true. control them. They were starting to push patients away frommodern-day dental gold to show me. I was amazed at how his practice. That along with the oncoming Great Recessionlight (weight-wise) it was. She explained how it was usedAfter he graduated, Doc moved to Atlanta to fulfill thatforced Holliday to search for a new way to make a living.how it was manipulated to create caps and whatnotshe apprenticeship obligation. It was only eight short monthsalso talked about the other metals included in the amalgam. later, though, while things were working well for the youngDoc was on the move again in 1877; this time headed forTo me, it was really interesting stuff to see. What I saw right dentist, that he was diagnosed with the same tuberculosisBreckinridge, Texas. This is where he met his long-timethere in real life looked a whole lot different than what I had affliction that had taken the lives of his mother and adoptedfriend, Wyatt Earp, and his future common-law wife, "Bigimagined all these many years.brother. To help stabilize his condition, he decided to moveNose Kate." He turned to gambling and card games full-to Dallas, Texas where the climate was much dryer. Whiletime, a line of work he found he had a knack for, but itAt this point, I had my story and learned some neat stuff. there, he opened a dental practice with Dr. John Seegar. was because of his abilities in the game of "faro" that heIt had also been in the chair long enough that my mouth earned his reputation as a gambler, not to mention morewas getting to an almost manageable state. Doctor Pam Doctor Seegar and Doctor Holliday were considered to bethan his fair share of enemies. It must be said that Docwas very gracious I must say. She then told me all my two of the most highly skilled dentists of their time. Theyalways had an inclination for getting into scuffles of onepreliminary work was finished. I could come back to have entered in several categories at the Dallas County Fairsort or another, but over time, this vagabond gambling lifemy new bridge installed in a couple of weeks. I mumbled requiring them to build the "Best False Gold Teeth andinevitably brought him to Arizona. Of course, we all knowsomething that sounded unintelligible to me, but I hoped Dental Ware." They took home the highest honors in everythis was where he became forever entwined in Westernit sounded enough like "thank you" to get by. Doctor Pam gold category they entered. Things seemed to be goinghistory because he participated in the gunfight at the O.K.and her assistant both kinda smile-chuckled, so I just waved along just fine for a while, but for John Henry, it wasn\'t inCorral and other things. Needless to say, there is still moregoodbye and headed for the truck the cards to stay that way.about Doc Holliday that took place after the Tombstone episode, but the main focus of my story was triggered byMy thanks to Doctor Pamela McMahon, DDS, Due to his tuberculosis, he often succumbed to debilitatingthe dental gold Charlie Williams supposedly found and Docgoldcanyondentistry.com for her kind sharing of Doc Holliday and coughing spells. 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