James Leon Williams

James Leon Williams (April 18, 1852 – February 23, 1932) was an American prosthodontist and a pioneer dental histologist.

[1] In 1785, Leon's great-grandfather, Jacob Williams, a U.S. Army captain during the American Revolution, settled in Maine.

[3] He joined the Maine Dental Society and used the opportunity to borrow their microscope to study the histology and pathology of tooth enamel.

[3] In 1885, he embarked on a journey to improve the state of dental prostheses by designing more aesthetic artificial teeth that better matched the overall facial dimensions of the patient.

He convinced an American artificial tooth manufacturer to take up his cause and produce his designs, on the condition that other dentists would embrace the new forms.