Samuel Stockton White (1822-1879) was a Philadelphia dentist who, in the mid-1840s, began manufacturing porcelain teeth using feldspar. Within the next decades, the company he founded had become the largest manufacturer of dental instruments in the world. The S.S. White Dental Manufacturing Company records largely relate to patents and the manufacture of dental equipment. The company maintained its competitive edge by constant improvement and innovation and was thus dependent upon patent protection.