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Editorial

Tenth anniversary of the “Newsletter”

This issue is Number 20 in the series and so marks a significant milestone. The “History of Dentistry Newsletter” has grown from a modest news-sheet circulated to the small group of founder members of the History of Dentistry Research Group at Glasgow Dental Hospital and School and to UK dental school libraries, to a publication with a printed circulation of over 100, which is read by many more world-wide on the internet. The executive committee have agreed that a change of title would be appropriate and so, from the next issue, we will become “DENTAL HISTORY: Glasgow”
Editorial policy will remain inclusive and the subject matter varied and relevant and we hope to continue to attract scholarly contributions across the whole field of dental history and to continue to chronicle the dental scene in the West of Scotland and beyond. The printed version will appear in a new and, we hope, attractive form and the contents will continue to be available through the RCPSG website.

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Update

Menzies-Campbell Lecture 2006/7
Professor Lorna Macpherson, who holds the chair of Dental Public Health at the University of Glasgow, gave an exceptionally well-attended Menzies-Campbell Lecture on the 24th January 2007 at the Dental School. Her title was “Promoting Oral Health: The Childsmile Way” and she described the “Childsmile” project she is leading in Glasgow and soon across Scotland. It addresses the problem of dental caries in children in our most needy areas and is based on an innovative community developmental approach, enlisting local support to enhance mothers’ social and personal skills and promote healthier behaviour. Unlike previous initiatives there has been a measurable and sustained effect shown in the trial areas in Glasgow and the aim is now to roll out the scheme across Scotland. Professor Macpherson opened her lecture with a brief account of the previous work in this field in Glasgow and we look forward to publishing an expanded version of this aspect from her in a future issue.

The Dental Surgery at the Summerlee Heritage Park
Pat Lilly has drawn our attention to the dental surgery formerly on display at the Summerlee Heritage Park in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. The equipment came from the surgery of John Dick LDS RCSEd who qualified in 1901. Mr Dick’s first registration was in 1908, following which, he practised in Dunoon. Contact is being established with the museum authorities prior to its re-opening after refurbishment which is scheduled for 2008. It is possible that some of the historical material held by the HNHODG could be usefully displayed there.

John Hunter and Transplantation.
David Hamilton the distinguished medical historian, retired transplant surgeon (and letterpress printer!), gave the spring lunchtime lecture to the group on 16th April at the RCPSG. His scholarly work on the subject is well known but on this occasion he highlighted particularly Hunter’s ethical concerns, which have contemporary resonance and the mistaken ‘botanical’ principles of grafting on which Hunter based his experiments in animal and human tissue transplantation.

Lindsay Society Annual Meeting Stratford on Avon, 5th-7th October 2007.
The annual autumn conference of the Society will be held at the Holiday Inn Stratford on Avon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 5th, 6th and 7th October 2007.
An attractive list of speakers will address topics including the WW1 Soldiers and Sailors Dental Fund and the histories of a number of British dental organisations which are celebrating significant anniversaries this year. Membership of the Society is open to all interested and new members are assured of a warm welcome. Details are available from J. Stuart Robson at :stuartrobson367@btinternet.com or telephone 01904 794929.

The Dentists Register.
The GDC has announced that from next year onward the register will no longer be published in the traditional published form. However following our enquiry it has been agreed that it may be accessed electronically by historical scholars. From now on it will be possible to access the list current in any specified month, and enquiries should be addressed to the Registrar at 37 Wimpole St, London W1M 8DQ

Dr Malvin Ring
Dr Ring – the doyen of dental history has given us the opportunity to reprint his article on Jacob Hemet dentist to Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, from the “New York State Journal” and this we are pleased to do since we suspect not many of our readers peruse that journal regularly. The original appeared in the New York State Dental Journal in November 2006.

Glasgow Dental Hospital: 1935-1939
George Fleming takes a wistful and humorous look at the staff and students of Glasgow Dental Hospital as the storm clouds gathered over Europe. George served in the Dental Branch of the RAF during the Second World War. After leaving the Service in 1946, he practised in Yorkshire until his retiral in 1991.

New Display Cabinet at the RCPSG
Thanks to further generosity of the Noble family a new display cabinet in memory of the late Dr Henry Noble has been installed in the Crush Hall at the RCPSG in St Vincent Street, Glasgow. It houses a number of pieces from the group’s holding of dental historical items. Carol Parry, who was involved in setting up the display, describes this innovation for us.

The REF: Where vegetarians feared to tread.
An essential part of any institution is the canteen, and Glasgow Dental Hospital is no exception. The history of this key social area is chronicled by Bill Smith and mirrors the changes in relationships and attitudes which have occurred in its users over the years since it was founded as a student initiative in the 1950s. The neurotic nutritional fads of today were slow to catch on, as a conversation overheard in the REF illustrates: Customer -“I can’t have the steak. I am a vegetarian.” Agnes – “Aye right, I’ll just give you the chicken then.” Does having salad cream on you’re chips amount to healthy eating?

From a Paris Flea-market
Len Schwarz served in the RAF Beach Squadron on Sword Beach in the 1944 Normandy Landings and later in the Ardennes and Paris. He is a member of the Normandy Veterans Association and an Advisory Board member of the “Greatest Generations Foundation” whose mission is to educate the young about the realities of war and he was decorated for this work by General Linsey Freeman at Omaha Beach in 2005 (Fig. 1). Len qualified in Glasgow in 1953 and until recent registration changes intervened, continued to treat patients on a voluntary basis for several charities. He tells us the story of the second-hand denture stall at Clignancourt on Paris’ Left Bank. The cross-infection implications don’t bear thinking about. While clinical experience leads us to marvel at the ability of some patients to adapt to ill-fitting dentures, no one ever admitted to wearing someone else’s!

Figure 1 Len Schwarz receives his decoration from General Freeman on Omaha Beach, 2005

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