Dentistry and the British Army: 1661 to 1921

Abstract

Between 1661 and 1921, Britain witnessed significant changes in the prevalence of dental caries and its treatment. This period saw the formation of the standing British Army and its changing oral health needs. This paper seeks to identify these changes in the Army and its dental needs, and place them in the context of the changing disease prevalence and dental advances of the time. The rapidly changing military and oral health landscapes of the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century bring recognition of the Army's growing dental problems. It is not, however, without years of campaigning by members of the profession, huge dental morbidity rates on campaign and the outbreak of a global conflict that the War Office resource a solution. This culminates in 1921 with, for the first time in 260 years, the establishment of a professional Corps within the Army for the dental care of its soldiers; the Army Dental Corps is formed.

Fig. 1

Detail from diorama at the Museum of Military Medicine depicting a seventeenth-century musketeer biting open a paper cartridge, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine

Fig. 2

A fashionable dentist's practice: teeth are being extracted from poor children in order to create dentures for wealthy people. Coloured lithograph after T. Rowlandson, 1787, https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ct8jruj8. Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection, under a Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0

Fig. 3

Dental pelican, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine

Fig. 4

Tooth extraction key, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine

Fig. 5

Napoleon Bonaparte's toothbrush, https://wellcomecollection.org/works/am3nxcp5. Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection, under a Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0

Fig. 6

Remnants of dental instrument set used by Barry O'Meara when caring for Napoleon on St Helena, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine

Fig. 7

Transcripts of letters from the War Office to Mr W. Rushton regarding advice on dental instrument sets, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine

Fig. 8

Boer War: a dentist outside his hut at a military hospital. Halftone, c.1900, after J. Hall-Edwards, https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ay7cdwvn. Image courtesy of Wellcome Collection, under a Creative Commons licence CC BY 4.0

Fig. 9

Special Army Order No 4 of 11 January 1921, reproduced with kind permission from the Trustees of the Museum of Military Medicine (contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0)