The history of dentistry in South Africa since 1900

Abstract

Nineteenth Century dentists in South Africa were brought under the provision of legislation in Natal and the Transvaal (1896) and the Cape Colony and the Orange Free State (1899). By the end of the Nineteenth Century a group identity had been established and the transition from a craft to a profession completed. From 1900-1958 dental societies were formed. Key dates are 1922 when the South African Dental Society, which became the Dental Society of South Africa (D.A.S.A.) after Incorporation in 1935, was constituted. Collective action by dentists, implemented through the societies, shaped the profession. From 1933-1948 the constitution of the D.A.S.A. was streamlined. The Magna Charta of Dentistry (Act 13, 1928) was enacted defining dentistry and the practice thereof. The Dental Mechanicians Act (1945) protected the mechanician, the dentist and the public against illicit practitioners. The D.A.S.A. initiated the Professional Provident Society for dentists, now extended to include all the professions. In 1936 tbe first National Congress was held, in 1953 the first International Congress, setting a future pattern. The status of the dentist was further improved by obtaining the right to use the courtesy title Dr and by the abolition of the professional licence fee (1938). The earliest .societies set up voluntary clinics for children and the indigent. The Transvaal initiated a provincial scheme for childrens' followed by the other provinces. Dental Services, a fully fledged of Health. dentistry, This evolved into branch of the Department Witwatersrand University established a dental school in 1925, followed by .the Universities of Pretoria, Stellenbosch , Western Cape and Medunsa. Facilities for postgraduate 'study exist at all these institutions. The R.E.D. Fund Aids Research Education and Development in the field of dentistry. The first unofficial Dental Journal was published in 1927, followed by the Official Bulletin (1945-1946) and finally the Official Journal of the D.A.S.A. During the Anglo Boer War the importance of healthy dentitions'for soldiers was first realised. Four conntract dentists att~nded to the British soldiers. The South African dentists served in the Army Dental Corps during the two world wars. Dentistry in South Africa is now on a par with dentistry in any country of the Western world.