Introductory address delivered at the opening of the second session of the Metropolitan School of Dental Science.

  • James Robinson
Date:
[1860]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory address delivered at the opening of the second session of the Metropolitan School of Dental Science. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    vain delusions, the period has arrived when he must cast them off. The possession of the Dental Certificate has abruptly severed the tie that hound him to the College of Sm-geons. The educational establishment disowns the offspring it has reared, and he is sent forth into the world like an illegitimate child whose parent is ashamed of him and disowns him. I can hardly suppose that such a barren result, after so much time and Btudy had been expended in the preliminary education, could have been contemplated even by those who were willing that the Dental Profession should be swallowed up in the College of Surgeons. In commencing with a limited curriculum, the College of Dentists has only followed in the footsteps of similar educational establishments. It is precisely what has been done by the College of Surgeons itself. Let any one compare the present curriculum of that body •with, what it was thirty years ago, and say whether this is not the case. I am afraid that the discussions and dissensions which have agitated the Profession have created too much antagonism and too much angry feeling to leave any hope that these wounds can be healed at i^resent. There is, however, one point upon which I venture to think an error has been committed by some members of the College of Dentists ; and that is, in supposing that the possession of the Certificate of the College of Surgeons must necessarily prevent those who hold it from acting with the College of Dentists, I would say, let those who msh possess the Dental Certificate, just in the same manner as they might have the full membership of the College of Surgeons or any other medical qualifi- cation, I would forget these minor difierences for the sake of union. After all, there is much that both parties possess in common; there is an earnest, and, I am convinced, a most unselfish wish, on the part of the majority, to elevate the Profession, and to rid it of the quacks and im- postors who have so long disgraced it. There are many who have taken the Certificate of the College of Surgeons, who still desire to see a separate and independent body which shall represent the Dental Pro- fession. Are there not some, I would ask, who might reconcile these unfortunate differences, which, while, they benefit none, throw discredit upon all ? There is one more passage I wiU refer to, and with which I am sure we shall all most heartily agree. Mr Cartwright says, It nmst be acknowledged that the Dental Institutions of America have sent forth a great number of gentlemen who form a body of Dentists of a high and uniform standard ; and, scattered over the world, they exhibit a degree of excellence, indi-\idually, which is conclusive of the value of their ]mic- tical and systematic educutiou. To this I willoidy add, that it is upon