Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.

  • Great Britain. Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry.
Date:
1944
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Interim report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    14. When acting under the Dentists Acts, the General Medical Council in- cludes three additional members selected by the Privy Council from those members of the Board who are registered as graduates or licentiates in dentistry. The Board itself includes a Chairman appointed by the Privy Council, three lay members appointed one each by the Minister of Health, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Governor of Northern Ireland, three members appointed by the General Medical Council and six elected registered dentists. 15. [he General Medical Council have certain duties laid on them with a view to securing a proper standard in the examinations conducted by licensing bodies and in the curriculum of dental schools. The Dental Board have no such duties but they have a duty, after paying certain prior charges, to allocate any money received by them to purposes connected with dental education and research or any public purposes connected with the profession of dentistry in such manner as they—with the approval of the Council—may decide. The Board are responsible for the registration of dentists, but the regulations made by them for this purpose require the Council’s approval. It is for the Council to “‘ recognize ’’ the certificate produced by any dentist coming from abroad and desiring to be registered in this country. 16. In matters of discipline, it is the Board who investigate the case and report to the Council and the erasure of a name from the Register or its restoration thereto requires the Council’s decision. The Council control the registration of ‘‘ additional qualifications ’’. The accounts of the Board must be submitted to the Council. 17. The Board’s chief source of revenue is the fee paid annually by dentists registered since 1921 for the retention of their names on the register. This fee has varied between £2 and £5 (the maximum) from time’ to time and the income of the Board has correspondingly varied from about £20,000 to about £50,000. In the years 1923-42 the Board has in round figures made grants te students totalling £217,000, grants to dental schools totalling £155,000 ({78,o00 for buildings and £77,000 in aid of salaries) £73,000 in aid of re- search and {60,500 in aid of dental health education. These subsidies are worthy of special comment, coming as they do out of the pockets of dentists themselves. Undergraduate Education 18. There are five dental schools in London (at Guy’s Hospital, King’s College Hospital, the London Hospital, the Royal Dental Hospital of London and University College Hospital), seven in English provincial cities (Birming- ham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield) three in Scotland (Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow), one in Northern Ireland (Belfast) and four in Eire. 19. Their total student-capacity before the war was between 2,000 and 2,500. Apart from perhaps one professor and one or two other senior whole- time teachers, most schools were staffed largely on a part-time basis, paid or honorary. Before the war close on 400 students entered the denttal schools annually, of whom about Io per cent. were women; roughly one-third of them came from beyond daily travelling distance. From certain schools women students are excluded. 20. After passing an examination in chemistry, physics) and biology, students proceed to ithe study of other subjects common to medicine and dentistry, and dental subjects. To a varying extent, dental students receive instruction in the former alongside medical students with whom they share the available facilities. A high proportion of time is arn during the first two years on practical dental “mechanics.