The history of dental bodies corporate and the role of the BDA in their development.

Dental bodies corporate are not a new phenomenon with companies having practised dentistry in the UK for over a hundred years. At the turn of the twentieth century, unregistered practice was common with dental companies resulting in extensive malpractice. Corporate dentistry introduced commercial interests into the profession and brought further dangers such as treatment not being patient-centred. The British Dental Association (BDA) was among those who continuously worked to mitigate these effects. Increasingly strict measures were introduced by governments to protect the public from harm from corporate practice with the government eventually remedying concerns, in the 1950s, by restricting corporate practice. In 2006 this restriction was lifted, with the support of the BDA, in an effort to increase competition and choice and open up the market to new providers. While the profession continues to develop, concerns remain. Some are long held with others, such as a negative effect on working conditions and UDA values, being relatively recent developments.

Once upon a time--starting up a dental practice in the 1980s.

A description of how a dentist could establish a practice in the UK in the 1980s.

Painless Parker's legacy: ethics, commerce, and advertising in the professions.

This presentation will review the life and contributions of Dr. Edgar Parker, the infamous and controversial pioneer who specialized in a precarious straddling of the ethics of the commercial marketplace and the ethics of care. Something of a Rorschach test, he was alternatively referred to as a charlatan, the first people's dentist, a renegade, a crusader, a quack, the Henry Ford of dentistry, and "a menace to the dignity of the profession". He eventually owned and managed thirty dental offices, several in San Francisco, as well as the Parker Dental Circus. Because many young, twenty-first century practitioners have little problem with slick advertising, it seems appropriate to revisit Painless Parker's career and contribution to the current state of affairs.

Interview by Gordon J Christensen: Enjoying life as a dental professional.

The life characteristics that contribute to a happy professional life are easy to identify. However, many of us do not strive to incorporate them into our lives. In this article, Dr. Rex Ingraham has shared his ideas about the factors that have contributed to his happy and long professional life in dentistry, as well as to his satisfying life in retirement. All of us would do well to adopt some of these characteristics into our own lives.

Advertising, commercialism, and professionalism: a history of the ethics of advertising in dentistry.

The authors "read" the historical dental codes prohibiting advertising and the U. S. Supreme Court decision striking down prohibitions against advertising by lawyers in Arizona, and by extension, professional advertising generally. The arguments presented in defense of prohibiting professional advertising and the court's responses to each are presented in detail. The current ADA code is analyzed in this context.