Policy Agenda Setting in Public Health Dentistry: Implementing North America's First Universal School-Based Dental Program in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Dental Plan in Canada was the first universal dental care plan for children in North America. Based on a similar New Zealand program, it would take over two decades from the time that the provincial government first considered the New Zealand policy until a final decision was made to implement the program. This article reviews the reasons for the long gestation of the policy, including the hostility of organized dentistry in Saskatchewan and Canada and the caution of the government's bureaucracy. It would take until a social democratic government was elected in 1971 before the political stream joined with the pre-existing problem and policy streams to open the policy window. Established in 1974, the program was terminated in 1987 due to opposition of organized dentistry combined with the pro-market ideology of a newly elected government.

Résumé. La Saskatchewan a été la première à instaurer un régime de soins dentaires universels pour les enfants en Amérique du Nord, le Saskatchewan Dental Plan. S'inspirant d'un programme semblable établi en Nouvelle-Zélande, le gouvernement provincial allait mettre vingt ans, entre le début de l'évaluation de la politique néozélandaise et sa décision, à implanter son programme. Cet article passe en revue les raisons de cette longue gestation, notamment l'hostilité du milieu bien organisé de la médecine dentaire en Saskatchewan et au Canada et la prudence des fonctionnaires gouvernementaux. Il allait falloir l'élection d'un gouvernement social-démocrate, en 1971, pour que le milieu politique s'empare du problème et des politiques existantes et que s'ouvre une fenêtre d'opportunité politique. Établi en 1974, le programme a été aboli en 1987, renversé par l'opposition combinée de la dentisterie organisée et de l'idéologie du libre marché prônée par le gouvernement nouvellement élu.

Reflections on dentistry and dental problems under the Third Reich.

Victor Klemperer was a Professor of Romance Languages and Literature in Dresden during the 1920s and 1930s. He kept a diary and the entries for the period 1933 to 1945 have been examined for references relating to dentistry and dentists. These give an insight into an aspect of the social life of the period that appears to have been previously largely overlooked.

Geoffrey Layton Slack OBE (Mil), CBE, TD, BDS DDS, FDSRCS, FDS Glas, FFDRCSI, Dip Bact (1912-1991).

It is with some pride that the author worked in Geoffrey Slack's department from 1963 to 1967 and even retained a working relationship with him after that time. Slack was Professor of Dental Surgery (1959-1976) and later Professor of Community Dental Health (1976-1977) at The London Hospital Medical College, within the University of London. The change in titles came about as a result of recognition of his contribution to developments in public health and community dental care and services, for many of which he was directly responsible. He was Dental Dean from 1965 until 1969. Upon retirement in 1977 he became Emeritus Professor. In addition, he was Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 1974 to 1977.

John G.C. Adams: father of Dental Public Health in Canada.

John Gennings Curtis Adams (1839-1922), Canada's first resident dental missionary, was the father of Dental Public Health in Canada. He established, personally funded and operated the first free dental hospital in North America for poor children and their mothers in Toronto from 1872, three years before the founding of The Hospital for Sick Children; he later became their first dentist of record. He was a visionary zealot for prevention of decay, dental education, and treatment over extraction. Dr. Adams understood that neither parents (rich or poor) nor physicians were aware of the extent of pathosis present in children's mouths. He petitioned individuals, lobbied politicians and unions and pressured dental organizations on the importance of twice-annual school inspections to demonstrate disease so that parents would seek care for their children. He wanted government-funded dental hospitals like his own to treat those who could not afford care. He realized his objectives and his reforms to prevent suffering, as Toronto school inspections began in 1911 and Toronto's first publicly-funded free dental clinic opened in 1913. He was Canada's first dental philanthropist and a visionary for preventive dentistry.

Remembering Juan Navia.

Juan Navia died on September 4, 2010. Those who knew him as the director of the University of Alabama's John J. Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education and later the dean of UAB School of Public Health watched him train and shape the next generation of global public health leaders with a kind heart and a firm, but gentle, hand. On this third anniversary of Professor Navia's passing, in response to an invitation from the Journal of Dental Research to write an essay on an educator who influenced the professional trajectories of many people, we have put together an account of some of his contributions and attributes to highlight this remarkable leader's accomplishments in and impact on dental public health and global nutrition.

Twentieth century influences on Queensland dental practice: a tangential view.

Political scientists, historians and journalists intermittently suggest that, within the Australian context, public policy and its administration in Queensland are different. Significant evidence suggests that, from colonial times, distance and decentralization have influenced Queenslanders' demographic profiles and collective identity. Using historical analysis to qualify and quantify both the alleged difference and its social significance warrants caution. Nonetheless, some developments in public dental policy and the practice of dentistry across Queensland provide intriguing contrasts. This study, a literature review, uses historical method. The authors focus on pivotal proceedings that affected both the dental profession and dental practice in the twentieth century. These events embraced the genesis and evolution of dental education and influenced fluoride politics and policies controlling the delivery of public dental services. These developments reflected not only the contemporaneous social and political fabric but also the broader influences on Queensland history, namely: area, distance, decentralization, groundwater, isolation and topography. The events and observations in this report lend some support to hypotheses concerning a Queensland difference within the Australian context of public policy and its administration.

A profile of Frank Harrison: a pioneering Sheffield dentist from 100 years ago.

A review of the personal papers relating to Frank Harrison and held by the School of Clinical Dentistry in Sheffield reveal what a dedicated clinician he was and the significance of his achievements from over 100 years ago, both locally and nationally for his chosen profession and also for the people of Sheffield. In addition to being one of the first dentists in the world to experiment with X-rays in dentistry, and the first to write up his findings in a dental journal, he designed and patented dental instruments, wrote books, lectured on fine art (particularly Venetian and Florentine art), and gave lectures to the public in the hope that they would heed his message on the importance of maintaining good oral health. A search of national archives and library resources has added further information about his family and professional accomplishments.

Milestones in oral health services in the Republic of Ireland.

With the many changes occurring in Ireland it would seem an opportune time to review the body of research conducted and policy enacted in the Republic of Ireland on oral health services and oral health. The dental health of the nation prior to water fluoridation, the legislation and policy decisions impacting on oral health up to budgetary changes, and the production of evidence-based guidelines will be discussed. The first national survey of dental health was conducted in Ireland in 1952 - 'Dental Caries in Ireland'. In the intervening 60 years, further surveys of the oral health of people in Ireland have been carried out. Legislation, surveys and policy documents that have shaped dentistry and the oral health of the population are set out in Tables 1 and 2. A more comprehensive description of the policies can be found in the thesis submitted in fulfilment of Masters in Dental Public Health (MDPH) by the lead author.

Mosquitoes, flies and dental cavities: Dr. Howard Riley Raper's public campaign to prevent toothache.

Dr. Howard Riley Raper (1886-1978) was an early oral health pioneer and dental roentgenology faculty member of the Indiana Dental College (IDC) who single-handedly introduced key concepts in radiology to dentistry. Due to his efforts, IDC became in 1910-11 the first dental school to have a regular course in dental radiology. Virtually all American dental schools soon added this subject to their regular curriculum. Raper's text, Elementary and Dental Radiography (1913) became the first comprehensive student textbook of dental X-ray diagnosis. In his 1933 Blue Book entitled, The New Aim in the Care of the Teeth, Raper elaborated upon his mission to prevent caries, by comparing the insidious damages of tooth decay with the threat of insect-borne disease.

The contributions of Edward H. Angle to dental public health.

The genius of Edward Hartley Angle, (1855-1930), the founder of the dental specialty of orthodontics, to create order from chaos in the study and treatment of positional discrepancies of the teeth, jaws and face advanced greatly the cause of dental public health. Angle's innovations that had the most public health impact were (1) his identification of dental occlusion, not simply tooth irregularity, as a prime concern, (2) his development of an uncomplicated classification system for occlusal conditions, (3) his introduction of prefabricated orthodontic appliances and (4) his framing of orthodontics as a dental specialty by organizing the world's first educational program to train orthodontists.