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.

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.

[The creation of Secours Dentaire International at the end of World War II]. / La création du Secours dentaire international à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

During the liberation of the camps, a large numbers of prisoners died after being fed too quickly. They died in the thousands, and the Americans and British were, at first, totally confused and overwhelmed by what happened in front of their eyes. They fed the survivors, in excessive amounts, in good faith, without thinking for a moment that dramatic consequences would result from the fact that this could not be tolerated by their weakened bodies. Seeing the consequences, they changed their minds and set up field hospitals whose mission was to heal and feed the patients in progressive stages.

O técnico de higiene bucal: trajetória e tendências de profissionalização com vista ao maior acesso aos serviços de saúde bucal / Dental hygiene technician: history and trends of professionalism with a view to increasing access to oral health services

Este trabalho buscou identificar, ao longo do tempo, os tipos de auxiliares em odontologia que influenciaram a construção de perfis para a regulamentação da profissão do Técnico em Higiene Dental no Brasil. Para tanto, embasou-se em levantamento de bibliografia nacional e estrangeira; em análise dos textos fundamentais da década de 60 e 70, para captura do espírito de cada época e das influências da mesma sobre o monopólio do exercício da odontologia, e em entrevistas com especialistas que vivenciaram o período em recorte. A partir da compreensão histórica dos tipos básicos e da observação de alterações ou inovações apontadas na divisão social do trabalho em odontologia, objetivou-se examinar os quatro perfis do THD desenhados no Brasil e propostos pelos Plano de Reorganização da Atenção Básica; Consolidação das Normas do Conselho Federal de Odontologia; Classificação Brasileira das Ocupações e Projeto de Lei 00003/2007, este último em trâmite no Senado para sua definitiva aprovação. Os perfis foram observados sob a luz das potenciais possibilidades de contribuição do THD na assistência restauradora, na prevenção às doenças e na promoção de saúde bucal, que, de acordo com experimentos clássicos sobre aumento de produtividade, justificariam ou não sua utilização no âmbito da assistência, em especial, na estratégia de Saúde da Família respondendo as necessidades sociais. Concluiu-se que todos os perfis exigem reparos, e que o desenho do perfil apresentado pelo PL 00003/2007 não se adequa ao objetivo de conferir a este profissional atribuições potencializadoras de ganhos econômicos para o sistema assistencial, além de limitar o profissional em suas funções assistenciais e preventivas.

This work aimed to identify basic types of dental auxiliaries that influenced the “Dental Hygiene Technician” (THD) in Brazil throughout the history. In order to achieve this, it searched national and international literature, analyzed documents of outstanding importancefrom the 60’s and 70’s to capture the feelings and influences of each period. Besides, interviews were done with experts who lived in each period. From a historical understanding of those basic types of dental auxiliaries this work examined “Dental Hygiene Technician”profiles in Brazil, as proposed by the “Plano de Reorganização da Atenção Básica”; “Consolidação das Normas” of the Federal Council of Dentistry; Brazilian Classification of Occupations and Law Project No 00003/2007. The last is still in the Senate for final approval. The profiles were observed to investigate possible contribution of the THD on clinical services, and prevention and promotion of oral health, which would or would not justify their useaccording to classic experiments regarding productivity, It was concluded that all profiles need changes, and the profile showed in PL 00003/2007 does not fit the objective to give thisprofessional tasks economic gains for the care system, in addition to limit the professional in their functions and preventive care.

Municipalização dos serviços de saúde e a prevalência de cárie dentária no município de Itapira/SP, no período de 1991 a 2006 / Municipality process of health services and dental caries prevalence in the city of Itapira-SP, during the period between 1991 and 2006

Introdução: A criação do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) e o processo de descentralização que lhe é inerente levaram à municipalização das ações e serviços de saúde. Esse processo vem tendo impacto sobre as políticas públicas de saúde bucal e contribui decisivamente para a reorientação dos programas odontológicos no âmbito do SUS. Objetivo: Analisar o processo de municipalização da saúde bucal no município de Itapira, SP, no período de 1991 a 2006, e verificar seu impacto sobre os níveis de cárie dentária na população escolar de 7 a 12 anos de idade e o acesso ao tratamento odontológico. Método: Trata-se de estudo de caso complementado por levantamento epidemiológico de cárie dentária, realizado em 2006 (n=704), na área urbana. Dados secundários de dois levantamentos, realizados em 1991 (n=1.159) e 1999 (n=749), foram utilizados na análise. Nos estudos de cárie foi utilizado o índice CPOD (em 1991 conforme proposto por Klein & Palmer; em 1999 e 2006 conforme preconizado pela OMS). Entrevista com informantes-chave foram realizadas com o objetivo de captar sua percepção de municipalização da saúde bucal e reconstruir essa história, uma vez que documentos oficiais não estavam disponíveis. A técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo foi empregada. Resultados: Os profissionais conseguiram perceber na prática os resultados da municipalização, o impacto positivo sobre os processos gerenciais e a organização do serviço público odontológico, com o desenvolvimento de atividades de prevenção, saindo de uma época em que a lógica do serviço era mutiladora, com alto número de exodontias de permanentes, para tornar-se rara nos dias atuais. Os valores do CPOD aos 12 anos de idade indicaram prevalência de cárie considerada muito alta em 1991 (CPOD=6,85 mais ou menos 1,03), moderada em 1999 (CPOD=2,79 mais ou menos 0,53) e baixa em 2006 (CPOD=1,49 mais ou menos 0,38). Houve diferença estatisticamente significativa (p<0,05) entre as médias. O declínio nos valores do CPOD foi de 78,2...

The humanitarian service of dentists in Grenfell's sub-Arctic Labrador: 1910-1930.

Little has been written about peacetime humanitarian work in dentistry. In particular, few know the achievement of dentists who served with Dr. Wilfred Grenfell's medical mission in the early 1900s. These volunteers introduced dentistry to the impoverished coasts of Labrador and North Newfoundland, working under primitive conditions to meet an incredible need for dental care. This work constitutes an important chapter in the history of humanitarian dental service. As Dr. Grenfell himself noted, "the gospel of prosthetic and prophylactic dentistry in a distant, foreign country on a scale of this kind is entirely unique in the world's field of dentistry, so far as I can find".

[The transformation of the dental services market and the battle over a monopoly in 19th century dental practice]. / A transformação no mercado de serviços odontológicos e as disputas pelo monopólio da prática odontológica no século XIX.

The article analyzes the process by which dentistry acquired the status of a profession. The setting is the mid-nineteenth-century United States, where the West's first professional dental organizations were founded, and the focus is on some aspects of the development of a dental market and on the professional disputes among practitioners of the dental trade, who wanted a monopoly within this field of knowledge. Certain outside factors played a major role in the emergence of the profession, including changes in patterns of sugar consumption (which spread dental caries disease throughout society) as well as the expansion of the dental service market. The subsequent proliferation of distinct groups of dental practitioners--both qualified and unqualified to practice dentistry--and their competition for a place in the dental market reflect the battle waged to establish jurisdiction in this field and the emergence of dentistry as a 'modern profession'.

Chief Dental Officers for England and the development of dental services in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom currently holds the Presidency of the European Union. The Department of Health for England has taken the opportunity to support a history of the development of dental services in the UK, focusing in particular on the role played by its chief dental officers. Emeritus professor Stanley Gelbier was asked to undertake the project. Until December 2002 he was professor of dental public health at the Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Dental Institute of King's College London. For many years Professor Gelbier has been interested in the history of dentistry. He has served as deputy and then curator of the Museum of the British Dental Association since 1983 and has researched and written widely on dental history especially in relation to the development of community and public health services.

Delivering oral health services to children in the past: the rise and fall of children's dental clinics.

As a contribution to the current discourse on improving the oral health of impoverished children by increasing their access to oral health services, this essay describes and examines an earlier attempt to accomplish a very similar goal: the philanthropically and publicly funded children's dental clinics that were responsible for close to half of all oral health services delivered to US children during the first half of the 20th century. As an explanation of why these clinics were established and why they proliferated, the essay argues they met 4 criteria essential to successful public health programs aimed at children: they had a clearly understood and largely accepted fiscal and social utility; they provided services that parents could easily understand as benefiting their children; they serviced a broad enough segment of the population to earn them significant social and political support; and, by meeting a variety of the professional needs of oral health care providers, they established a relationship of enlightened self interest with a group whose support or, at least, lack of opposition was crucial to their survival.

Serving the poorest of the poor: the story of Jeremiah J. Lowney.

Since 1966, Dr Jerry Lowney has practiced orthodontics in Norwich, Connecticut, where he has been active in both community and professional organizations, including the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors for Higher Education. Since his first volunteer trip to Haiti in the mid-1980s, during which he provided dental services for the poor, he has returned to that country at least three times each year. Over time the nature of his activities has changed. Through grant writing, personal influence, liaison with a religious order, a huge investment of time, successful fundraising, the seizing of every opportunity, and the expenditure of large amounts of his own money, he has created a multimillion-dollar general health facility in one of the poorest areas in Haiti. Besides dental treatment, the scope of his activities has ranged from creating centers for high-risk pregnancy and malnutrition to the hiring of physicians, the training of local nurse practitioners, and an Adopt-a-Family program run by his wife, Virginia. His actions have been influenced by Virginia's caring attitudes and by his conviction that much is expected from those who have received life's bounties.

The IHS dental program--a historical perspective.

The federal government provides health services for American Indians and Alaska Natives based on treaties with tribes, legislation, and executive orders. These services began in the late 1700s, when they were the responsibility of the Department of War. This responsibility was later transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and in 1955 the Indian Health Service was established within the United States Public Health Service. This paper describes the development and mission of the Indian Health Service dental program. During the 1950s, Public Health Service officers were assigned to the dental program, dental assistant training centers were established, and clinical prevention programs were implemented. Increased dentist recruitment, the implementation of four-handed dentistry, and the development of an automated information system were the highlights of the 1960s. Considerable effort was placed on work force development during the 1970s, while expansions of both treatment and prevention services were the highlights of the 1980s. Unfortunately, decreases in administrative staffing and a decline in clinical services have been noted during the last decade. The main reasons for the decline were initiatives to reduce the size of federal government and inability to recruit and retain dentists in clinical positions. Also, many tribes have elected to manage their own programs and have requested and received their share of IHS administrative funds to use in their programs. Recent pay and budget legislation along with changes in program management should reverse this trend.

The dash for dentures: the turbulent introduction of NHS dentistry.

With the formal launch of the National Health Service on the evening of Sunday, July 4, 1948, the pattern of dental treatment in Britain changed dramatically. This change altered the lives of everyone connected with the provision of this treatment and, for dentists in particular, working life would never be the same again. But how did they come about?

The National Health Service and social inequalities in dental health.

Since establishment of the NHS, remarkable improvements in oral health have been seen. Social differences still remain, but in absolute terms they are far smaller than those which existed prior to creation of the service. Although the improvements have not been unique to the UK, and in consequence may not be entirely ascribed to the NHS, the overall costs to society have been remarkably small when compared with other countries. Furthermore other inequities that existed, such as the availability of services, appear to be less pronounced today than before. The NHS, established as one component of a welfare system to deal with the inequalities within society, has evolved over the last 50 years to remain a highly efficient mechanism to deal with oral health problems. The arguments for maintaining dental services within the NHS must be based upon the contribution they make to improving oral health. Judged on the past 50 years, it has helped to make major inroads into reducing the current inequalities. For the next 50 years, as the service adapts, the profession must remember that it is there for those with least resources not just those with the ability to pay.

The changing role of specialist care in NHS dentistry.

Specialisation and Specialist Training in Dentistry in the UK have been central issues for debate in the last few years. The profession has emerged stronger in understanding the respective roles of the generalist who should remain free to practise across the whole spectrum of dentistry and the specialist who can work in primary and secondary care. The overriding principle is that the patient remains the true beneficiary of a specialised service within the NHS.