RESUMEN
Ernest Davey practised dentistry in Bristol until 1924 when his lack of a dental qualification restricted him to work as a dental technician. He appears to have served in this capacity in France during the First World War before returning to Bristol in 1919 where he spent the rest of his life.
Asunto(s)
Técnicos Dentales/historia , Odontólogos/historia , Inglaterra , Historia del Siglo XX , Primera Guerra MundialRESUMEN
In the history of many professions there are periods of more or less pronounced borderline fights against other professions and/or charlatans. This article is about such an example from the profession of dentistry in Sweden. From the middle of the second decade of this century, there was an increasing discrepancy between the need for dental care and the too low number of dentists. Furthermore: the majority of the Swedish people could not afford dental care at all. In the public debate the concept "dental misery" was created. In 1919 a famous Swedish paediatric professor, Isak Jundell, presented a debate article in "Allmänna Svenska Läkartidningen" (Journal of the Swedish Medical Association), with a proposal for building up a corps of dental assistants with shorter training than dentists, but still with competence for tooth cleaning, extraction and some operative dentistry. The aim of the proposal was to give people easier available and cheaper dental care. The dental profession had been questioned and threatened and the reaction from the advocates of the dentists was immediate and intense. Now followed an almost five year long struggle, with the Swedish Dental Association on one side and parts of the medical profession, dental technicians, even some dentists and a number of politicians on the other. The controversy ended up in the Swedish Parliament in 1924 where many members in both the chambers had signed motions concerning authorisation of dental technicians. The dentists won the fight thanks to the resolution in the Parliament not to authorise the technicians. But still more important, from a social political point of view, was a statement from the Parliament with a commission to the Government to analyse the prerequisites for building up a Public Dental Health Service organisation in Sweden. After a series of committees this was finally a reality fourteen years later, in 1938, when the Parliament in a resolution initiated "folktandvården".
Asunto(s)
Asistentes Dentales/historia , Técnicos Dentales/historia , Odontología , Historia del Siglo XX , SueciaRESUMEN
This description of the supply of dental services in the United States addresses the number, kind, distribution, and training of dentists and dental auxiliaries, and the organizational factors that affect the production of dental services. Beginning with a brief historical review, the paper gives a general overview of the different types of dental personnel including the dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant, and laboratory technician. The discussion of these categories of providers includes consideration of manpower planning as it has evolved over the past two decades, National manpower legislation is mentioned first as a reaction to the projected dentist shortage and then in response to the issues of geographic maldistribution and the effects of specialization. The second section of the paper discusses the dynamics of the dental care market. The distribution of the supply of services is identified and related to patterns of utilization and productivity. These factors are considered to be part of the set of dynamic relationships that help explain the current manpower problems of geographic and specialty maldistribution. A concluding section superficially discusses policy implications regarding the potential for increasing supply by: (1) increasing the number of dentists, (2) increasing the numbers and functions of auxiliaries, (3) increasing practice efficiency through group practice, and (4) reducing the restrictions that result from current state dental practice acts.