Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the mouth, most commonly focused on dentition as well as the oral mucosa. Dentistry may also encompass other aspects of the craniofacial complex including the temporomandibular joint. The practitioner is called a dentist.
The British Dental Association (BDA) is a registered trade union for dentists in the United Kingdom.
A number of professional degrees in dentistry are offered by dental schools in various countries around the world.
Ian Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn, commonly known as Anthony Hamilton-Smith, is a British peer and former politician. He was one of 90 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the House of Lords Act 1999, sitting as a Conservative. He retired from the House of Lords on 21 July 2022.
Sir Ian Derek Gainsford is a British retired dentist and academic. He was dean of King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, King's College London (1988–1997) and vice-principal of King's College London (1994–1997). He is president of the Maccabaeans, a Zionist society.
John Miller Hyson, Jr. was the former curator, director of curatorial services, and director of archives and history at the National Museum of Dentistry, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution located in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also the author of many articles and books on the history of dentistry and was a practicing dentist for nearly 50 years.
Sir James Frank Colyer KBE FRCS FDSRCS Eng was a British dental surgeon and dental historian.
Lilian Lindsay, CBE, FSA was a dentist, dental historian, librarian and author who became the first qualified female dentist in Britain and the first female president of the British Dental Association.
Sir Nairn Hutchison Fulton Wilson is the Honorary Professor of Dentistry, former Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Dean and Head of King's College London Dental Institute from 2001 until 2012 and Deputy Vice Principal (health) between 2009 and 2012.
Charles Edward Wallis, otherwise known as the 'father' of the London School Dental Service, was a physician and dental surgeon in London in the early 20th century. As one of the first assistant medical officers to London County Council, his research led to the establishment of a school dental treatment service and an improvement in child welfare.
The Lindsay Society is a British dental history open to anyone interested in the subject, including non-dentists. It has close links with the British Dental Association dedicated to the study of the history of dentistry.
James Neil Swallow was a pioneering British dentist who developed treatments for adults and children with mental and physical disabilities. He co-authored a standard textbook on children's dentistry. In 1964, Swallow became senior lecturer in children's dentistry at the Cardiff Dental School. This was followed in 1975 by his appointment as professor of paediatric dentistry at the University of Amsterdam, and then as professor of restorative dentistry at Belfast Dental School in 1978.
John Walford McLean was a British dentist and dental historian. He was known, in the words of the British Dental Journal, for his "groundbreaking developments in high strength dental ceramics and, in particular, to the introduction of glass-ionomer cements, not to forget his seminal work on the bonding of resins to remaining tooth tissues." He was elected President of the British Society of Restorative Dentistry in 1973 and president of the British Dental Association in 1984, and received the John Tomes Prize for research and the American Prosthodontic Society's Golden Medallion.
John Saville Zamet FDS was a periodontist in the United Kingdom. He established the first exclusively periodontal practice in London in 1966.
Andrew Howard Eric Eder is foundation dean and emeritus professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Buckingham Dental Institute and honorary consultant in restorative dentistry at Milton Keynes University Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust. He is also Emeritus Professor of Restorative Dentistry and Dental Education at the UCL Eastman Dental Institute.
Stephen James Challacombe FRC(Path), FDSRCS, FMedSci, is professor of oral medicine at King's College in London, best known for research in oromucosal immunology and for developing the Challacombe scale for measuring the extent of dryness of the mouth. He led the team that laid out research challenges of global health inequalities and oral health, particularly relating to the oral manifestations of HIV.
Sir Francis Mark Farmer was a dental surgeon and lecturer on dental surgery and pathology at the London Hospital. He made contributions on facial restoration after gunshot wounds.
Frederick Newland-Pedley was a British physician and dentist known for his contribution to the fields of military dentistry and dental education.
The Royal Dental Hospital was a dental hospital in Leicester Square, London, which operated from 1858 until 1985. In 1859, it opened the London School of Dental Surgery, later renamed to the Royal Dental Hospital of London School of Dental Surgery, which was the first dental school in Britain.
The Odontological Society of Great Britain was a learned society formed in 1863 by the merger of the Odontological Society of London and the College of Dentists of England, both of which had been founded within a day of each other in 1856. In 1907 it joined the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society and other specialist medical societies to form the Royal Society of Medicine.
