title: Ethics--the early division of oral health care responsibilities by Act of Parliament.
abstract: The question of how the profession of dentistry became what it is today, an independent and vigorous one, is an absorbing study. In this analysis of the legislation of the mid-sixteenth century and its effect on modern oral health care delivery, two Acts in particular are notable for their importance in the development of the self-determining practise of dentistry as we now enjoy it in the United Kingdom. The first of these is the 1540 Act uniting the Barbers' and Surgeons' Companies, and the second is one dating from two years later; 'A Bill that Persons, being no common Surgeons, may minister Medicines, notwithstanding the Statute.' Apart from a brief period of 35 years extending from the Dentists Act of 1921 to the Dentists Act of 1956, when the Dental Board of the United Kingdom (which after 1956 became the General Dental Council), was subject to the over-riding control of the General Medical Council, the delivery of oral health care in England has enjoyed an independence which is here identified as having its origin in these Acts 450 years ago in the reign of Henry VIII.
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Services Research and the Schools of Dental Nursing, Guy's King's and St Thomas' Dental Institute, London.
authors.forename: M G H
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gelbier
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gibbons
mesh_terms: D003729:Dental Care / Q000266:history; D006665:History of Dentistry; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007879:Legislation, Dental / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom