title: Early dentistry in Victoria, Australia.
abstract: At the time of settlement and in the years leading up to the establishment in 1884 of the Odontological Society of Victoria, dentistry was an unregulated activity practised simultaneously by those that had received the best apprenticeship training and those that had no training what-so-ever. Under the influence of dentists such as John Iliffe however, this situation was soon to change. In 1887 the first Dental Act was passed making it a legal requirement for anyone practicing dentistry to be registered. In 1890, the Melbourne Dental Hospital opened its doors to its first patients, and in 1897, the Australian College of Dentistry, later to become a school within the University of Melbourne, began teaching a dental course. Combined, these three moments in history lead to the eradication of the unscrupulous practitioner and laid the path for the development and professionalization of dentistry in the state of Victoria.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Atkinson
mesh_terms: D006665:History of Dentistry; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D012575:Schools, Dental / Q000266:history; D014739:Victoria