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Franz Alfred (1880-1962) and Georg Frederich (1921-2010) Kantorowicz

British Dental Journal volume 236, pages 483–486 (2024)Cite this article

Abstract

George Kantorowicz was a senior lecturer/consultant in conservative dentistry at the Royal Dental Hospital who provided ground-breaking treatment for cleft palate children at Great Ormond Street Hospital. His father, Alfred, was a Jewish professor, dean at Bonn Dental School and a world-famous advocate of mobile dental surgeries and prevention for children's dental health, until the Nazis put him in a concentration camp. After important interventions, he became director of Istanbul Dental Institute.

Key points

  • Mobile dental surgeries for school children were introduced in Germany long before most other countries thought about them.

  • We are reminded that, however renowned a person was, even dean of a dental school, they were not safe from the Nazis.

  • As always, it was a help to have an influential friend or contact to perhaps save one's life.

  • Unusually, we learn of crown and bridge skills being used to care for children with cleft palates.

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References

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  2. Wikipedia. Privatdozent. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privatdozent (accessed March 2023).

  3. Loevy H T, Kowitz A A. Alfred Kantorowicz, pediatric dentistry innovator. ASDC J Dent Child 1993; 60: 263-269.

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  5. The Gazette. Mentioned in Despatches (MiD). Available at https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/100059 (accessed April 2023).

  6. British Dental Journal. Obituary: George Frederick Kantorowicz. Br Dent J 2011; 210: 193.

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  8. Kantorowicz G F. Role of the restorative dentist in the management of cleft palate patients: discussion paper. J R Soc Med 1990; 83: 29.

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  11. Kantorowicz G F. The place of fixed bridgework in cleft palate patients. Br J Orthod 1973; 1: 27-30.

  12. Kantorowicz G F. Orthodontic treatment planning for bridgework for cleft palate patients. Trans Eur Orthod Soc 1973; 582-586.

  13. Kantorowicz G F. Bridges: an analysis of failures. Dent Pract Dent Rec 1968; 18: 176-178.

  14. Kantorowicz G F. The repair and removal of bridges. Dent Pract Dent Rec 1971; 21: 341-346.

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  17. Kantorowicz G F. [A clinical-roentgenological study of the dental pulp of the first lower molars; preliminary report]. Dtsch Zahnarztl Z 1955; 10: 884-886.

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Acknowledgements

Hilda Kantorowicz kindly filled in some gaps in George's story. Graham Kantorowicz helpfully commented on an earlier draft and provided the photographs from the family album. Helen Nield, Head of BDA Library and Knowledge Services, and Peter Folly, Library Manager sourced valuable information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Honorary Professor and Head of the Unit for the History of Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, King´s College London, Guy´s Hospital, Tooley Street, London, SE1 1UL, UK

    Stanley Gelbier

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  1. Stanley Gelbier
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Correspondence to Stanley Gelbier.

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Gelbier, S. Franz Alfred (1880-1962) and Georg Frederich (1921-2010) Kantorowicz. Br Dent J 236, 483–486 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-024-7174-5

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