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Sir, the recent content on dentistry in the 1950s and 1960s prompted me to look back through my old day books [I am now retired]. I opened a new dental practice in Aylesbury in 1957 and the average mouth in those days would be a shock to any young dentist today. Those were the days of bad diet, not much proper mouth hygiene and no fluoride in toothpaste or added to drinking water.
So we come to Thursday 9 July 1959 when from 9.00 am to 5.30 pm I completed: five check-ups, five sets of dental impressions, one set of orthodontic impressions, 22 amalgam fillings, two white silicate fillings, one emergency extraction and fitted a pair of refined dentures. In all I had seen 25 patients. At 5.30 my anaesthetist Mr McGregor, another dental surgeon from Buckingham, arrived whose knowledge was the same as mine (as learnt as undergraduates). That evening we went on to give general anaesthesia and perform surgery on 19 patients, finishing about 8.30. We then retired to a nearby pub for a few pints and cigarettes (it was 1959). Then home after an hour exhausted and hungry.
So on this one day I had seen 44 patients including a long anaesthetic clinic at the end of the day. I don't believe I was ever slapdash but we certainly worked quickly back then. Modern dentistry has changed enormously, and for the better.
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Smart, D. Dentistry – as was. Br Dent J 223, 620 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.935
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2017.935