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The history of the British Dental Association Benevolent Fund: the beginnings - Part 1

Abstract

The British Dental Association Benevolent Fund is a charity which exists to support all dentists, dental students and their dependents in times of hardship. For the past 140 years, the Fund has provided financial, educational and personal support to thousands of struggling members of the profession and their families. Its history is tied firmly to the development of dentistry as a profession, with the introduction of registration of dentists and with the creation of the British Dental Association. Those who had the vision for an association of dentists also saw it as an opportunity - perhaps a necessity - for a community of professional people to support each other in times of need. This paper describes the years before the foundation of the Fund in 1883, along with the attendant dental politics and the social environment into which it was born, as well as the very early years of the Fund itself. It is the first of four papers describing the history of the Fund, those who gave their time to manage it and those to whom it gave help.

Key points

  • The British Dental Association Benevolent Fund was founded in 1883 and the charity continues to this day to support any member of the profession or their dependents who are in need.

  • The early recipients of help tended to be widows and orphans of dentists and an example family is described.

  • The early movers and shakers of the charity were men prominent in the profession at the time, such as Sir John Tomes, and Sir Edwin Saunders, Queen Victoria's dentist.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge with thanks the help and support of Helen Nield (of the BDA Library), Rachel Bairsto (of the BDA Museum) and Laura Hannon (Chief Executive of the Charity), the Vice-Presidents and former staff of the BDA Benevolent Fund in the preparation of this paper.

A note on currency - money is described in pre-decimalisation pounds, shillings and pence: £5 pounds 10 shillings and sixpence is written £5/10/6; there were 20 shillings to the pound and 12 pence to the shilling; 1 guinea was worth £1/1/0; and £1 in 1880 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £153 today.

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Paul Hellyer researched and drafted the paper. John Ulahannan edited and checked the manuscript. The final version was agreed by both authors.

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Correspondence to Paul Hellyer.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Hellyer, P., Ulahannan, J. The history of the British Dental Association Benevolent Fund: the beginnings - Part 1. Br Dent J 235, 741–744 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-6443-z

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