Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/14584
Title: A trilogy in the history of Maltese dentistry
Authors: Cassar, Paul
Keywords: Dentistry -- Malta -- History
Dentistry -- Practice -- Malta
Issue Date: 1971
Publisher: The St. Luke`s Hospital Gazette
Citation: Cassar, P. (1971). A trilogy in the history of Maltese dentistry. The St. Luke`s Hospital Gazette, 6(2), 116-125.
Abstract: This lecture was delivered on the 29th July 1971 at the Opening Session of the XVIII Annual Congress of the International Association of Dental Students held at the Royal University of Malta. One of the remarkable features of the history of Maltese Dentistry is the rapid progress that the profession has made within the very short span of its existence as a scientific discipline.The author focuses on three main signposts on the road of its evolution; the phase of tradition, the stage of empiricism and the climax of specialisation. Teething does not appear as a cause of infant deaths in official statistics in Malta at the beginning of the 20th century but Maltese medical practitioners still blamed it for various ailments among infants. Reference is made to the first dental practitioners of the eighteenth century who almost all of them bear Italian surnames. In April 1839 we hear for the first time of dentures being fitted with springs in Malta. The University remained a mere examining body in the field of dentistry until 1921 when measures were taken to establish a course of studies for the Diploma of Dental Surgeon. It was officially known as the Special Course of Dental Surgery and formed part of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/14584
Appears in Collections:TSLHG, Volume 6, Issue 2
TSLHG, Volume 6, Issue 2

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
A trilogy in the history of Maltese Dentistry.pdfPublished for the Consultant Staff Committee, St. Luke`s Hospital, Malta and the Medical and Dental Surgery Faculties of the Royal University of Malta.742 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in OAR@UM are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.