King's College Hospital Dental School

The Beginnings

Dental surgery was practised at King's College Hospital from its inception in 1840, although the dental school opened years later - in 1923. The Hospital was fortunate in its appointment of some of the most illustrious dentists of the day, including the polymath, Thomas Bell, and the dental surgeons Samuel Cartwright, John Tomes and James Turner.

Cartwright (1815-1892) and Tomes (1815-1895), in particular, were key players in the organisation of the modern dental profession. Both were founding members of the first professional association, the Odontological Society, and lobbied successfully for statutory recognition of the profession, resulting in the passage of the Dentists' Act of 1879. They also sponsored the opening of a new Dental Hospital in Soho Square in 1858. Its dental school was the first such institution in Britain.

Charles Wallis, a former ship's surgeon and dental inspector at the London County Council was another luminary. His main interest was paediatric or children's dentistry and significantly he proposed the creation of a schools' dental service as early as 1905 and helped set up the first 'toothbrush clubs' to encourage juvenile dental hygiene.