Diamonds and dentists

June marks the Diamond Jubilee of Her Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second. During her reign she has seen many changes in dentistry.

The first and most important development in this time is the aspiration of the population in relation to oral health. In the 1950s almost half of adults would lose their teeth during their life. The National Health Service had come in to being in 1947 in the post-war era and the expectations of the public were relatively low. During her 60 year reign things have changed. The patterns of dental disease have changed and the science of dentistry has moved with it. Most children born today can expect to keep their teeth for life and the level of knowledge is such that there is now no excuse for the ravages of dental caries and periodontal disease to take effect. Perhaps a failure is that these diseases are still essentially socio-economic in their distribution.