DENTISTRY UNDER FIRE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16217, 21 May 1918, Page 2

DENTISTRY UNDER FIRE.

WORK vJi? 1 XEW ZEALAND

DEXTAL CO ItPS

A SPLENDID RECORD

(From Malcolm Ross, Official Correspondent with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.) NORTHERN FRANCE, March 13. 3 remember in the days that now seem far away watching tho shelling of tho tented, hospital near the beach at the No. 2 Outpost by a Turkish battery on the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the side of the low ridge that fronted tho bluo iEgcan a man was standing, taking snapshots at the bursting shells with a small hand camera. 1 found he was an officer of the New Zealand Dental Corps, conncctod with the Dental Hospital that had been established in a couolo of dug-outs within easy rifle range of the enemy trenches. Vi'hilo ho was photographing, earth and timber and otiier tilings were flying about. , "That almost got you," remarked a man who was standing near. Intent oil his picture-making, the dentist did not noticc what "it" was. It was a projectile of a rather gruesomo description. ' Before this time tho New Zealana dentists had already dono a good deal of work under fire. Two of their number had landed with the iorce in April, having with them only their forceps. Later, up-to-date appliances were procured and the scope of the i work «'ar extended. The first dental ! chair was made by an Australian noncom. It was a rude enough bit ol furniture, hut it. had an adjustable wooden head-rest, and was M ultc a success. Material for the iirst surgery was begged, borrowed, or stolen, and threo Turkish prisoners helped to build it. The day it was opened thero were forty patients. That was on Sunday, June 14th, 1915, and the "surgerv:' was quite close to the Turkish lines. The shells from "Startling Annie" on the north and from "Uoachv Bill" on the south came Hying past, and at times tho shrapnel burst overhead, sending pellets through the blanket roof. After that timber and iron—which from start to finish wore at a premium on the Peninsula —were sent along to replace tho blanket, and the operators worked iu less fear of the overhead bursts. Looking back on that shelling now, ono realises how much less deadly it was than tho shelling on tho Western front, vet, in those days, wo thought it sufficiently destructive. _ It was in August, 1915, that the New Zen landers started, at Cape Holies, the first dental hospital known in British warfare. It was established in a marquee on tho cliffs above the Lancashire landing, by an officer who is still with us in Franco. There were two operators, and six mechanics, the latter drawn from men in tho famous 29th Division, several of them with degrees, but who were drawing only a shilling a, day. Latin- in tho year the second dental hospital was established at No. 2 Outpost, near the beach, and below the frowning heights of Sarai Bail*. . During tho last days of the historic adventure it had to bo somewhat hurriedly evacuated. But beforo the Main Expeditionary Force had sailed two demists had embarked with the Force that went to Samoa on August 11th, 1914. Ten dentists landed with the Force in Egypt on December 3rd, 1914. At first the dental officers woro attached to the Medical Corps, but subsequently a New Zealand Dental Corps was formed. This was in November, 1915. From tho very commencement the New Zealand dentists with our Forces have done splendid work, and at the present moment they aro working harder than ever. There can be no doubt whatever that in this war the dentists have come into their own, and New Zealand will always be ablo to look back with some prido to the fact that she was, the pioneer of the movement. It has already been published in England that the teeth of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that landed, at the same time as wo did on the Peninsula were often in an unsatisfactory condition. Indeed, the position was considered so serious that the British Surgeon-General approached the G-O.C. of the New Zealand Forces for a loan of several of its dental officers, which loan was readily granted. The Australians, also, wero without dentists, and in their case, again, New Zealand supplied tho want. AVe exchanged dentists for nurses, our officers working with the English and_ Australian troops till the end of 1915. Sinco then there has been a general advance in Army dentistry, and the English, as well as tho Australians and Canadians, have well-equipped dental corps, but New Zealand still leads, inasmuch as it is the only country along the entire Allied front that has a dental hospital in tho field, or, in other words, in the divisional area. Tho Germans, with their usual thoroughness, have their dental surgeons close up. So far as New Zealand is concerned, I there is what may bo termed a complete dental chain. To begin with, there is provision for dental treatment in the training camps in the Dominion. On arrival in the United Kingdom they arc again examined by the Dental Corps at the Reserve Camp, and if necessary they receive further treatment until they can be certified fit to proceed to Franco. At the base depot in France there is another dental section, while with the division in the field there is a fully-equipped dental hospital. Beyond this, in the forward area, there is further provision for dental treatment. An immense amount of work is done by our Dental Corps in the United Kingdom. AYherever our troops are gathered together in considerable numbers there our dentists will be found. Even Egypt is not neglected, for there one officer and an orderly, with a light surgical equipment, accompany the mobile scction of tho Mounted Field Ambulance, all extensive work and prosthetic cases beinir sent back to the New Zealand Base Training Unit and Depot, where there are one officer and three mechanics and an orderly. The main difficulty in connexion with a dental hospital in the field is tho ques- ■* tion of transport. Ono week tho hospital may be housed under canvas. At another time it _ may be in a shell-bat-tered building in the evacuated zone. You may even find our dentists operat- | ing in what had been, in time of peace, • a dairy. At the entrance to every clinic a prophylactic bench is installed, and all ranks parading for examination and treatment must eleanse tho mouth thoroughly. In a half-destroyed vil- j lage well within range of the German 1 batteries one has noted with interest

the men lining up at the prophylactic bench, the waiting room full, and a quelle of fifty or sixty men outside. The strain on the teeth in war is naturally much more severe than in peace. The teeth of men making a prolonged stay in the line are tried by the hard food.

Everyone has heard of trench foot, one of the ailments of the war that the medical scrvico has had to cope with, but how many people have heard of trench mouth • Yet we have trench mouth just as we have trench feet. Otherwise known as Ulccro-merabran-ous Stomatitis, or Vincent's Disease, it has. for some considerable time now, engaged the attention of both the medical and dental services. The result of a bacillus that causes ulceration and bleeding of the gums, it occurs on the German as well as on our side of the war zone. It is not confined to men who liavo been in the trenches, but has affected also men in barracks who have never seen a trench, and is a disease apt to bring other disorders in its train. A satisfactory method of treatment h;vs been discovered —the painting of the gums with salvarsan or an arsenical solution—and a cure is generally effected within two or three weeks' time.

A few figures regarding the work of our Dental Corps will prove interesting and instructive. The total number of extractions reached the large total of 57.257, tho number of fillings 73,066, root fillings 8324. minor operations 23,614, dentures 21,565, repairs 15,212, The number of patients treated reached a total of 114,677. This covers a period from September. 1914, to the end of January of the present year. The. figures do not includo tho work done bv a number of dentists lent to the British and Australian forcos on Gallipoli and in Egypt for about eight months.