BUSINESS LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14730, 12 July 1911, Page 10

BUSINESS LIFE.

THE WOMAN DENTIST.

"The woman dentist is hardly as common in England as .-die is in Germany, Kussia, and Holland. Thus at Tho Hague two ladies monopolise tho two most .fashionable practices, one of them being dentist to Queen Wilhelmina herself. In England there are' now between 40 and 50 registered women dentists, of whom perhaps a dozen have" taken diplomas, though tho profession is in truth an ancient on© for the sex, and tho 'advertisement of a woman dentist appears in a newspaper published in the reign of Queen Anne. Clear details on tho subject wore difficult to 'obtain "until tho passing of the Dentists' Registration Act, when a number of women who had previously been assisting their male relatives (husbands, fathers and brothers) proceeded to register themselves, for most of those engaged in this calling may bo said to have " dentistry in the family.'' Tho young girl, eager for a career, declares she does not care to be a dentist because " nobody will want to come and see me." But dentists may console themselves by reflecting that it is still more disagreeable to stay away. ■ The training of tho modern dentist is strenuous and scientific, calculated to havo produced terror and fury in tho breast of the practitioner of long ago, who usually got his experience at the expense of his patients. It takes five years' hard work before a dentist is considered qualified. To receive a diploma from the Royal College of Surgeons he must have had a specified amount of practical experience in a hospital and have passed certain examinations. Tho woman student probably serves her first year with a registered dentist, from whom sho receives instruction in tho mechanical part of the profession only. She next registers as a student with the General Medical Council, after passing the necessary examination in arts. If she wishes to study in the metropolis sho enters a the National Dentist Hospital and College in Great Portland-street, the only hospital in London which admits women dental students, and takes her medical course at the London School of Medicine for women connected with the Royal Free Hospital.

Hospital Training. At the National Dental Hospital, wearing a white linen overall, she undergoes a training identical with that 01 the men. Thirty thousand people are treated in the hospital during the year. Naturally work is carried on at high pressure. The insistent tinklo of a bell summons one patient after another, and the student takes hor turn in the mechanical, the stopping, the extraction, room, etc., boing allowed to operate at the end of two months under the direction of the surgeons. One of the officials remarked that he had seen a little women take out a tooth that a man could not "shift." Also the story is told of a lady student who removed 16 teeth in less than a minute with five different pairs of forceps, the eminent surgeon who, unknown to her. was watching her, declaring he had never seen the operation more skilfully performed, a proof that extraction requires knack rather than physical force. It is a satisfaction to learn that the novice first stops teeth in a dummy mouth before trying her hand on those of a " sentient human being., Likewise she serves her time as dresser under experienced operators in the various rooms. The authorities consider that women make most satisfactory and painstaking workers, while their influence has been good and their presence has had an elevating effect on the students generally. The Prospects. Women dentists have been very successful in obtaining appointments at public institutions and sanatoriums, ana in the future, should visiting dentists be engaged for the County Council schools, it seems probable women will stand a fair chance of being chosen in many instances. ' Such an innovation, of enormous benefit to the rising generation, would cost the country, it is estimated, half-a-crown a, child. Altogether the woman dentist has apparently come to stay. At present she does best when she starts a practice of her own immediately at the conclusion of her training, as, should she be engaged as assistant to another dentist, his patients are apt to say he has" got her services " cheap" .because she ia a- woman-