II

DENTAL SURGERY

It is not sufficiently well-known that dental surgery as a profession, opens up a practically unexplored and lucrative work for women.

The training in the British Isles can be carried out in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dublin, each of these cities granting their Licentiate of Dental Surgery.  In London, the National Dental Hospital, and the London School of Medicine for Women (Royal Free Hospital) have special facilities for women students, including special bursaries and scholarships, while dental and medical studies can be carried on concurrently.  The course of study includes the passing of a Professional Preliminary Examination or Matriculation, followed by two years’ mechanical work, and two years’ hospital practice.  The student can be articled to a qualified dental practitioner for mechanics, or can obtain tuition at the Dental Hospital.  This branch includes the preparation of models, vulcanite and metal dentures, crowns, and bridges, etc.

The Dental Hospital course for two years includes lectures on Physics and Chemistry, Dental Anatomy and Surgery, Metallurgy and Materia Medica.  At the same time practical work is done—­extractions, fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures, and the regulation of children’s teeth.  At the medical school and hospital, lectures on Anatomy, Physiology, Surgery, and Medicine must be attended, and dissections on the human body, and clinics in the ward must be completed.  At the end of each year examinations in the subjects are taken, the whole course covering a minimum time of four years.  The qualification of the Licentiate of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England is now open to women.  The composite fee for training extending over four years, is about L200, but an additional sum of at least L100 is required for incidental expenses.  Should the woman student desire to confine herself to dental mechanics this would materially lessen the expense.  The average wage for a good male mechanic is L120 per annum.  Hospitals can be joined at the age of nineteen, and it is advisable to begin study soon after leaving school or college.

If it is possible, a woman should obtain a medical qualification as well as the L.D.S.  Much of the work can be taken at the same time as the dental course.  A medical degree enlarges a dentist’s sphere of usefulness and interest and adds to her locus standi:  on the other hand, it necessitates two or three years’ extra study, and the fees are increased by several hundred pounds.

The woman dentist will probably find it necessary to start practice on her own account as soon as she is qualified, as it is not likely she will be able to obtain an assistantship with men practitioners, but there are an increasing number of posts open to women, such as dental surgeon to school clinics or to factories.  These posts offer the same salaries to men and women.  Smaller part-time appointments, with an honorarium attached, can be obtained, and are especially useful to the newly qualified practitioner who is building up a practice.