Dental Public Health and the Institutionalisation of a Science: R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital, Calcutta, C.1920s–1950s

Oral Health was comparatively an uncharted domain in India in the late eighteenth century but before long dental health was deemed to be an integral part of medical science. The mouth, tongue, teeth, jaws and its shape, the art of dentistry, diagnosis of disease and its treatment are an essential part of dental science. Although in common perception dentistry is limited to the teeth in actuality it incorporates the shape of the mouth, jaws, face and forehead. It traces its origin to the term dontology. The shape of the teeth, gradual development and persistence of abnormalities comprises the crux of the matter of dontology. Similarities in subject matter have prompted the use of the two terms ‘oral health’ and ‘dental health’ interchangeably. ‘Scientific dentistry’ was introduced in India in the 19th century by the British and modern dental care and the study of this discipline were initiated a hundred years ago. Biomedical or modern medicine was initiated in India for East India Company’s employees and later on for officials of various British administrations. Medical officers were trained and mostly British doctors from the United Kingdom were catered to the treatment of the army medical corps. The medical doctors expanded their private practice to public and in the middle of the 19th century the British Government established the medical colleges in India to train South Asian doctors, who could supplement the practice of British physicians. Hospitals and dispensaries (clinics) were built in the districts and in towns. Dental care was restricted to the extraction of teeth at such hospitals by medical men/doctor and assistant. In spite of this for long dentistry predominantly remained in the hands of the unqualified. The year 1920 is a milestone in the history of dental care and public health with the establishment of the first dental college in Calcutta. Significantly, this perspective found expression in the endeavours of Dr Rafiuddin Ahmed and the institute he established in Calcutta (India) in 1920, eventually came to be known as the R. Ahmed Dental Medical College and Hospital. Dr. Ahmed advocated the American model of dentistry in lieu of his training rather than the British model which honed its thrust on the study of basic medical subjects. The duration of the medical course was two years but through the years it witnessed many transitions which would comprise the crux of the essay. The establishment of an institute was instrumental in the development of this branch of medical science. The college was affiliated with the State Medical Facility in 1936 and with the University of Calcutta in 1949. In the same year, he donated his college to the West Bengal government and it was christened as Calcutta Dental College and served as its principal from 1920 to 1950.