Early developments

November 2002 saw the 50th anniversary of the founding of the London Study Group in Children’s Dentistry. It evolved and merged with a number of others to form the British Paedodontic Society, which in turn became the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. Interspersed was encouragement to developments on the international scene. Much is owed to the early visionaries who established study groups throughout the country. Stimulated by developments in America Peter James, Leonard Morey and Scott Page joined forces to establish the London group with particular support from Sam Harris in the USA to form a society based on the American model. In 1952 they agreed to establish an embryonic society. Max Horsnall, Dental Dean and Head of Children’s Dentistry at the London, joined them and provided facilities for their meetings. He chaired the group for three years. A constitution which Harris sent round the world for similar groups was discussed but they established an informal study group rather than a formal society:

As the original concept of an informal gathering of enthusiasts had been outgrown, in 1958 the group was succeeded by the London Society for the Study of Dentistry for Children. Members learned that similar groups were being formed in Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and other places. Horsnall hoped that all would eventually combine as a national society. They agreed a constitution for an extended Society. To stimulate dentists elsewhere to form local societies their title included the word ‘London’. Their constitution stated that officers of similar societies could be invited to committee meetings. To maintain an intimate group who could easily share experiences, membership was limited to 50 people. Page was the first Chairman. As Horsnall was leaving to become Dean of an Australian school the Society made him its first Honorary Life Member. Lecturers were soon invited from abroad, particularly from Scandinavia and America.

In 1962 the new name of British Paedodontic Society was agreed, as was the change from Chairman to President. James was the first postholder. The title of BPS was later assumed by the nation-wide Society, with the London members forming the South East Group. In October, the London-based BPS held its first Annual Dinner. Rear Admiral Holgate, Chief Dental Officer at the Ministry of Health, was the chief guest. In October 1963 membership was opened to all members of the dental and allied professions. Applications came from Guernsey, Malta and Melbourne, as well as the UK.

Not all developments were in London. In the early 1950’s Leslie Hardwick visited Scandinavia and was influenced by Guttorm Toverud of Oslo. Together with Geoffrey Slack at the London and other enthusiasts, in 1955 they formed the Anglo-Scandinavian Society of Teachers of Children’s Dentistry. It met bi-annually until 1965, playing an important role in raising the standards of teaching. Concerned about disease in children, Hardwick gave ten lectures a year at Birmingham Dental Hospital on children’s and preventive dentistry. Realising that most treatment should be within the capabilities of GDPs and school dentists from 1950 Hardwick gave monthly lectures on Saturday mornings to expectant mothers and local authority staff. In 1959 Hardwick joined with public dental officers, academics, hospital colleagues and general practitioners to form the Midland Society for the Study of Children’s Dentistry [later to become the Midlands Group of the BPS]. Hardwick was its first Chairman. From the start the Society was nationally minded, inviting speakers from other parts of the country. Within a year it attracted members from as far as Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Sheffield. In 1967 the Society allowed dental auxiliaries (re-named therapists) to become associate members.

The international scene

From the beginning the London Society, in particular, demonstrated international leanings. In 1962 Ralph MacDonald of Indiana and President of the American Society of Dentistry for Children was the first American to give a lecture. After a short address on the ASDC there was discussion about affiliation but it was agreed to follow a path of 'friendly communications'. In 1966 Geoffrey Slack, Dean of Dental Studies and Professor of Child Dental Health at the London, became President of the BPS. His Senior Lecturer, Denis Berman was Secretary and Donald Norman, Chief Dental Officer of Hounslow and visiting Lecturer was Treasurer. This influential group strove to raise the status of the BPS nationally and internationally. Professor Guttorm Toverud of Oslo and Miss Eleanor Knowles of the Ministry of Health were made honorary members. Slack and his colleagues organised the first International Symposium on Child Dental Health at the London in April 1967, attended by 200 people from the USA, Canada, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Holland, France, Italy, Ireland, Hungary Switzerland and the UK. Sergio Fiorentini, of the Societa Italiana di Odontoiatria Infantile wrote to Berman and Slack that following talks at the London symposium he and his colleagues had discussed the possibility of organising a meeting in Sienna, in 1969. Since then international meetings have continued at two-yearly intervals, organised by national societies in association with the international association.

In 1967 Arvid Syrrist wrote to Berman from Sweden. He had recently returned from an ASDC meeting. The Americans and the Nordic Pedodontic Society had encouraged him to take forward the idea of an international organisation. He wanted to know from Berman and Slack if the British would be interested as he felt it would be difficult to proceed without their support. Berman wrote to his members that many people wanted an international organisation to arise from the International symposium but first it was essential to have a British nation-wide society. An important development was when Philip Holloway of Manchester Dental School became President- elect in October 1967. Having previously worked at the London, he remained a leading member of the BPS. In Manchester, he worked under Hardwick, then Professor of Preventive Dentistry and an enthusiast for a children's society. Holloway encouraged the London society to attract members and speakers from outside London and to arrange one provincial meeting away from the capital city. Letters were sent to known ‘activists’ around the country, including Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Belfast asking them to consider amalgamation with the BPS. Holloway wrote that increasing international activity meant that invitations arrived for British representatives to participate. It was thus urgent to establish a national society. He suggested there would be a national BPS with autonomous branches throughout the country which people would join, each with its own programme; but they could attend meetings of the other groups. Representatives from these branches would form a national Council representative of children’s dentists throughout the UK.

Syrrist invited support at a meeting in London to take forward the idea of an international organisation so the pressure was on. There were delegates from Scandinavia, UK, USA, France and Italy. In 1968, advantage was taken of a meeting of the Anglo-Scandinavian Teachers of Children’s Dentistry in Aviemore, Scotland, to discuss a draft constitution for the national society. Modifications were suggested by Holloway to assure people from outside London they would not be swamped by the Londoners.

On 24 September the London BPS agreed merger with other groups in existence or about to be formed to establish a new national Society. Representatives of the following groups were invited as guests at the London dinner on 29 October 1968: Midland Society for the Study of Children’s Dentistry (which formed the Midlands Group of the BPS), North West Children’s Dentistry Society (which became the North West Group), South Wales and Monmouthshire Group, South West Group, East of Scotland’s Children’s Dentistry Study Group (which became the East of Scotland Group). The main guests of honour were Lady Mellanby and Professor Hardwick. Immediately before the President's address the Council of the new Society was confirmed: President, Holloway; President-elect, Foster; Secretary, Norman; Treasurer, Heffer; and a representatives from each group not represented by an officers. The new nation-wide BPS was born. It later became the British Society for Paediatric Dentsitry.

In 1968, Syrrist met in London with colleagues from a number of countries, including the USA, UK, Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. A steering committee for an International Forum on Children's Dentistry was appointed to report back in Sienna. 500 dental research workers, teachers and practitioners from 65 countries attended the 1999 Sienna Symposium on Children's Dentistry. The Council of the International Forum under the Presidency of Syrrist agreed to re-name the Forum as the International Association of Dentistry for Children with Syrrist as President and Berman as Secretary

Communication with members

In May 1965, the Midlands Society for the Study of Children’s Dentistry decided to publish a Proceedings, to feature papers read at its meetings. The first issue was published in 1967. In 1962 the committee of the London Society for the Study of Children’s Dentistry set up a small group to consider a publication but it took time to materialise. In August 1967, Holloway told colleagues of the excellent Midland’s Proceedings and wondered if the BPS might consider something similar. The idea was supported at the embryonic national meeting of the BPS in October 1968. As the need for communication with members was realised, an annual publication was recommended to contain all suitable papers presented to each of the constituent groups together with edited discussion. In 1969 the BPS published its Handbook 1969-1970. By 1971 it decided to publish an annual Proceedings, with Reg Andlaw as Editor. The aim was to publish papers presented at the national meeting plus some from group meetings. It would also include details of the BPS and its constituent groups. In 1985 the Proceedings was replaced by a bi-annual Journal of Paediatric Dentistry. Andlaw indicated his intention to publish papers from outside the UK as well as from within and the first Editorial Board included foreign as well as British dentists. In 1991, the Journal merged with the Journal of the International Association of Dentistry for Children to form the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry

Some other national activities

In 1971, the Society’s representatives were invited to the Department of Health and Social Security to discuss concern about the poor standards of child dental health throughout the UK. They recommended the need for a national survey of children's teeth and for data to be collected centrally, as was done for adult dental health in England and Wales in 1968.

BPS offered assistance to the Joint Committee for Higher Training in Dentistry to establish a formal training pathway for people wishing to specialise in children’s dentistry. Hardwick and Winter (the first UK Consultant in Children's Dentistry) were invited as observers on the Specialist Advisory Committee in Orthodontics in 1971. They soon made their mark to the advantage of children's dentistry. The SAC was later re-named SAC in Orthodontics and Children's Dentistry and Senior Registrar training programmes were developed. Winter became its vice-Chairman in 1978. Today, the BPS can be proud that what it started then, led eventually to the establishment by the General Dental Council of a Specialist List in Paediatric Dentistry.