DENTAL EDUCATION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 26, 24 September 1912, Page 6

DENTAL EDUCATION.

"Unless we can bring the importance of this matter (the way to'care propci ly for t'i:o\teeth, and the true significance of the value of healthy molars) under the attention of the general public, wc will not have been accomplishing our own full functions as members of this profession," said l)r Qi N. Johnson, a. Chicago dental specialist, to an Auckland Star representative. He added that lie did not know what was done in this direction in New Zealand, but he instanced what the proper authorities in Illinois (United States) were doing. The Illinois State Dental Society has a membership of 2000. The society inaugurated a campaign to educate the public, and* this campaign was'carried on in several ways. One method was to have articles published in the press stressing the importance of the care of the teeth. Tliis was done under the direction of a committee sup?einlly set up for the. purpose. /That committee compared articles of interest to the general public along the lines indicated, and these were distributed to all the leading newspapers of the State. No names (of dentists) were attached, so there could be no allegation of the scheme being an advertising dodge. The movement, 111©, added, had now spread to the Dental Association of the United States, and it was hoped that soon articles would be appearing in all the leading American newspapers. This co-operation of the press was one of the most significant factors in bringing the matter to the attention of the people. There was no better means of effectively informing the public than through the press, which undoubtedly helped to mould public opinion. Pamphlets on the care of the teeth, were sold to .members of the society in Illinois at cost price, and members distributed these pamphlets gratis to the public at large. Public lectures, toe, were organised throughout the State. These wvvv usually givsn by professionals not resident in the particular locality.