Faculty of Dentistry
Consideration was first given in 1897 to the possibility of establishing a School of Dentistry when a provisional curriculum was drawn up by the Senate. However, in the absence of any law in New South Wales regulating the practice of dentistry, it was not considered appropriate to take any definite steps, and no action was taken until the passing of the Dentists Act in 1900.
The Dentists Act provided for the licensing of dental practitioners who presented evidence of their qualification to a Board created for the purpose by the Act. The Act recognised any qualification which might be awarded by The University of Sydney, and there was therefore no further reason for delay in establishing a dental school. In 1901 a Committee of the Senate was appointed to complete the arrangements for the opening of a dental school. A Department of Dental Studies was established, with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at its head. In March 1901 the Dental School opened, with seventeen students.
The Dental School offered a curriculum of three years leading to a Licence in Dentistry. The course consisted of basic science subjects such as chemistry, physics, anatomy and physiology; the medical subjects materia medica, pathology and surgery; and clinical dentistry.
A Board of Dental Studies was established, consisting of the Chancellor, the Deputy Chancellor and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine (Chairman), as well as the professors and lecturers in the subjects of the dental curriculum and the members of the honorary staff in the Dental Hospital. The first meeting of the Board was held on 12 February 1901. Professor Sir Thomas Anderson Stuart, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, worked tirelessly, first to establish the Dental School and then, following its inception, to promote its activities.
Initially it was proposed that dental students should obtain clinical training in the dental department of Sydney Hospital, but this was found to be impracticable. The University Dental Hospital was therefore established in 1901 for the purpose of providing dental care for persons unable to pay normal dental fees and also for the purpose of clinical instruction to dental students of the University.
The Hospital's business was carried out in a building at the corner of George and Bathurst Streets in the city opposite St Andrew's Cathedral. In 1900 a Dental Hospital of Sydney was also established by the NSW Government, to provide dental care for the poor. Subsequently the two hospitals were amalgamated by Act of Parliament in 1905, to form the United Dental Hospital of Sydney. The United Dental Hospital was established in a building on its present site in Chalmers Street, Surry Hills, Sydney.
In 1905 the Senate established the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery, and a curriculum of four years' duration was approved for this purpose. Special arrangements were made to permit students holding the Licence of Dentistry to be admitted to the degree after a year of further study. In 1906 the first candidates were admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery. There were thirteen candidates for the degree, including two women. The Board of Dental Studies continued to plan for the eventual development of a Faculty of Dentistry. In 1910 the board proposed that a degree of Doctor of Dental Science, similar to the degree of Doctor of Medicine, be established. The establishment of a Faculty of Dentistry was proposed by the Dean of Medicine , Professor A Stuart in 1911. [Refer to minutes of Professorial Board meetings of 22 May, 30 October and 1 November 1911] In 1920 the generosity of the McCaughey benefaction made possible the establishment of several new Faculties in the University, including a Faculty of Dentistry. The first meeting of the Faculty of Dentistry, at which seven members were present, was held on 8 July 1920, and Dr Fairfax Reading was elected first Dean.
The establishment of the Dental School and its later development as a Faculty owe much to the endeavours and the ability of Richard Fairfax Reading. Fairfax Reading, who held qualifications in medicine and dentistry from the Royal College of Surgeons in the United Kingdom, commenced practice as a dentist in Sydney in 1889 and, together with other dental colleagues and with Sir Thomas Anderson Stuart, had worked to create a dental school within the University. He became the first part-time Director of Dental Studies and subsequently full-time Director and then Professor of Dentistry. He was elected Dean of the Faculty at its first meeting on 8 July 1920 and held the position until his retirement in 1934. Fairfax Reading raised the standards of dentistry as a profession in New South Wales and firmly established dental undergraduate training in the University.
In the 1920s there was considerable concern in the Faculty about transferring the dental hospital to the main grounds of the University, preferably to be associated with the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Only an absence of funds prevented the Senate from adopting this proposal.
The degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery of The University of Sydney was recognised by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom for the purpose of registration in Great Britain and its colonies. In 1926 the Senate approved the introduction of the degree of Doctor of Dental Science, and in the following year the first degree was awarded. In 1934 Dr Alwyn James Arnott was appointed to the Chair of Dentistry following the retirement of Dr Fairfax Reading. Professor Arnott, who had previously been Superintendent of the United Dental Hospital, was elected Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, a position he held until his retirement in 1964.
In 1934 the Dentists Act was amended. The principal change was the abolition of the system of apprenticeship, which had allowed dentists to take apprentices or pupils in return for payment. The University of Sydney was now recognised as the only institution for training recognised dental practitioners in New South Wales.
The 1930s saw an increase of interest in dental research, and the NSW and Commonwealth Governments provided funds to the Faculty for this purpose. In 1936 the Faculty resolved to extend the curriculum of four years for the BDS degree into a fifth year. The degree became a full five-year course in the 1960s following a visit of inspection by the General Dental Council of the United Kingdom.
In 1939 a new building was established for the Faculty of Dentistry within the United Dental Hospital. The postwar period saw an expansion of the activities of the United Dental Hospital. In 1946 a Director of the Departments of Pathology and Bacteriology at the Hospital was appointed. In the same year the Institute of Dental Research was established at the Hospital with the approval of the NSW Government. The Institute, which was established to promote dental research, was based on the National Institute of Dental Research in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Dr Neil Ernest Goldsworthy, Senior Lecturer in Bacteriology in the Faculty of Medicine, was appointed the first Director.
In 1959 the Faculty established the Diploma in Public Health Dentistry. The degree of Master of Dental Science was established in 1964. This was the first full-time formal postgraduate degree in dentistry in Australia.
In 1961 the Senate resolved to establish three Chairs in the Faculty, in the fields of Prosthetic Dentistry, Operative Dentistry, and Preventive Dentistry.
The 1970s were a period of concern about redevelopment of dental teaching and research facilities and revision of the undergraduate curriculum. The MGM Building adjoining the United Dental Hospital was purchased by the Health Commission of New South Wales with the financial support of the Australian Universities Commission, and was converted into facilities for the Faculty. Planning commenced for a second clinical school to be established in the Westmead Centre, a major new hospital complex in the western suburbs of Sydney (now known as Westmead Hospital). The Hospital was opened for medical patients in 1978 and accepted its first dental patients in 1980. The Westmead Hospital Dental Clinical School (now the Westmead Centre for Oral Health) has become a major facility for the Faculty for both undergraduate and postgraduate education and training.
In 1994 and 1997, new Faculty structures were introduced. Instead of departments, disciplines within the Faculty were identified, each under the general supervision of a head of discipline. Year directors, as sub-deans, were appointed to coordinate coursework for each year of study and unit of study coordinators were responsible for individual units of study in each year.
In 2001 Faculty introduced a four-year graduate-entry program (the Bachelor of Dentistry), the first graduate-entry program offered by a Dental School in Australia. The Faculty embarked on a strategic partnership with the Faculty of Medicine to support this educational initiative.
(Adapted from the Faculty web site)
As part of the University's strategic planning 2016-2020, Senate decided in December 2015 to reduce the number of faculties from 16 to six, with three additional schools reporting directly to the Provost, to come into effect 1 January 2017. The Faculty of Dentistry was to be abolished to be located as a school within a Faculty (yet to be named) which includes Medicine, Pharmacy and, Nursing and Midwifery. [Senate Resolution SEN_7/15_98] At the 12 December 2016 meeting of Senate, Senate approved the creation of the new Faculty of Medicine and Health, to consist of schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Midwifery, Pharmacy, Public Health and Biomedical Sciences (working title)k also to include the then current Faculty of Health Sciences as a school when it moved to the Camperdown/Darlington Campus from its location in Lidcombe. The new faculty came into operation 30 April 2018 with the University of Sydney School of Dentistry as a school within the new Faculty. [Senate Resolution SEN_16/6-105]