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Volume1 Issue2
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100
Royal CanadianDental Corps:
100YEARSOFHISTORY
RCDC’s roots canbe tracedback to South
Africa during the Boer War from 1899 to
1902. It was here where two Canadian
dental surgeons operated in a theatre
of war for the first time. Dr. David Henry
Baird of Ottawa served with the No. 10
Canadian Field Hospital and Dr. Eugene
Lemieux of Montreal servedwith the 2nd
Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment; both
accompanied Canadian troops in oper-
ations in the Transvaal, the Orange River
Colony and the Cape Colony. The great
number of soldiers who presented with
dental emergencies established the fact
that dental services in the field were in-
dispensable. CDA responded to this need
while theBoerWarwas ongoingbypress-
ing the government of Canada to form a
Regular Army Dental Staff as a distinct
branch of the service. CDA’s efforts were
successful: an establishment of 18 dental
surgeons was authorized by General Or-
der No. 98on July 2, 1904.
A decade later, whenWorldWar I began,
many recruits were rejected for dental
reasons. The 26 serving military dentists
could not cope with the demand for ser-
vice tomake the recruits ready to deploy;
therefore, civilian dentists were asked to
volunteer to help with the treatment of
recruits. On May 13, 1915, General Order
No. 63 authorized the creationof theCan-
adianArmy Dental Corps (CADC) as a dis-
tinct corps.
The CADC began operations overseas
in July 1915 with 30 dental officers and
74 other ranks—a ratio of 1 dentist for
every 1400 personnel. Canadian dental
officers were attached to the field ambu-
lances and did wonders in the forward
area, treating patients close to the bat-
tle in order for them to return to combat
quickly.
From July 1915, when the CADC began
operations in the theatre of war, until
December 1918, over 2.2 million dental
treatments were performed. This includ-
ed 97000 treatments for British troops
and 50000 treatments for trench mouth.
Another 1.4million treatmentswereprovided
From July1915, when theCADCbegan operations
in the theatre ofwar, untilDecember1918, over
2.2milliondental treatmentswere performed.
Canada’smilitarydental serviceshave lookedaftertheoralhealth
needsofCanada’stroops inbothWorldWars,Korea,Afghanistan
andmanyotherpeacemaking,peacekeeping,humanitarianand
forensicoperations. Inthe lead-uptothe100thanniversaryofthe
RoyalCanadianDentalCorps(RCDC) in2015, thisarticle is
thefirst inaseriesthatwillbringto lightthehistoryoftheRCDC
overthe lastcentury,celebratingtheheritage, accomplishments
anddedicationofthedental servicespersonneloftheCanadian
ArmedForces.
ishonoured
topublisha regular series
of articles, leadingup
to thecelebrationof
RCDC's 100thanniversary.
