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Volume1 Issue6
The Royal CanadianDental Corps:
DEPLOYMENTS INTHEGULFAND
BALKANCONFLICTS
TheGulfWar, 1990-91
In theearly1990s, Canadadeployed three
ships, afieldhospital andaCF-18fighter
jet squadronwith4,000personnel in
response to the Iraqi invasionof Kuwait.
HMCS
Protecteur
hadadental teamon
board that treateddental emergencies
fromall of themultinational coalition
ships. CaptainMargaretCupples and
SergeantChris Simpsonwere thefirst
CanadianForcesdental team to sail ina
war zone inmanyyears.
TheCanadianForcesDental Services
(CFDS) alsodeployedamilitaryoral and
maxillofacial surgeonandassistant to
thePersianGulf onboardUSNS
Mercy
,
a1000-bedUSNavyhospital ship. The
USNS
Mercy
andHMCS
Protecteur
operated
indifferent geographicareaswithin the
PersianGulf. Both ship’sdental teamswere
rotatedafter severalmonthson station.
Adental detachmentwas alsodeployed
with1CanadianFieldHospital. Their
original taskwas toprovidedental care for
hospital patients andprisoners-of-war, but
due toa lackof patients theyconcentrated
their effortson treatingalliedpersonnel.
TheBalkanConflict,
1992-2004
Over 40dental teamsof theCFDS,
consistingof aCaptainDentalOfficer
andaSergeantDental Technician,were
deployedon6-month tours in the former
republicof Yugoslavia. Up to three teams
werepresent in theatreat anygiven time.
Dental personnelwere located invarious
camps andwouldusemobiledental
clinics tovisit other camps. Somecamps
hadportabledental equipment set up
in trailersor under canvas, ready for
visitingdental teams touse. For dental
emergencies, patientswereevacuated to
thedental team’s location.
The summer of 1998 sawopenhostilities
betweenFederal Republicof Yugoslavia
forces and theundergroundKosovo
LiberationArmy. Thedental teamof
The dental team ofCaptain JasonComeauandSergeant
NoraLarocque facedmany challenges during theKosovo
operation, as their campwas located only four kilometresfrom
theMacedonia/Kosovo border
.
Inthe lead-uptothe100
th
anniversaryoftheRoyalCanadian
DentalCorps(RCDC) in2015, thisarticle isthefifth inaseries
thatbringsto lightthehistoryoftheRCDCoverthe lastcentury,
celebratingtheheritage,accomplishmentsanddedicationof
thedental servicespersonneloftheCanadianArmedForces.
DuringthetimeoftheGulfandtheBalkanWars,RCDCwas
knownastheCanadianForcesDentalServices.
