University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry

The Dental School was opened in 1907 in Dunedin. Dentistry in New Zealand took steps towards professionalisation after the 1880 Dentists' Act required the registration of all New Zealand dentists. Another Act in 1904 placed the education of dentists under the control of the University of New Zealand.^[1][2] This provided the impetus for the University of New Zealand to establish a dental school, and it was considered desirable for it to be co-located with what was, at that time, the country's only medical school.^[3]: 224 Premier Richard Seddon had to be persuaded against locating it in Auckland, however, by claims that the cooler Dunedin climate was more suitable for studying.^{[1]: 51 [3]: 224} In 1905, a professional association, the New Zealand Dental Association, was set up, and was followed by a "flurry of activity" to establish university training for dentists, as the legal provisions allowing the registration of existing dentists ended in 1910.^[3]: 224

When the school opened in July 1907, local dentist Owen Davies, a graduate of the Melbourne Dental School, was appointed as acting director until the arrival of the inaugural 28 year-old dean, Henry Percy Pickerill (known as Percy), from England in September.^[4] Davies was assisted by 12 honorary dental surgeons.^[5]

The School conducted "1480 operations of all kinds" on 438 patients in its first year, despite having only six chairs.^{[5][3]: 225} Three students enrolled for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree, graduating in 1911, including Charles Hercus, and seven registered dentists undertook training.^[3]: 226 Over the following few years, the School struggled to attract students, with some people considering the degree course "too long and difficult".^[3]: 226 Legal changes were also made that extended the period of registration for dentists trained under apprenticeships, and allowed other means of entering the profession, further discouraging student enrolments.^[3]: 226 A shorter certificate course was introduced in 1917, and the Dental Association and politician TK Sidey set up bursaries, so that by 1919 the School was enrolling 42 students per year.^[3]: 226 In 1926, the school moved into a new building, having outgrown the previous school.^[6][7]

During the 1930s, enrolments continued to grow and the Dental School had more than 120 students by the end of the decade.^[3]: 236 A course on orthodontics was introduced in 1926, under associate professor Reid Burt. From 1929, a mechanical dentistry course lasting 18 months was offered for students aiming to be dental laboratory assistants, but it ceased in 1942.^{[3]: 236–237} In 1943, the certificate course was abolished, and beginning in 1945 the dental students completed the same intermediate year as medical students before four years of professional training.^[3]: 237 During the 1940s, the number of students enrolled in the school reached 200, and the campaign for a third new building was begun.^[6]

The entry of students to second year was limited for the first time in 1947, after a rise in applications following the end of the Second World War placed pressure on strained resources and staff.^[3]: 237 From 1950, all dentists have been required to hold a full dental degree rather than a certificate of proficiency in order to practise.^[1] The post-professional stage has seen an increase in specialisation and research activities.^[1] In 1963, the intake of dental students rose from 50 to 60 per annum.^[3]: 237

In the 1990s the faculty expanded to include education for all dental health practitioners. Faculty member periodontist Angela Pack advocated for the introduction of dental hygienists in New Zealand, chairing a committee set up by the New Zealand Dental Association to develop a curriculum for hygienist training.^{[3]: 258–259} Despite the Dental Council approval of the curriculum, the dean of the dental school, Martin Kean, would not allow their training at the university.^[8] From 1995, training for hygienists was carried out by the Otago Polytechnic.^{[3]: 258–9} Up to this point, dental technicians had trained in Upper Hutt and dental therapists in Wellington. As dean from 1992, Peter Innes expanded the school to take over the dental hygienist training, as well as education of other dental health practitioners, despite resistance from the Dental Association Board.^{[3]: 258–262} Training was offered from 1999 in the form of one- or two-year diplomas, available in clinical dental technology, dental therapy, and dental hygiene.^{[3]: 259–260} In 2001, a dental technology degree was introduced, and in the early 2000s the diplomas were phased out in favour of the Bachelor of Oral Health degree.^[3]: 260 Postgraduate qualifications were introduced for dental specialties, and some Masters of Dental Surgery were upgraded to a Doctor of Clinical Dentistry.^[3]: 261 In 2022, the School was training around 100 dentists, 50 oral health therapists and 30 dental technicians each year.^[5]

The first woman graduates of the Dental School were Miranda Whiteside, who completed the certificate in 1922, and Malvena Oldham, who graduated with a BDS in 1923.^[3]: 226 Oldham then became the first woman dentistry teacher in 1924.^[3]: 224 When Angela Pack joined the school in 1972 as a lecturer, she was the only woman teaching clinical dentistry.^[8] In 1973 only 2.5% of registered dentists in New Zealand were women. The proportion of women gradually increased to the point that the Dental Faculty were concerned about the possible impacts on the profession of women leaving to get married or have children. Pack was asked to research the issue, and presented a paper at the 1981 NZ Dental Association conference. She described many cases of discrimination against women from their male colleagues, and published papers on the treatment of women dentists.^[8] Bernadette Drummond, a graduate of the school, became New Zealand's first female professor of dentistry in 2012.^[9]

The first Māori dental student was Waaka (Walker) Morete, who graduated with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery in 1928, but Māori student enrolments after this were very low.^{[3]: 239–240} John Broughton, appointed as a lecturer in Māori health in 1982, researched indigenous dental health around the world, and completed a PhD on using kaupapa Māori methodology for the provision of Māori dental care.^[3]: 240 Broughton introduced clinics to improve Māori access to dental treatment, developing them into teaching clinics treating children from local kura kaupapa. Broughton also initiated a scheme for students to volunteer providing dental care for mothers and babies in Rotorua, where they were housed by the local community, and then expanded the programme to include trips to the Pacific Islands.^{[3]: 261–262} In 2011 Broughton and then-dean Gregory Seymour introduced the first outplacements for dental students, as five-week placements in Māori dental health practices, giving supervised care to patients and learning and experiencing Māori cultural frameworks.^[3]: 262 These placements were cancelled during COVID-19 pandemic and have not returned.^[10]

The inaugural dean of the school was Percy Pickerill, who had medicine and dentistry degrees, and served for twenty years from 1907.^{[3]: 225–226} Pickerill was a renowned plastic surgeon, and left to pursue this career in 1927. His replacement Robert Bevan Dodds served until 1945, and the school was proud to have its first director who was a graduate of the School. Dodds was replaced by Sir John Walsh. Walsh is remembered for his advocacy for fluoridating New Zealand's water supply, and for the invention of the high-speed dental drill. He was also instrumental in retaining the dental school in Dunedin, during a period when the Government was considering relocating it to Auckland.^[6] After Walsh's retirement in 1971,^[11] American orthodontist Ernest Hixon served as dean for one year, but was killed in a car crash when attending a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.^[12] John Le Bailly Warren served from 1972 to 1978. Martin R. Kean was dean until 1991, followed by Peter B. Innes (1992–2006), Gregory J. Seymour (2006–2012), Paul A. Brunton (2014–2019)^[13] and Michael V. Morgan (2019–2022).^[5][14] The dean since 2022 is Paul R. Cooper.^[5][15]

The Sir John Walsh Research Institute was established in 2007, on the dental school's centenary.^[3]: 261 The Institute comprises the research arm of the dental school, and conducts basic, applied, and clinical research in the fields of dentistry, dental technology and oral health, in New Zealand and the Pacific.^[26] The inaugural director was Professor Jules Kieser (1950–2014).^[27][28] The second director was Professor Richard Cannon, who served from 2014 to 2021. Professor Warwick Duncan was appointed as the third director in 2021.^[29] Researchers at the institute conduct research in areas such as biomaterials, biomechanics and oral implantology; craniofacial research; dental epidemiology and public health; dental engineering and tissue regeneration; molecular microbiology; oral immunopathology; dental education and clinical and translational research.^[30][31]

The institute awards an annual Sir John Walsh Research Award, which "acknowledges excellence over a long period by a staff member at the school". Recipients include Richard Cannon (2011),^[32] Dawn Coates (2023),^[33] and Jonathan Broadbent.^[34] The institute is also the home of the Centre For Bioengineering & Nanomedicine, a University of Otago research centre which aims to translate basic biological science, medical health and biomaterials research into improved health outcomes.^[35][36]

• 
  John Broughton
• 
  Bernadette Drummond
• 
  Percy Pickerill
• 
  Angela Pack
• 
  Alison Rich
• 
  John Walsh

• 
  Harold Frost
• 
  Charles Hercus
• 
  John Kennedy-Good
• 
  Dave Lindsay
• 
  Paul Sapsford
• 
  John Tanner
• 
  Blair Tennent