Richard John Torrens
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The book 50 Years as a Tooth-Puller by R.G.Torrens

My father, Robert George Torrens, B.A., B.D.Sc., T,C.D., was a foremost Dental Surgeon in tthe Bournemouth area - which had one on the best dental facilities outside of the big cities. He was a consultant working at the Royal Victoria and West Hants Hospital, Bournemouth and the Royal National Sanitorium, Bournemouth. He was in the dental profession in Bournemouth from soon after he qualified in 1924 until he retired in 1969,

This was an interesting period in the development of dentistry and he was in a senior position before and when dentistry was nationalised as the National Health Service in 1948 so he was active in forming policy and was on several committees. There is an appendix to the book listing his many appointments.

These than are his accounts, from the points of view of many organisations, of the politics as it affected dentistry during the period from 1920 to 1970. It is then a document of interest to anyone interested in medical history during this period. The book nanes many of his coleagues and aquaintances so will have wider interest to their descendants.

His provisional title for the book (which was never published) was IN THE TEETH OF POLITICS or 50 YEARS AS A TOOTH-PULLER (A personal account of the dental scene 1920-1970).

The original manuscript is some 400 pages long. I have transcribed it and the result is here. It is probably in need of further proof-reading so please contact me if you are interested.

The whole of the book has been transcribed is available as a pdf file in two forms, with the original in Ovation-Pro format:

50 Years as a Tooth-Puller for reading on-screen.
50 Years as a Tooth-Pullerin a form for printing.
The printed version prints out double-sided on A4, in booklet formation, so needs cutting and binding.
50 Years as a Tooth-Pullerin Ovation Pro format

Ovation Pro is an outstanding desktop publisher, for Risc OS and for Windows. It is available for free, with a time-limited use. The time limit should be adequate for printing or reading the book.
Ovation-Pro www site

Book Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The Chaos of Dentistry
  3. Dental Verbiage
  4. Early days at Royal Victoria Hospital, Boscombe
  5. The Dental Council, Boscombe
  6. The Dental Advisory Committee
  7. The Fight for Status
  8. The Royal National Sanitorium, Bournemouth
  9. The Incorporated Dental Society
  10. The Joint Advisory Dental Council
  11. The British Dental Association, Representative Board
  12. The Hampshire District Dental Joint Committee
  13. The Bournemouth and District Group of 'United' Dentists
  14. The Yeovil Dental Group
  15. The Provincial Groups Committee
  16. The Bournemouth Executive Council
  17. Tribulation by Tribunals
  18. The General Dental Practitioners Association
  19. Conclusion
  20. Initials
  21. Appointments
  22. Writings
  23. Bibliography

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Page's author: Richard John Torrens.
First published: Tuesday the 24th of January, 2017
Document URI: www.torrens.org/Books/DD/50years.html
Last modified: Mon, 08 Jul 2024 09:21:33 BST
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