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T.V. Anson, The New Zealand Dental Services: Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45 (1960)

War has long been known as a crucible whose immense stresses help forge innovation, from aviation to medical treatments. Yet it is nevertheless quite surprising to discover that New Zealand formed an entire corps dedicated to keeping soldiers’ teeth in a healthy state.

The scale of such a commitment is an indication of the importance of the issue, as numerous otherwise ‘able-bodied’ men were excluded from military service because of the poor state of their teeth. A common ‘flesh wound’ at Gallipoli and many other battles was being shot through the mouth, so getting such casualties patched up and ready to fight on was also a priority.

Initially formed in late 1915, the Dental Corps was a contingent of dentists that served in multiple theatres of war: initially in Egypt, then on the Western Front, but also on troopships and in mobile field ambulances which could go wherever the regular division went.

The corps was disbanded in 1919 after the cessation of conflict, but such was its demonstrated utility that when the Second World War broke out it was almost immediately reformed. In its second iteration, Dental Corps personnel treated not just the teeth of Allied soldiers, but also prisoners of war.

This time, when the guns fell silent, it was recognised that the corps should remain in operation, as it has until the present day. Indeed, it is particularly suited for modern conflicts, which have tended to have a strong focus on winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of local communities. After all, what better way to ingratiate yourself with locals than to fix their long standing ailments? The Corps is also involved in providing humanitarian aid as part of disaster relief operations, even where there is no war going on.

While the history of the New Zealand Dental Corps is unique and storied, Australians naturally took note of what their ANZAC cousins were up to and had their own military dentists during the First World War. However, a stand-alone Royal Australian Army Dental Corps would not be formed until April 1943. Despite emerging halfway through the conflict, the figures for what the RAADC achieved are quite astounding, extracting 1,550,000 teeth, inserting 2,850,000 fillings and constructing approximately 500,000 dentures.

Whoever sent Menzies his copy of The New Zealand Dental Services in 1960, was likely trying to remind the prime minister of the importance of teeth-maintenance in the context of Australia’s numerous Cold War conflicts. In this they seem to have succeeded, for since 1945 RAADC personnel have served with distinction in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, New Guinea, Bougainville, East Timor and Afghanistan.