David Roberts
30 May
30May

While writing “Maple Leaves in Buxton” about the Canadian presence in Buxton during the First World War, in the interests of space I was forced to leave some material out. Among the Canadian medical personnel in Buxton were a number of dentists. While dentistry might not immediately be considered front line military medicine, military dentistry made a substantial contribution in getting men fit enough to get to the front and many Canadian dentists saw frontline service. The Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital, the Granville Special Hospital and the Canadian Discharge Depot in Buxton all provided dental services to Canadian Soldiers. So here is a brief survey of Canadian dentistry in Buxton.


The origins of Canadian military dentistry might be traced back to the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa from 1899 to 1902 where a Canadian contingent operated with the Imperial Forces. The Canadians brought dentists with them, the first time they operated in a theatre of war. Dentists accompanied Canadian Troops in operations in the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony and the Cape Colony. The great number of soldiers who presented with dental emergencies confirmed  that dental services in the field were indispensable. At the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) meeting at McGill University in 1902, Doctor Ira Bower of Ottawa presented a paper entitled Dentists in the Army. After the paper the CDA passed a resolution favouring the creation of a regular army dental staff. Subsequently the CDA pressed the government of Canada to form a Regular Army Dental Staff as a distinct branch of the service. This effort met with success when by General Order No 98, dated 2 July 1904, an establishment of 18 Dental Surgeons in the Canadian Army was authorized.

General Order No 63 was issued on 13 May 1915, authorizing the Canadian Army Dental Corps (CADC) as a separate corps. In anticipation of this general order, on 29 March 1915 authorization was published to appoint "one officer in charge of all dental surgeons, to be attached to divisional headquarters …, to be designated 'Chief Dental Surgeon' as well as an establishment of dental officers for brigades, divisions, base hospitals and field ambulances. This provided a war-time establishment for the new CADC, with a Lieutenant-Colonel Chief Dental Surgeon for each division. A few days later Colonel John Alexander Armstrong was promoted, named the Director of Dental Services, and assigned to Canadian Corps Headquarters in London. In 1915 the first Canadian Military Dental Clinic was established in a stable at the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto. This was the first Military Dental Clinic in the British Empire. Dental  officers  were then  attached  to  the  existing  medical  formations, including Field Ambulance at the Front  and  became integral  parts  of  the  unit;  a  laboratory was  established  at  corps  headquarters  as  the  principal  dental  depot,  where  all  the  necessary  appliances  were  made with  incredible  speed  by  dental  mechanics. A British Army consultant, Sir Cuthbert Wallace, would later state in 1918 that, “the Canadians had a very perfect dental organization” and suggested that the British service copy the Canadian model which enabled them to provide advanced treatment in the forward areas.

In his history of the Canadian Medical Services, Andrew MacPhail says: 

“Good  teeth  to  a  soldier  in  these  days  of  luxurious rations  are  not  so  important  as  they  were  in  times  when the  only  test  of  food  was  its  hardness.  As  early  as  November,  1914,  instructions  were  issued  in  the  English  service that  no  man  was  to  be  discharged  on  account  of  loss  of teeth  if  by  treatment  he  could  be  made  fit  to  remain  in  the service.  In  January,  1915,  men  with  defective  teeth  might be  attested  if  they  were  willing  to  receive  dental  treatment;  in  February  a  recruit  might  be  passed  “  subject  to dental  treatment.”

It is a very serious point, with may rations consisting of rock hard biscuits going to the front with broken or damaged teeth was likely to lead to serious problems. Likewise, suddenly suffering from severe dental problems in the trenches was likely to prove dangerous.

The Canadians were lucky to have a high proportion of dentists.  The  United  States  had  one  dentist  to  2,365  of  the  population;  Canada,  one to  3,300;  Ontario,  one  to  2,238;  Quebec,  one  to  6,126;  England was far behind with  one  to  7,014.  In  England  there  were  many  unregistered  dentists,  but  they  confined  themselves  narrowly to  the  specialty  of  pulling  teeth,  with  the  result  “that men  had  their  teeth  extracted  unnecessarily  and  were  held back  from  drafts  until  their  mouths  were  ready  for  dentures.”

 The British sent  12  dentists  to France with the BEF in  November,  1914;  the  number  was  increased  to 20  in  December;  to  463  in  December,  1916;  to  849  at  the time  of  the  armistice.  In  March,  1918,  an  inspecting  dental officer  was  appointed  to  the  staff  of  the  Director-General, and  he  reported  that  70  per  cent  of  the  recruits  required treatment,  the  number  each  month  being  136,150.  For their much smaller Expeditionary Force ,when it  began operations overseas in July 1915 the CADC had 30 Dental Officers and 74 other ranks - a ratio of 1 dentist for every 1400 personnel.

In  France,  the  personnel  of  the  CADC  carried  on  their work  mainly  at  field  ambulances,  casualty  clearing  stations, general  and  stationary  hospitals,  in  the  forestry  units,  in the  various  units  of  railway  troops,  and  at  base  camps. These  widely  dispersed  duties  were  performed  under  the supervision  of  the  deputy-director  of  medical  services  at Canadian  corps  headquarters,  who  forwarded  reports  on all  dental  work  to  the  director  of  medical  services  in  London.

In  England,  clinics  were  established  at  the  various Canadian  training  centres,  command  and  discharge  depots, special  hospitals,  and  segregation  camps;  in  London  for the  personnel  employed  at  the  different  Canadian  administrative  offices,  and  for  officers  and  men  on  leave  from France  requiring  emergency  treatment. Every  Canadian  soldier  on  arrival  in  England,  while passing  the  prescribed  time  at  a  segregation  camp,  received dental  inspection  and,  if  time  permitted,  his  needs  were  attended  to.  If  the  work  could  not  then  be  completed,  indications  for  further  treatment  followed  the  soldier  to  whatever  camp  he  might  be  sent,  and  there  the  work  was  continued.  Finally,  he  was  again  examined  before  being  placed on  draft  for  France,  and  either  was  passed  as  fit  or  made  so before  leaving.

To start with the Canadian Red Cross Special Hospital did not have dental facilities. On 19 December 1916, Captain Herbert Ross was  appointed as a dental officer. First he had to acquire some dental equipment from the DDS. On 28th  December he arrived in Buxton, shortly followed by Sergeant Oswald Brewer of the CADC. Their dental equipment arrived from London on the 30th. Brewer was born in Louth, Lincolnshire in1891 and emigrated to Canada. He attested for the Canadian Army in Winnipeg on 30 May 1915.arriving in England on 3 July1915, on the SS Missonabie. After a stint at the Canadian hospital at Bramshott, Brewer was sent to France, where he served on the Dental Staff of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion before moving to the dental Laboratory at the Canadian Base Depot in Le Havre. After serving at the front, Brewer stayed as a dental technician in Buxton until 13 September 1918, after moving to London and Witley, he returned to Buxton in September 1919, to the CDD for demobilisation return to Canada.

Captain Ross stayed in Buxton until 15 March 1917, when he was transferred to the HQ of the CADC in London. He was replaced by Captain Alfred James Thomas, a dentist from British Colombia. Captain Thomas remained as dentist at the CRCSH until March 1918.He was replaced by Captain Tait.

In  addition  to  the  general  clinics  which  cared  for  most of  the  work  there  were  special  clinics  resembling  the  one at  the  International  Co-operative  Institution  at  Queen’s Hospital,  Frognal,  where  patients  who  had  received  injuries to  the  nose  or  chin  received  the  best  treatment  that  medicine  and  dentistry  could  provide.  By  a  combination  of facial  surgery  and  mechanical  appliances  injured  parts  were restored  and  lost  parts  replaced,  so  that  the  patient  was able  to  chew  his  food,  and  his  personal  appearance  was improved.  The  problem  presented  by  numerous  cases  of fractures  of  the  jaw  became  a  serious  one,  and  it  was  necessary  to  institute  a  special  clinic  at  the  Ontario  Military Hospital,  Orpington,  to  deal  with  this  type  of  casualty,  and excellent  work  was  done  in restoring  to  patients  the  lost function. Previous  to  the  war,  many  officers  and  men  had  been fitted  by  their  private  dentists  with  gold  bridges  and  other dental  appliances;  in  numerous  cases  these  had  to  be  re¬ placed  or  repaired.  To  meet  this  situation,  the  necessary arrangements  were  made  whereby,  at  no  extra  cost  to  the public,  this  special  work  could  be  done;  the  patient  signed a  form  which  authorized  the  paymaster-general  to  deduct from  his  pay  the  bare  cost  of  the  material  used. 

From its initial  30  officers. 34  non-commissioned  officers,  and  40  other  ranks in 1914, by the time of  the  armistice  the  strength  had  increased  to  223  officers. 221  non-commissioned  officers,  and  238  other  ranks.  Of this  number  76  officers,  76  non-com¬ missioned  officers,  and  64  other  ranks were in France;  with  147  officers,  145  non-commissioned  officers,  and  174  other  ranks in England.

When the Granville Special Hospital arrived in Buxton from Ramsgate, it too opened its own dental surgery. The dental officer  Norman Samuel Bailey from Portage La Prairie in Manitoba arrived  on 31 October 1917, staying until March 1918, when he returned to the CADC staff.  The Granville War diary records the number of dental procedures undertaken on a monthly basis .  Bailey was certainly kept busy. Bailey was later assigned to the CADC laboratory in France . where he took part in the campaign of the last 100 days . He went into Germany with the Army of Occupation before returning to Canada, and was attached for a time to the Tuxedo Military Hospital at Winnipeg.  He died on 22 December 1961. Bailey was replaced at the Granville, by the young (21 year old ) dentist,  Captain Roy Wellington Blackwell, who remained the Dental Officer until June 1919, when he was demobilised and returned to Canada. Below is a list of the treatments carried out by Bailey and Blackwell at the Granville in the six months from November 1917 ( sourced from the Granville Hospital War diary)   


The  Armistice in 1918  reversed  the aim  of  the CADC.  Instead  of  making  men  dentally  fit  for war  the  corps  devoted  its  activities  to  making  men  dentally fit  for  peace,  and  every  soldier  returning  to  Canada  was accompanied  by  a  document  giving  his  exact  dental  condition  at  the  date  of  his  last  inspection  before  embarkation. The Canadian Discharge Depot Souvenir, contained a description of the dental services provided:

“Always apt with nicknames, the troops passing through the Canadian Dis- charge Depot refer to the Dental Department as -The Chamber of Horrors.»’ One morning recently a neatly written sign was found hanging on the door of the Clinic : " Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” After treatment, and the benefit makes itself felt, a doubt is always expressed as to the correctness of these references, but these impressions remain and always will, so long as soldiers are. The Dental Clinic was opened in June, 1917, by Lieut.-Col. N. Smith. Owing to the large number of men passing through, it was found necessary to enlarge the scope of the Clinic. A second chair was installed, and the services of another officer, Captain F. H. Quinn, obtained. The equipment of the Clinic is the regular Field Service Outfit, consisting of portable chair, engine, and sundries—kit containing all the necessary instruments to deal with a case presented for treatment. Chief among the functions of Dental Clinics is the relief of pain, strange as that may appear, but the man who has suffered agonies with toothache is not slow in expressing in true soldier terms the relief he feels once the dreaded operation is over. An ounce of operation, to quote the Dental Officer, is worth pounds of cure, and the man who has not suffered sleepless nights owing to dental trouble, invariably owes his good fortune to timely visits paid to the Clinic. In the training camps in Canada and England, the Canadian Army Dental Corps is mainly concerned in fitting men for the trenches, getting their mouths in condition to properly masticate their rations, also preventing the possibility of subsequent dental trouble. The Dental Clinic at the Discharge Depot, apart from its emergency and operative work, examines the teeth of every N.C.O. and man prior to his return to Canada for disposal or discharge. This examination is very thorough, and also entails the filling out of a number of regulation documents, replete with the details of any other work required. All the work on a man’s mouth is done without cost to himself, gold work being supplied in cases of wounds or injuries directly war. Whenever possible the patient has the whole of his dental troubles completed before leaving for Canada, but it will be readily understood that owing to the short period of stay it is impossible to complete all the work presenting itself. In any case the man's mouth is put thoroughly at ease, and to ensure completion, a document accompanies the man showing the work necessary to be done. Thus it will be seen that a man can leave the army with his dental condition in as good or if better shape than when he left his civilian occupation. Many men have expressed their sais faction in no uncertain terms. Every war produces its own particular horrors and among those produced by this war is the disease commonly known as trench mouth. A technical description of this disease cannot be given here, but in a few words it is a rapid ulceration and sloughing of the gums, lining membrane of the cheeks, throat and tonsils, and if allowed to run its course will cause great destruction of tissue, and the teeth become so loose that extraction is the only remedy. The acute stage causes such severe pain that the Patient is unable to cleanse the teeth or even masticate food, the result being loss of sleep and the consequent debility. Fortunately, as a result of insistent research by the Canadian Army Dental Corps, it is now possible to give immediate relief and by a series of daily treatments a cure is effected. If the disease is discovered in its early stages, the condition is quickly controlled. Owing to a predisposition to recurrence it is essential that the patient keeps his mouth and teeth in a thoroughly clean condition”



Neil Smith, a dental surgeon from Chatham, Ontario  had enlisted in August 1915, and held rank of Major in 70th Battalion. In January, 1916, he was promoted Lieut.-Col. and recruited and organised 186th Battalion, in Kent County, and Chatham, Ontario, recruiting a strength of 18 officers and 469 other ranks. The battalion embarked from Halifax on 28 March, 1917, on the troop ship Lapland, and disembarked in the UK on 10 April. Although he had not signed up for the dental service, he was assigned to the CADC , having served in France in Fall 1917, he transferred to  the CDD in February 1918, by then with the rank of Captain in the CADC.

Smith’s colleague , Captain Francis Hawksworth Quinn was born in 1882 in Formby, Lancashire and emigrated to Canada. He attested in Vancouver on 20 March 1916 and was taken on the strength of the CADC in January 1917, passing through Canadian facilities in Brighton , Seaford and Crowborough before being sent to the CDD on 7 September 1917. He stayed until 2 August 1918, when he went to the Front in France with the 4th Canadian Casualty Clearing station, where he served at the Front during Canada-s 100 days , After his service at the front, Quinn returned to Buxton to the CDD to be discharged, returning to Canada in December 1919.

Quinn’s successor Captain  Harold Cowan, was from Regina, Saskatchewan where he was  appointed May 7th, 1917. Officer i/c Dental Services to returned soldiers for Saskatchewan. Resigned to proceed overseas, and was attached to the 15th Reserve Battalion for duty arriving in England in march 1918 Later transferred to the 12th Canadian Military Hospital at Bramshott and was detailed from there to C.D.D. staff.

The book on Canadians in Buxton

Maple Leaves in Buxton, by David Roberts

Service records of Dental Staff who served in Buxton- links to the Canada Archives records

Captain Herbert Ross

ROSS, HERBERT (3 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Captain ( Lt Colonel ) Neil Smith

SMITH, NEIL (2 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Captain Francis Hawksworth Quinn

QUINN, FRANCIS HAWKSWORTH (3 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Captain Norman Samuel Bailey

BAILEY, NORMAN SAMUEL (2 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Captain Roy Wellington Blackwell

BLACKWELL, ROY WELLINGTON (2 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Captain Harold Cowan

COWAN, CANADA HAROLD (2 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records

Sergeant Oswald Brewer

BREWER, OSWALD (3 digital object(s)) Genealogy / Military / First World War Personnel Records


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