The Army Dental Corps (ADC) is a specialist corps in the Indian Army which primarily provides dental services to all Army personnel, serving and veterans, along with their families.

History

History of dentistry in India dates back to

vedic era The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betwe ...

Patanjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his works it i ...

and

Sushruta Sushruta, or ''Suśruta'' (Sanskrit: सुश्रुत, IAST: , ) was an ancient Indian physician. The ''Sushruta Samhita'' (''Sushruta's Compendium''), a treatise ascribed to him, is one of the most important surviving ancient treatises on ...

were vedic era surgeons who wrote about extraction of teeth, forceps, transplantation of teeth from captured or dead enemies, and reconstruction of jaws, face and nose damaged in the acts of war or violence. Earlier Indians used to maintain dental hygiene. They used datun, especially from

neem ''Azadirachta indica'', commonly known as neem, nimtree or Indian lilac, is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus ''Azadirachta'', and is native to the Indian subcontinent and most of the countries in Afr ...

and

babool ''Vachellia nilotica'', more commonly known as ''Acacia nilotica'', and by the vernacular names of gum arabic tree, babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia, is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Africa, the Mid ...

twigs, to clean the teeth. Indians also used false teeth, in 1193 CE the body of

Jayachandra Jaya-chandra (IAST: Jayacandra, r. c. 1170–1194 CE) was a king from the Gahadavala dynasty of northern India. He is also known as Jayachchandra (IAST: Jayaccandra) in inscriptions, and Jaichand in vernacular legends. He ruled the Antarvedi co ...

was

identified ''Identified'' is the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, released on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. June 24, 2008 in Japan, February 13, 2009 in most European countries and February 16, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album re ...

by his false teeth. Indians did not use refined sugar or crystal sugar and incidences of

dental caries Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicatio ...

were low. Refined sugar or crystal sugar were introduced by the

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

in 19th century, and started to be used more commonly only after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Consequently,

tooth decay Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicatio ...

among Indians increased with the usage of these from 20% population in 1950 to 50% by 1970 and 70% by 1990s.PC Kochhar, 2000
History of the Army Dental Corps and Military Dentistry
Lancer Publishers, page 1-36. Western medical practice reached India in 1600 CE with the first fleet of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, consisting of five ships, each of which had two

barber surgeon The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbers ...

s. They established shore-based factories for trade and progressively gained their colonial rule over India. In 1822 CE, first western-style medical institute for training was opened at Kolkatta, which became

Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata Calcutta Medical College, officially Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, is a public medical school and hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the oldest existing hospital in Asia. The institute was established on 28 January 1835 by L ...

. First-ever dental college was established in England in 1855. Dr. Rafiuddin Ahmed, who is considered father of dentistry in India, established first-ever recognised dental institute in India in 1925 after obtaining his Doctor of Denta Surgery degree from University of Iowa. Dentistry was part of British colonial rule's

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

(IMS). The first Indian who joined the IMS was Dr. S.C.G. Chukerbutty in 1855. Regular dental treatment for British troops in India started in 1905 when special pay was paid to medical officers including dentists. Between the First and Second World Wars, many British military officers of British raj and their families did not like to be treated by the Indian doctors of IMS. However, the shortage of doctors due to the outbreak of the World War II forced the British Raj to recruit Indian doctors not only as the lower grade IMD (Indian Medical Department) but also as the higher grade of IMS, which was previously available only to British nationals. After 1940, when it was decided that a large number of otherwise fit candidates who got rejected due to

could be easily recruited, the ''Indian Army Dental Corps'' (IADC) expanded significantly.

Recruitment

Physically fit candidates can apply for the recruitment in IADC after the completion of Bachelor of Dental Surgery or an equivalent degree recognised by the

Dental Council of India The Dental Council of India was incorporated under The Dentists Act, 1948 to regulate dental education and the profession throughout India. It is financed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and through the local state dental councils. ...

.Dr. Abhishek Jungi, 2020
POWER AFTER B.D.S.

References

{{Indian_Army_Arms_and_Services History of India Dentistry in India Administrative corps of the Indian Army Dental organisations based in India Military dentistry

History

Recruitment

See also

References