United States Army Dental Corps

Please add the profiles of those who were or are in the United States Army Dental Corps.

History:

During the Revolutionary War, the military view was that dental care was the soldier’s responsibility. This policy continued through War of 1812, operations on the Western Frontier and the Civil War. During this time soldiers needing dental care were treated by laymen in the unit, hospital stewards, physicians and local “practitioners”. Historically soldiers were required to have enough teeth to bite off the end of the cartridge so that the gun powder and bullet (ball) could be loaded into a muzzle loader rifle. This first dental standard lasted until WWII.

• 1776 Paul Revere performed the first recorded case of military forensic identification on the remains of Maj. Gen. Joseph Warren at Bunker Hill about ten months after Warren’s death in that famous battle.
• 1780 Jacques Gardette (a French Navy dentist when he arrived in America in 1778) was probably the first medically trained dentist to regularly treat Soldiers fighting for the new nation, when as a civilian, he provided dental care in 1780 for the comte de Rochambeau’s 6000 man army.

During the Civil War, Dr S.S. White led an ADA delegation to speak with President Lincoln about the need for dental support to the military. However, it resulted in the Union army having no program for dental care. The Confederate Army conscripted dentists at the same rank and pay as physicians.

The first recognized Army dental program occurred on April 4, 1872, when a hospital steward, William Saunders, was given written orders to provide dental services as part of his regular duties.

Dental service recognitions occurred during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection (1898-1902) because deployment to the Philippines and Cuba placed American soldiers on foreign soil, completely remote from usual sources of dental care. This forced the Medical Department to recognize the need for a dental specialty. A number of hospital stewards were “specialized” into providing dental services, many who were actually trained dentists.

Dr. W. H. Ware was appointed to practice dentistry and upon deployment in August 1898 established the first Army field dental clinic in Manila, Philippines; and on 30 September 1898, Dr. J. W. Horner was designated “Corps Dentist for the Seventh Army Corps” and provided a dental clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Both were enlisted dentists whose assignments had been as hospital stewards. This recognition of need and demonstration of value of dentists contributed significantly to justifying Army wide use of contract dentists and eventually commissioned status for dental surgeons.

The organization of the Dental Corps progressed rapidly. Apparently anticipating approval of the Act of Feb. 2, 1901, the Surgeon General wrote (Jan. 25, 1901) the Adjutant General of the Army a letter, outlining his recommendations concerning regulations relating to the appointment and duties of dental surgeons to be appointed under that Act. (S.G. 77614 A).

On Feb. 1, 1901, the Surgeon General had apparently selected two of the three dental surgeons who were to be appointed for “the special service of conducting the examination and supervising operations,” as on that date he notified by letter Drs. John S. Marshall, (Chicago, Ill.) and Robert T. Oliver (Indianapolis, Ind.) of their pending appointment and stated that “a contract will be mailed for your signature on the 11th instant together with orders directing you to proceed to this city, where meetings of the board will be held.” (S.G. 70760, 70929).

• On Feb. 11, 1901, Dr. John Sayre Marshall, M.D., father of the Army Dental Corps, was appointed to be the first contract dentist, senior supervising contract dental surgeon, and president of the first Army Board of Dental Examiners.

In November 1901, Dr. William A. Birch (1878- ) is probably the first African-American to serve as an Army dentist (although officially as an enlisted corpsman). Historians are to date unable to determine who was the first African-American dentist to be commissioned in the U.S. Army Dental Corps.

• In February 1899 seven black (African-American) regiments were deployed to Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Although it is unclear exactly when Captain William Thomas Jefferson, a dentist in civilian life, deployed it was recorded that he served with his regiment in Cuba and was stationed at San Luis De Cuba in February 1899. In addition to his command responsibilities as a line officer, he also found time to provide dental care for his regiment. Possibly, Dr. Jefferson was the first African-American dentist to perform dentistry in the U.S. military. He was likely the first African-American commissioned officer to provide dental care in the Army although it was as a line officer, not a dental officer.

20 April 1906 - Dr Leonie von Meusebach-Zasch (1882-1944) became the first woman dentist to work for the Army (probably the first woman dentist employed by the US government) when she was hired to support Army emergency relief for victims of the San Francisco earthquake.

23 April 1908 - The Medical Corps of commissioned officers and the Medical Reserve Corps were established in law, and contracted dental surgeons were incorporated into the Army Medical Department rather than attached to it.

3 March 1911 - The U.S. Army Dental Corps (DC) of commissioned officers was established. Before the enactment of the military dental corps authorization, the words "dentistry," "dental profession," and "dental surgeon" had no significance or recognition under the law. The United States government set precedent for the "official recognition" of dentistry as a profession.

Notables:

• John Sayre Marshall (1846-1922) (The Dental Bulletin, Vol XI, No 3 (Jul 1940). John Sayre Marshall, Pioneer Army Dental Surgeon (Biography); A History of Dentistry in the US Army to WWII, By John M Hyson, Joseph WA Whitehome, John T Greenwood. pg 32-34)
• Robert Todd Oliver, DDS ( -1937) - (NCBI Robert T Oliver, DDS: oral surgeon, army dental chief, president ADA; Association of Army Dentistry - Dental Clinic Memorial. The Robert T Oliver Memorial. By John E King, COL (Ret) (Biography) )
• Robert W Morgan, DDS ( ) - (NCBI - Robert W Morgan, DDS: US Army Dental Corps, founder & creator of dental snuff)
• Dr William Anderson Birch (1878- ) - (Office of Medical History - The Contract Dental Corps: 1901-1911 - The Formation of the Army Dental Corps: 1901 African-American Applicants, Chapter II)
• Captain William Thomas Jefferson (1864-1925) - (Office of Medical History - In the Beginning 1898-1901, Introduction: The Army Medical Department’s Policy, Chapter I, The Spanish American War: 1898; Black Social History: African American "Dr William Thomas Jefferson” He Joined The United States Army As A Dentist Rising to Captain: Goes into the "HALL OF BLACK GENIUS" (Biography-mostly military); An Homage to the first African American Dentists, by: Dr Xavier Riaud)
• Dr Leonie von Meusebach-Zasch (1882-1944) (Zesch Topics - Leonie von Meusebach-Zesch (Biography w family info)

Chiefs of the U.S. Army Dental Corps

• Colonel William H. G. Logan (1872- ) - 1917-1919; (Vet Friends - Physicians & Surgeons of Chicago - William HG Logan (Biography info)

• Lieutenant Colonel Frank L. K. Laflamme (1879-1966) - 1919; (Find A Grave - Col Frank LK LaFlamme)
• Colonel Robert T. Oliver - 1919-1924

• Colonel Rex H. Rhoades - 1924-1928
• 
Colonel Julien R. Bernheim - 1928-1932

• Colonel Rex H. Rhoades - 1932- 1934
• 
Colonel Frank P. Stone - 1934-1938

• Brigadier General Leigh C. Fairbank -1938-1942
• Major General Robert H. Mills - 1942-1946
;
• Major General Thomas L. Smith - 1946-1950

• Major General Walter D. Love - 1950- 1954
;
• Major General Oscar P. Snyder -1954-1956

• Major General James M. Epperly - 1956-1960
;
• Major General Joseph L. Bernier - 1960-1967

• Major General Robert B. Shira - 1967-1971
• Major General Edwin H. Smith, Jr. -1971-1975
• Major General Surindar N. Bhaskar - 1975-1978
• Major General George Kuttas - 1978-1982
• 
Major General H. Thomas Chandler - 1982-1986
• Major General Bill B. Lefler - 1986-1990
• 
Major General Thomas R. Tempel - 1990-1994
• Major General John J. Cuddy - 1994-1998

• Major General Patrick D. Sculley - 1999-2002
• Major General Joseph G. Webb, Jr. - 2002-2006
• Major General Russell J. Czerw - 2006-2010
• Major General M. Ted Wong - 2010-2014
• 
Major General Thomas R. Tempel, Jr. - 2014-Present

Resources & Additional Reading:

• US Army Medical Dept - US Army Dental Corps
• US Army Medical Dept. Office of Medical History - Walter D Vail & the History of the US Army Dental Corps
• US Army Medical Dept. Office of Medical History - Organization of the Dental Corps from Dental Bulletin Supplement to the Army Medical Bulletin, Vol 4, No. 3, July 1933
• History of the United States Army Dental Corps, Edited for the Office of the Chief of the US Army Dental Corps
• US Army Medical Dept. Office of Medical History - Spanish-American War & Philippine Insurrection
• Highlights in the History of the US Army Dentistry. By: John E King, Col. (retired), DC & Raymond G Hynson, Col, DC; 2007