1921: The New Zealand School Dental Service
April 4, 2023
By AHNZ
Today in history, 4 April, 1921, the School Dental Service kicked off. An initiative of Massey’s Reform Government which regular readers will not be surprised to notice faced a General Election the following year (1922.) Because, radical and disastrous ideas with far-reaching consequences often trace their history to rash government election promises. So, here we go again!
Was it about putting resources into health or was it about showing pictures of purposeful-looking women helping children? Several publicity photos date from 1922. Showing the public what ‘good’ and ‘great’ things their Government was doing. And yet the dental school…
“…encountered a shortage of equipment and materials in the clinic. Hunter had managed to acquire some Dental Corps equipment and materials from Featherston and Trentham Military camps for the School; however, it was not always sufficient….poor equipment, old instruments that were hard to keep sharpened, and few burs available…dental nurses worked in school halls, staffrooms and classrooms, school porches, and community halls. ”
“The period 1921 to 1931 was difficult and critical. The service was new and it was unorthodox. Fear and suspicion had to be allayed and public confidence established.” – A brief history of New Zealand’s School Dental Service, Moffat and Morgan (2021)
After the Great War we were a very conformist country. The non-conformists had been gotten rid of (many killed or tortured or locked up in camps for resisting.) Now the War was over the sentiment was to seek collective achievements at home in peace time. We wanted Big Brother. The Reform Ministry rushed the New Zealand Dental Service into schools in the lead-up to Election 1922. It was unorthodox and poorly organised.
Reform won re-election with measures like these but were slipping. The public mood was swinging toward socialism of this kind. The intention was to make the voters love their Government and vote them back in for what they’d done for the kids. However, the kids hated having the Government in their mouth and the NZ SDS earned a reputation as ‘The Murder House’ rather than the gratitude of a generation. As per Anarchist History Rules: A Government program always achieves the opposite of its stated intention.
When the kids grew up and had the chance to vote they rejected Reform and voted in a revolutionary left-wing Labour Government that ruled for 15 years. Maybe it was Massey’s Murder House that set their minds to it? The Labour Party was doing better and better in these years which culminated in their being the Opposition and then Government (Labour 1.0.)
“Compared with more modern equipment they were slow and the drill-bit made a coarse grinding/rasping sound when it came in contact with a tooth.” – NZH&H
Selected comments from NZH&H post:
“Omg this is why I don’t have any teeth now, I was shit scared of going to the dental nurse, and they were so mean too! ”
“Drills so loud and painful and big hands no gloves thst smelt like cigarettes”
“Oh that was so bad they just drilled and filled anything and it took two visits for one tiny filling”
“Even seeing the pictures still puts the fear of God in me”
“Apart from the feeling of terror, I also remember our dentist used to make bumble bees out of the (unused) cotton thingies they used to pack into your mouth”
“Still shake when I go to the dentist We were tortured 😖 to be honest I have no memory of any pain just the feeing of horror when I get the appointment card in the mail”
“They were all butchers. My kids have never had the amount of fillings that I have due to the over zealous purveyors of pain they called the dental nurse. Still have nightmares about those places.”
“Shudder….during the late 50’s in Wellington we were picked up by bus from school and taken to the dental school to be live experiments for the trainees to practise on! Teeth pulled out, filled etc even if they were perfectly healthy! They made us fairies made from cotton wads, but nothing made up for the pain and suffering!!”
“Fuggin sick criminals got paid more according to how many fillings made , pricks deliberately driiled holes so they could fill em and make more money , kids had no choice at school , I’ll never forgive them ,scum.”
“OMG I was so scared of the ladies in white and red cloaked….. when they entered the classroom one was always afraid that they had come for you…..they used to practice on our teeth….re-drilling & filling relentlessly….of course it was free…suffered endlessly until my father ‘saw the light’ and refused to allow his daughters to be used for trainee practice….sadly by then it was too late….only a few teeth were saved from the course grinding & rasping of that drill….a memory that haunts me to this day!!!”
“Jesus, I still get the shudders thinking about it.our equipment was the same as this in the 60s, can still recall the horrible grinding from the low speed drill and I have a mouthful of teeth that have self-destructed thanks to the efforts of well-meaning amateurs”
“I remember them well. I quaked in my boots if my name was called to go to the “Murder House” I’ve been scared of dentists ever since, even at 75 years of age.”
“I remember this and I was born in the 70’s!!”
“I remember it well. That’s why I hate going to the dentist to this day. Traumatised from childhood.”
“I am dry retching just remembering it all. Still wont go to dentists”
“The Murder House was a great description…it was child abuse !”
“In the 1970s our murderhouse still looked like the one on the left! At least it was free.”
“PTSD to this day…Pukekohe Intermediate…..argh!”
“Even though I was not born in the 1950s I do remember these chairs. How long everything took and how noisy it was. The Dental Nurse and the Murder House!!!!”
“Papatoetoe South- Nurse Benbow had the one on the left. Will never forget the high pitch whine. Like the sound of someone’s fingernails scraping down the blackboards, forever in my least pleasant childhood memories! Arrgh.”
“Yep Glen Eden Primary had the one on the left. That was late 1960 -70’s.”
“The School Murderhouse complete with Sadistic School Dental Nurses”
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Image ref. NZH&H, Facebook (2017)
Image ref. Warkworth & Districts Museum, AHNZ Archive (2022)
4 thoughts on "1921: The New Zealand School Dental Service"
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Been working with my kinesologist today about my terror and fear of dentist and the colour yellow came up in my mind, now I know why. The school dentist in Lower Hutt worked from when my mum was at school to when my eldest daughter was in primary.
Government trauma ain’t no joke.
I have history articles about the School Dental Service that I would like to donate to your company. My father, Eric Brebner started working for the Health Department…I am more than happy to send these records to you if you would like them. [redacted by request of author 22/9/24]
Thanks Barbara, I’d love to look after them and share them online. Sounds like there might be some real history gold here. I have sent you an email.