1916: The year when military dentistry was created in France

The end of the 19th century was a prosperous period during which French dental surgery had known significant advanced and structural techniques: the creation of the first dental schools (1880-1884), the enactment of Paul Brouardel’s law (1892) which gave dental surgery a legal status by imposing trainship and a corresponding final examination within a medical university, the birth of forensic dentistry (1897), etc. Therefore, it was a profession still in its infancy but legislated since 1892 and which had won its spurs that got involved in the war for the first time in 1914. At the time, the dentists were limited to low-ranking roles (hospital porters, nurses, etc.) where they showed numerous acts of bravery and heroism without practicing their dental art. However, during the conflict, services entirely devoted to stomatology were gradually implemented due to the need to repair the « Broken faces » damaged during the fighting where the dentists’ role was of paramount importance. Some newspapers started to wonder more and more why the practice of dentistry was absent from the Military Health Service and from various professional organisations while its role was obviously of utmost importance during the combats. Being under pressure, Raymond Poincaré, the then president of the French Republic, ended up ordaining the creation of the army dentist within the French Military Health Service. Hence, considering such an achievement, who were the major actors who gave dental surgery such an impetus? What were the elements that stood in its way ?