1.      Military Dental Services: Soldier’s teeth were of little concern till 18th century. Dental fitness of the troops assumed significance when the grenades and cartridges had to be bitten prior to firing. Military Medical Services in some or the other form existed in India during the colonial rule. But the awareness about Dental fitness emerged only during Boer War when troops became incapacitated due to dental disease, and they had to be evacuated. It was realised then that an Army that cannot bite cannot fight. Since 1905 the British troops in India received dental treatment when speciality pay was granted to few Medical Officers below the rank of Colonel. Basic dental treatment was provided by medical officers who had some interest in dentistry. Even though 70% of Indian troops suffered from some or other form of a dental disease, it was not considered necessary to provide any form of dental treatment to Indian troops.

 

2.      Dental Treatment for Indian Troops: Dental treatment for Indian troops was started on 1st February 1941, when eight civilian dental surgeons were granted Emergency King’s Commission in the newly formed Dental branch of the Indian Medical Service known as IMS (D). They were given 4 weeks basic Military training and then sent to the British Army Dental Centres at Dehradun, Rawalpindi, Puna and Quetta. Eligibility for the IMS (D) was restricted to British subjects of Indian domicile or subjects of Indian states who were under 45 years of age with adequate Dental qualifications. They joined as Lieutenants and were on probation for 3 months. They were then promoted to the rank of Captain after 1 year of service. Gradually, various Army Dental Centres for Indian troops were established in Indian Military Hospitals, most of them with one chair, but a few larger ones had more chairs. The performance of the first batch of Indian Dental Officers was highly appreciated and soon their strength was raised to 23. It thereafter increased rapidly to keep pace with war-time mobilisation. Mobile dental units were formed to provide dental cover to forces in the field and generally one unit was allotted to each Indian General hospital. 

 

3.      Indian Medical Service (Dental) became the Indian Army Dental Corps (IADC) in 1943 and all Officers with suitable dental qualifications were transferred to the new Corps. By the end of 1943, officer strength of IADC rose to 131. The main force behind the formation of IADC was Colonel R Manton King (RADC). He was not only responsible for the raising but also for the expansion of IADC; so truly the architect of Army Dental Services in India. 

 

4.      Post World War II Scenario: When the war came to an end, many of the dental units raised were disbanded, but the necessity of retaining the Corps as a permanent establishment was fully accepted. Accordingly, a list of officers, desirous of continuing in the service was made. Of the 31 officers, 26 were selected for regular Commission in the Indian Army Dental Corps. In 1947, as a result of partition, some of them went to Pakistan. The remaining Indian personnel in all Army Dental Centres were reorganised to raise the Military Dental Centres. 

 

5.      Post-Independence Scenario: The science of dentistry began to grow gradually and achieved recognition in India with the enactment of the Dentist Act in 1948. It was decided that dental officers for the Armed Forces should be provided on a scale of 1 per 4000 trained soldiers and 1 per 13000 for recruits. To overcome the shortage, short service commission was offered to 20 civilian dental surgeons. These officers were commissioned for a period of 3 years, with a provision of extension up to 5 years. They were permitted to avail two chances for permanent commission. A permanent cadre of 82 with an annual intake of three was approved by 1955. The strength was increased to 97 in 1959, and in 1965 the annual intake rose to 17. Two years later, the grant of direct permanent commission was sanctioned to attract dental surgeons with postgraduate qualifications. In 1963, lady dental officers were made eligible for short service commission. The terms and conditions of service were revised in 1950 to allow time scale promotion. An officer was eligible for promotion to the rank of Major after 10 years and to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel after 21 and 23 years, respectively. The maximum age for superannuation was fixed at 55 years for Lieutenant Colonel and 57 for Colonel. Dental officers ceased to have the provision of private practice in 1966 and non-practicing allowance was introduced in lieu. The pay and promotion scales for the defence forces were revised several times under various pay commissions, and the top selection post in the Corps was raised to the rank of Maj General in 1967 with the retiring age of 59 years; which at present has been increased to 60 years. The top selection post was raised to the rank of Lt Gen in 2001 in the designation of Director General Dental Services. The Corps now has one Lieutenant General and five Major Generals.

 

6.      The Army Dental Corps provides multispecialty dental treatment to the Armed Forces both during Peace and war.