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HISTORY OF DENTAL SURGERY 147

tooth. Tliis was clone by mimbering tliem. For describing the location and
character of cavities of decay, the kinds of iilling materials used, the nature
and character of other operations, and the treatment of diseased teeth, letters
and combinations of letters were used, which is so simple that any hospital
corps private could master it in an hour or two of study. These records are
carefully kept on file in the office of the surgeon-general and will prove of
great value after a few years in the study of etiology of dental and oral dis-
eases, and will also be of considerable value to the pension office in detecting
fraudulent claims for pensions ])y reason of physical disaljilily claimed to have
been induced from loss of teeth while serving in the army.
These records show every form of dental o])cration that has been performed
upon each officer and enlisted man, and every form of disease treated.
According to the j)rovisions of the army reorganization bill, which in-
corporated the bill proposed by the committee on army and navy dental legis-
lation of the National Hental Association, the number of dental surgeons
asked for (one to one thousand troops) was reduced to a total of thirty. As
a consequence of this the dental coi'ps has not been able to perform more
than half the service that was really necessary. Reports from the dental sur-
geons show that the amount of professional service required of them by the
great prevalence of dental and oral diseases among the troops at home and
abroad made it impossible for them, during the first two or three years of this
.service, to do more than take care of the emergency cases constantly presenting
themselves.
Besides this, there were frequent demands u])on them by the families of
officers and enlisted men and civilian attaches, particularly in Cuba and tlie
riiilippine Islands, where civilian dentists were few and only found in centers
of population like Havana, Santiago and Manila.
The bill provided, however, that free dental service could be rendered only
to the officers and enlisted men of the regular and volunteer armies. Army
regulations fix the hours of service at 9:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m. During
these hours the dental surgeon is expected to devote his entire time and at-
tention to the care of those persons who are entitled by law to his services,
except in cases of emergency, but before and after these liours he may attend
civilian attaches and others who may request treatment, and for this he
is
permitted to charge a regular fee. He is, however, required by a special rule
of the surgeon-general to state in monthly reports of dental operations bow
many civilian attaches and others he has treated during eacli month.
Furthermore, we have been assured by scores of officers of the regular army