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REVIEW OF DENTISTRY. 305

aminations are required? (3) If any dental school exists? (4)
The number of dentists on the island?
In order to obtain reliable information on the above points,
I interviewed Dr. S. L. Pisani, the chief government medical
officer of Malta, and obtained from him, over his signature, the
information that follows:
Malta, December 19, 1892.
There are laws regulating the practice of dentistry. The law runs thus:
" It is prohibited to practice the profession of physician, surgeon, surgeon-
dentist, apothecary, accoucheur, or midwife, or phlebotomist without a license
from the head of the government.
" If the applicant shall not prove that he has been admitted to practice
his profession under the provisions of an act of the Imperial Parliament (of
Great Britain) the application for the license aforesaid must be accompanied
by a certificate from the Medical Board, declaring the good character and
qualifications of the applicant.
"The Board shall not grant such certificate until the applicant shall have
deposited with the Board the Act of the University of Malta, or of any other
scholastic establishment out of these islands, showing that the same applicant
has pursued the requisite studies."
For granting the certificate declaring the character and qualifications of
the applicant, the Board subjects him to an examination on Dental Anatomy,
Physiology, Pathology, Therapeutics, Operations and Preparation of Artificial
Teeth.
No school of dentistry exists in Malta.
There are three surgeon-dentists, besides others allowed to extract teeth.
S. L. Pisani, M. D.,
Chief Government Medical Officer.
The three surgeon dentists enumerated by Dr. Pisani are one
English and two Maltese. All practice the " old style," and are
not at all " up to date " in their profession. To quote myself:
There is not a really first-rate dentist in the Maltese Islands; but, such
as they are, they do a very considerable business. I have been written to by
American dentists as to the probability of their succeeding, in case they estab-
lished themselves here, and I have invariably replied that I thought they could
do well if they were the right sort. They must have patience, industry, skill,
and some capital to rent and furnish suitable rooms. American dentists are
justly popular everywhere in Europe, and the conditions are ripe for one to
introduce himself in Malta. Lots of dental work goes away from the island
that would be done here if the dentists were skillful in modern dentistry.
Their charges are high and their work inferior, as are the tools they use.
The population of the Maltese Islands is upward of 170,000 natives, and
the English garrison, fleet and residents swell the number to 185,000.
John Worthington,
Consul.
United States Consulate, Malta, December 20, 1892.
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