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REVIEW OF DENTISTRY. 325
teeth. That the work turned out by these dentists was some-
what defective in style and quality, and their operations a trifle
crude, is evidenced by the fact that the first ordinances or laws
governing dentistry were passed with special reference to these
deficiencies.
In His Royal Majesty's instructions to the Board of Health,
of December 6, 1815, we find the following clause: "Section 15.
Foreign dentists and operators are hereby prohibited from prac-
ticing their profession, or offering their services to the public,
until sufficient evidence of their knowledge and skill has been
submitted to the State Board of Health, and approved by that
body." How or by what means this evidence was submitted and
the examination made is not made clear. It may be surmised,
however, that the whole performance consisted in examining the
certificate, which the applicant would submit with his applica-
tion.
But the profession made progress and the number of practi-
tioners increased; and in course of time the authorities perceived
the necessity of actual examinations. Consequently, in 1842, the
Inspector and Professor of Anatomy of the " Royal Karolinska
Institute" was instructed and authorized to institute such examina-
tions, in conjunction with one in the city of Stockholm resi-
ding dentist, and in the presence of one of the members of the
Board of Health, for those who desired to practice dentistry.
The year i860 inaugurated a new era in the development of
dentistry in Sweden. In that year the late General Director and
Professor Magnus Huss prepared and submitted the first propo-
sition in the form of a law to govern the profession of dentistry.
Almost simultaneously (November 21, i860), the Dental Society
of Stockholm was organized. June 18, the following year (1861),
the above mentioned proposition became a law. This law pro-
vides for two examinations, the Final Dental Examination, and
what is termed the Assistant's Examination; but about the re-
quirements to be accepted as a student or pupil nothing is
mentioned. The qualifications for an assistant's examination are
very indefinite. For instance, Section 6 provides that: "Any
student who is eighteen years of age, who has acquired some
practice and skill in the employment and art of dentistry, shall
be entitled, if industrious and of good moral character, and if he
has been duly admitted to the Lord's Supper, to enter for the ex-
amination for Assistant Dentist."