¹ K Calman, Hospital doctors: training for the future, London, HMSO, 1993; Dentists Register, London, General Dental Council, 1999.

² This paper is based on a larger study, G S Taylor, ‘Review of the Transactions of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics, 1907–1971’, DDS Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2004.

³ We are using “division” in the same sense as G Weisz, Divide and conquer: a comparative history of medical specialization, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 191.

⁴ For an example of orthodontic training leading the way for other specialities, see F P G M van der Linden, ‘Three years postgraduate programme in orthodontics: the final report of the Erasmus Project’, Eur. J. Orthod., 1992, 14: 85–94.

⁵ B C Leighton, ‘The British Society for the Study of Orthodontics’, Br. dent. J., 1968, 124: 425–8, was published to mark the golden jubilee of the BSSO. The centenary of the British Dental Association in 1981 occasioned B C Leighton and R D Howard, ‘Orthodontics—the last hundred years’, Br. dent. J., 1981, 151: 14–19, and the fiftieth anniversary of the NHS was marked by B C Leighton and J P Moss, ‘Orthodontics in the National Health Service’, Br. dent. J., 1998, 185: 24–6; see also J S Rose, et al., A history of the British orthodontic societies (1907–1994), London, British Orthodontic Society, 2002; and S Gelbier, ‘Britain's first community orthodontic scheme: for the children of Heston and Isleworth’, Med. Hist., 1985, 29: 414–32. Weinberger's very detailed study of the early years of the specialty in the United States contains a number of British references, B W Weinberger, Orthodontics: an historical review of its origin and evolution, St Louis, C V Mosby, 1926.

⁶ For an authoritative survey, see Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. xii–xv.

⁷ R Stevens, Medical practice in modern England: the impact of specialization and state medicine, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1966.

⁸ G Gritzer and A Arluke, The making of rehabilitation: a political economy of medical specialization, 1890–1980, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1985; see also G Larkin, Occupational monopoly and modern medicine, London, Tavistock, 1983.

⁹ R Cooter, Surgery and society in peace and war: orthopaedics and the organization of modern medicine, 1880–1948, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1993.

¹⁰ Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. xviii–xxii.

¹¹ L Granshaw, ‘“Fame and fortune by means of bricks and mortar”: the medical profession and specialist hospitals in Britain, 1800–1948’, in L Granshaw and R Porter (eds), The hospital in history, London, Routledge, 1989, pp. 199–220.

¹² Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, pp. 42–3; R Cooter, review of Glenn Gritzer and Arnold Arluke, The making of rehabilitation: a political economy of medical specialization, 1890–1990, Med. Hist., 1986, 30: 479. Weisz's point, in this respect, relates only to Britain.

¹³ N Parry and J Parry, The rise of the medical profession, London, Croom Helm, 1976.

¹⁴ E G Forbes, ‘The professionalization of dentistry in the United Kingdom’, Med. Hist., 1985, 29: 169–81.

¹⁵ Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, p. xxi.

¹⁶ L Davidson, ‘“Identities ascertained”: British ophthalmology in the first half of the nineteenth century’, Soc. Hist. Med., 1996, 9: 313–33.

¹⁷ D Cantor, ‘The contradictions of specialization: rheumatism and the decline of the spa in inter-war Britain’, in R Porter (ed.), The medical history of waters and spas, London, Wellcome Institute, pp. 127–44.

¹⁸ J Hunter, A practical treatise on diseases of the teeth intended as a supplement to the natural history of those parts, London, Johnston 1778.

¹⁹ J Fox, Natural history of the human teeth, … describing the proper mode of treatment to prevent irregularities of the teeth, London, Thomas Cox, 1803.

²⁰ T Bell, The anatomy, physiology and diseases of the teeth, London, Highley, 1829.

²¹ W Imrie, Parents' dental guide: a treatise on the diseases of the teeth and gums, London, Churchill, 1834, p. 33, also cited inWeinberger, op. cit., note 5 above, p. 215.

²² J Robinson, The surgical, mechanical, and medical treatment of the teeth: including dental mechanics, London, Webster, 1846.

²³ Bell, op. cit., note 20 above, pp. 82–3.

²⁴ C Hillam (ed.), The roots of dentistry, London, British Dental Association, 1990, pp. 38–45.

²⁵ See E G Smith and B D Cottell, A history of the Royal Dental Hospital of London and School of Dental Surgery 1858–1985, London, Athlone, 1997.

²⁶ J A Donaldson, The National Dental Hospital 1858–1915, London, British Dental Association, 1992.

²⁷ J Menzies Campbell, Dentistry then and now, Glasgow, privately printed, 1981, p. 167; W Guy, ‘The story of the Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School’, Dental Magazine and Oral Topics, 1936, 53: 27–39,142–53, 240–54.

²⁸ Guy, op. cit., note 27 above, p. 28; also Menzies Campbell, op. cit., note 27 above, p. 304.

²⁹ J R Reynolds, ‘Specialism in medicine: address to the Medical Society, University College London, October 1881’, in idem, Essays and addresses, London, Macmillan, 1896, pp. 194–207, p. 198. Emphasis in original, punctuation has been modified for clarity.

³⁰ D Innes Williams, ‘RSM 1907: the acceptance of specialization’, J. Roy. Soc. Med., 2000, 93: 642–5.

³¹ One of the reasons for the development of a specialty of orthodontics must have been that there was a greater demand for the services of orthodontists. The role of the patient in seeking cosmetic improvement, an increased concern with the appearance of the mouth and so forth, in the history of the subject has been little investigated, however, and, while fascinating, is not discussed in this paper.

³² C A Harris, A dictionary of dental science, biography, bibliography and medical terminology, Philadelphia, Lindsay & Blakiston, 1849.

³³ For the change of name, see G S Taylor, ‘Orthodontics v. orthodontia’, J. Orthodontics, 2003, 30: 175–7.

³⁴ Imrie, op. cit., note 21 above, esp. ch. 5, also cited in Weinberger, op. cit., note 5 above, p. 218.

³⁵ C Gaine, On certain irregularities of the teeth with cases illustrative of a novel method of successful treatment, Bath, C W Oliver, 1858.

³⁶ Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, makes a similar point regarding the differentiation of ophthalmology, pp. 131 and 210–11.

³⁷ F H Balkwill, ‘On regulation plates’, Br. J. Dent. Sci., 1876, 19: 9–13, 70–73, 128–32, 174–7.

³⁸ ‘Student Supplement’, Br. J. Dent Sci., 1882, 25: 901–27.

³⁹ James Oakley Coles, On deformities of the mouth, congenital and acquired, and their mechanical treatment, London, Churchill, 1870.

⁴⁰ J F Colyer, Notes on the treatment of irregularities in position of the teeth, London, Dental Manufacturing Co., 1900.

⁴¹ J H Badcock, ‘Autobiography of John Henry Badcock’, Br. dent. J., 1954, 96: 25–30.

⁴² Donaldson, op. cit., note 26 above, p. 88.

⁴³ Educational Supplement, Br. dent. J., 1903, 24: xxxii; Educational Supplement, Br. dent. J., 1909, 30: 941.

⁴⁴ Smith and Cottell, op. cit., note 25 above, p. 88.

⁴⁵ Weisz notes that dentistry was, at this time, the one area of medicine in which aspiring practitioners travelled to, rather than from, the United States, for specialist training, op. cit., note 3 above, p. 219.

⁴⁶ H Chapman, ‘Orthodontics—fifty years in retrospect’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1954, 40: 100–16.

⁴⁷ B W Weinberger, ‘Dr Edward Hartley Angle—his influence on orthodontics’, Amer. J. Orthod., 1950, 36: 559–607.

⁴⁸ Chapman, op. cit., note 46 above, p. 112.

⁴⁹ B W Weinberger, ‘The Angle School of Orthodontia’, Amer. J. Orthod., 1949, 33: 298–308. But see also note 31 above.

⁵⁰ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 80. Visick would have been president but for ill-health.

⁵¹ E H Angle, ‘Orthodontia as a speciality’, Dental Cosmos, 1902, 44: 905–10.

⁵² E H Angle, Treatment of malocclusion of the teeth, Philadelphia, SS White Dental Manufacturing Co., 1907. The term “normal occlusion” was to cause much confusion in orthodontics because it did not describe what actually occurred in nature but expressed Angle's concept of what the ideal relationship of the teeth should be. It was, in other words, a concept of the ideal rather than the normal.

⁵³ See, for example, Editorial, ‘Orthodontia and specialism’, Dental Cosmos, 1903, 45: 151–3; and F S McKay, ‘A critical contrast between the new and the old schools in orthodontics’, Items of Interest, 1906, 28: 805–36.

⁵⁴ Editorial, Br. dent. J., 1902, 23: 642.

⁵⁵ Editorial, ‘Specialization in dentistry, and the ethical relations of the specialist to the general practitioner (orthodontics)’, Items of Interest, 1908, 30: 626–9.

⁵⁶ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 307–9.

⁵⁷ Leighton, op. cit., note 5 above, p. 425.

⁵⁸ The first five presidents of the BSSO were all Harley Street or Wimpole Street practitioners. Three of them were medically qualified and a fourth (Northcroft) held an American DDS as well as the LDS, Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 304–12.

⁵⁹ Editorial, ‘Reports of societies: the BSSO’, Br. dent. J., 1907, 28: 1339–40.

⁶⁰ For a full characterization of the ethos of elite London medicine, in the major teaching hospitals and around Harley Street, at the turn of the century, see C Lawrence, ‘Incommunicable knowledge: science, technology and the clinical art in Britain, 1850–1914’, J. Contemp. Hist., 1985, 2: 502–20; also C Lawrence and G Weisz, Greater than the parts: holism in biomedicine, 1920–1950, New York and Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998.

⁶¹ J H Badcock, ‘Presidential address: The study of orthodontia’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1908, 1: 1–5. J H Badcock had both medical and dental qualifications, from Charing Cross Hospital and the London School of Dental Surgery respectively. He spent most of his career in Harley Street.

⁶² Forbes, op. cit., note 14 above, p. 172.

⁶³ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 223.

⁶⁴ Badcock, op. cit., note 61 above, p. 1.

⁶⁵ Williams, op. cit., note 30 above; see also Weisz, op. cit. note 3 above, p. 41.

⁶⁶ Weisz, op. cit., note 3 above, p. xxi, makes what is for him an important analytical distinction between specialization based on knowledge and that based on skill. This distinction would not, however, seem to be necessary to understanding the development of specialization in orthodontics.

⁶⁷ For an account of the position of the general practitioner/specialist in anaesthesia, see G Weisz, ‘Medical directories and medical specialization in France, Britain and the United States’, Bull. Hist. Med., 1997, 71: 23–68.

⁶⁸ H Baldwin, ‘Presidential address’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1912, 5: 2–4.

⁶⁹ F Mellersh, ‘President's address’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1915, 8: 11–13.

⁷⁰ Badcock, op. cit., note 61 above, p. 1; Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 98.

⁷¹ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 94.

⁷² James Sim Wallace graduated in medicine from Glasgow University before moving to London to qualify in dentistry. He also obtained the Glasgow MD and DSc, becoming the first recipient of the latter qualification for dental research.

⁷³ J Sim Wallace, ‘Presidential address: Specialism in relation to the study of orthodontics’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1910, 3: 2–6; Cantor, op. cit., note 17 above, p. 136.

⁷⁴ F B Bull, ‘The teaching of orthodontics’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1915, 8: 26–35. Bull graduated in both dentistry and medicine at Guy's Hospital and became Head of the Children's Department of the Dental School.

⁷⁵ B B Samuel, ‘Suggestions for the formation of a London orthodontic centre’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1916–1921, 9: 17–21. Samuel held hospital appointments at children's hospitals in and around London and was the first consultant dental surgeon to the London County Council.

⁷⁶ J L Payne, ‘Presidential address: Orthodontics’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1921, 10: 5–9.

⁷⁷ S Spokes, ‘President's address’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1922, 11: 5–7.

⁷⁸ S Friel, ‘The practical application of stainless steel in the construction of fixed orthodontic appliances’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1933, 21: 31–55. Related papers by Frank B Bull and Ernest R Rix, Harold Watkin, Norman Gray and Robert Cutler are discussed in Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 263.

⁷⁹ Forbes, op. cit., note 14 above, pp. 179–80.

⁸⁰ At this time, the overwhelming majority of British dentists were male.

⁸¹ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 120.

⁸² G F Cale-Matthews, ‘British Society for the Study of Orthodontics’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1926, 15: 2–9.

⁸³ C I Endicott, ‘The work of the orthodontic department of the Eastman Dental Clinic’, Trans. Br. Soc. Study Orthod., 1938, 27: 68–95.

⁸⁴ For the history and significance of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation, see F Fraser, The British Postgraduate Medical Federation: the first fifteen years, London, Athlone, 1967.

⁸⁵ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 331.

⁸⁶ N Gray, ‘Our opportunity: presidential address’, Trans. Br. Soc, Study Orthod., 1944–45, 31: 22–7.

⁸⁷ S Friel, ‘Postgraduate school for the training of orthodontists’, Brit. dent. J., 1945, 79: 157–60.

⁸⁸ Wallace, op. cit., note 73 above, p. 2.

⁸⁹ F Honigsbaum, The division in British medicine: a history of the separation of general practice from hospital care, 1911–1968, London, Kogan Page, 1979, pp. 301–18.

⁹⁰ Smith and Cottell, op. cit., note 25 above, p. 114; Anon., ‘Obituary, Clifford F Ballard’, Brit. dent. J., 1998, 184: 310. Friel had been appointed to a chair in orthodontics in Trinity College, Dublin, in 1941.

⁹¹ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 221.

⁹² These aspects of the Society's policies are described in detail in Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, pp. 216–23.

⁹³ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, quotes many examples ranging from Badcock and Rushton in the early meetings of the Society until Ballard and John D Hovell in the 1960s.

⁹⁴ Taylor, op. cit., note 2 above, p. 201.

⁹⁵ O Moscucci, The science of woman: gynaecology and gender in England, 1800–1929, Cambridge University Press, 1990; D O Edge and M J Mulkay, Astronomy transformed: the emergence of radio astronomy in Britain, New York and London, Wiley, 1976.