Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dental Museum

History

The history of the Dental Museum goes back to 1884, when a concerned group of dentists, all trained overseas, formed the Odontological Society of Victoria with the aims of the regulation and education of dentists in this State. At an early meeting the Society decided to develop a library and museum for which 'Mr Blix, a member, gave a cedar wood cabinet'. Sadly, no trace of this cabinet remains today, but the museum still exists, together with some volumes from the original library.

The records of the Odontological Society, whose members took their own microscopes to meetings, are significant in indicating the level of knowledge in the profession in Victoria in the 1880s and the desire for the advancement of learning. The early instruments in the collection were already old when brought to Victoria by the first European settlers and thus the objects in the collection cover a wider time span than the written records. Together, these archives and artefacts dramatically illustrate the changing role of the dentist from tooth-drawer to dental surgeon.

The growth of the collection reflects the leadership of key figures in the training of dentists in Victoria:

| Mr John Iliffe| Professor Frank C. Wilkinson| Professor Sir Arthur B.P. Amies | Professor Emeritus Henry F. Atkinson |

Mr John Iliffe, dentist. Photographed at the time of the Second Australian Dental Congress in 1907 of which he was elected President. Here he is seen here wearing the President's badge.

Mr John Iliffe (1847 - 1914), a member and later President of the Odontological Society of Victoria, was the driving force in negotiations for the regulation of dentistry in this State and the establishment of a hospital and college in Melbourne. Iliffe was the guardian of the Dental Museum through its formative years. Thanks largely to his efforts, the Melbourne Dental Hospital (later the Dental Hospital of Melbourne) opened its doors in Lonsdale Street in 1890 and was followed in 1897 by the Australian College of Dentistry devoted solely to the education of dentists. The Odontological Society of Victoria donated its museum and records to the College, which in 1904 affiliated with the University through the newly created Faculty of Dental Surgery.
Professor Frank C. Wilkinson in academic dress (gown with white facings), photographed with members of the 28th Australian Congress outside Wilson Hall, University of Melbourne, 1924.
 Dr F.C. Wilkinson (1889 - 1979), appointed the first Professor of Dental Science in 1924, was accommodated in the College at 193 Spring Street, Melbourne , where he developed the museum collection further. In his plans for a new dental school, to be built where the University's medical school now stands, Wilkinson included a specific area for a museum.
Professor Sir Arthur B.P. Amies in his office at the School of Dental Science, 711 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, where he was Dean of both the Faculty and the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne.
 Dr A.B.P. Amies (1892 - 1976) was the second professor, succeeding Wilkinson in 1934. During his tenure, ever-increasing demands for teaching space resulted in the packing away of the collection into storage.
Professor Emeritus Henry F. Atkinson, MBE, Honorary Curator of the Dental Museum. Photographed shortly after his retirement in 1978


On his retirement in 1978 Professor Atkinson commenced work on a history of the Melbourne Dental Hospital. The course of this research revealed many previously undiscovered objects and early archival material; the latter is now located in the University of Melbourne Archives.

Professor Atkinson undertook the cataloguing of the object collection and the display of special and historical museum items for teaching and research in dentistry at the University. Plans are now underway for the exhibits in the new Swanston Street building, which will be of interest to patients and the general public, with special changing displays to meet the curriculum needs of dental students.

 

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