As far back as the seventeenth century instruments for the extraction and scaling of teeth had been included in military surgeons’ chests, but there were to be no uniformed dentists in the Army until after the start of the First World War. The Army deployed to France in 1914 without any dental officers, however, within two months of General Haigh suffering toothache during the first battle of the Aisne in September 1914, six dental officers had been commissioned and sent to France. By the end of the year twenty dental officers were serving in France and by the end of the war 892 Army dental officers were looking after the needs of both the Army and the newly formed RAF.

On 4th January 1921, King George V signed the Royal Warrant authorising the formation of The Army Dental Corps (AD Corps).

Demobilisation saw most dental officers return to civilian practice. Their need in the Army, however, had been established. In 1919 The British Dental Association lobbied the War Office for the formation of a Dental Corps and proposed the structure for such a Corps. This was accepted by the War Office and the Treasury. In February 1920, the Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill, presented the Army estimates for 1920/21 to Parliament, including the intention to form an Army Dental Corps.

On 4th January 1921, King George V signed the Royal Warrant authorising the formation of The Army Dental Corps (AD Corps).

Through the provision of dental treatment and education in oral hygiene the dental condition of the Army began to show marked improvement. The first operational deployments for members of the Corps came immediately in the form of the 1921-24 Waziristan Campaign in the Indian North-West Frontier Province followed in 1927 with the deployment of dental teams as part of the Shanghai Defence Force. 1928 saw the first dental officer commissioned into the TA and in 1930 the responsibility for the RAF ceased with the formation of the RAF Dental Branch and the transfer of a number of personnel to the RAF in order to form the nucleus of the new Branch.

In recognition for its services during the war, in 1946, the Corps was granted the Regimental Honour of ROYAL from which time it became the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC).

By 1939 the AD Corps had almost doubled in size with dental centres in garrisons across the UK and overseas as well as teams in military hospitals and field medical units. The Second World War was to see an over ten-fold increase in the Corps’ size, at its height rising to 2143 dental officers, 3833 soldiers and 267 Auxiliary Territorial Service as dental clerk-orderlies in the Home Commands. The dental officer strength represented one in every seven dentists registered in the UK at the time.

Whilst the major effort was in treating the vast number of new recruits, personnel were also deployed overseas to garrison dental centres as well as in large numbers to field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, hospitals, field dental centres, field dental laboratories and mobile dental units. A number of personnel were killed or wounded in action and others were taken prisoner of war. Two dental officers ended up in Colditz and Pte Coe, a dental mechanic, successfully escaped from a Camp in Poland to become the first British Prisoner of War to escape from a WW2 PoW Camp and complete the ‘home run’ back to the UK. He was awarded the DCM at a private audience with the King. Four dental officers won the Military Cross for their actions during the invasion of Sicily; the beach landings on D-Day; crossing the Rhine on Operation PLUNDER; and in the battle of Kohima.

In recognition for its services during the war, in 1946, the Corps was granted the Regimental Honour of ROYAL from which time it became the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC).

In 1948, with the advent of the NHS, the Corps’ role was expanded to include dental care to military families and other entitled civilians stationed overseas. During the Cold War, with the Army’s focus on NW Europe, a large proportion of the Corps was to be stationed in Germany for the next 60 years. Outside NW Europe the last 70+ years has seen the RADC deployed in support of the Army on a wide variety of operations including Palestine, the Malayan Emergency, Korean War, Mau Mau Uprising, Cyprus, Suez Crisis, Brunei Revolt, Borneo confrontation, Aden, Northern Ireland, Falklands War.

Whilst the fall of the Berlin wall signalled the end of the Cold War, conflicts elsewhere in the world soon saw the RADC deployed in other Theatres.

Whilst the fall of the Berlin wall signalled the end of the Cold War, conflicts elsewhere in the world soon saw the RADC deployed in other Theatres in support of the Army in the First Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in peacekeeping operations in Angola, the Balkans and South Sudan and on humanitarian aid deployments such as the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Recent events have also seen them involved with the military and NHS response to the Covid-19 crisis.

In 1996 the Headquarters of the three Service Dental Branches combined to form the Defence Dental Agency (DDA). In the early 2000s the DDA was changed to the Defence Dental Services under the Surgeon General and after further restructuring now forms the dental element of Defence Primary Healthcare (DPHC(D)). Throughout these changes the RADC and its RN and RAF colleagues have retained their single Service identities whilst benefitting from efficiencies in combined training, policy making and resourcing. RADC personnel not only continue to serve in the Firm Base as part of DPHC(D) but also in Medical Regiments of the Field Army where they occupy both clinical and command/staff appointments.

Recent events have also seen them involved with the military and NHS response to the Covid-19 crisis, providing emergency care for Ukrainian soldiers training in the UK and in ceremonial duties as part of the King’s Coronation.