PREFACE.

The UNITED STATES NAVAL MEDICAL BULLETIN was first issued in April, 1907, as a means of supplying medical officers of the United States Navy with information regarding the advances which are continually being made in the medical sciences, and as a medium for the publication of accounts of special researches, observations, or experiences of individual medical officers.

It is the aim of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery to furnish in each issue special articles relating to naval medicine, descriptions of suggested devices, clinical notes on interesting cases, editorial comment on current medical literature of special professional interest to the naval medical officer, reports from various sources, historical essays, notes and comments on topics of medical interest, and reviews or notices of the latest published medical books.

The bureau extends an invitation to all medical officers to prepare and forward, with a view to publication, contributions on subjects of interest to naval medical officers.

In order that each service contributor may receive due credit for his efforts in preparing matter for the BULLETIN of distinct originality and special merit, the Surgeon General of the Navy will recommend that a letter of commendation be forwarded to him upon the acceptance of his manuscript for publication, and that a copy of this letter be attached to his official record.

The bureau does not necessarily undertake to indorse all views or opinions which may be expressed in the pages of this publication.

E. R. STITT,

Surgeon General United States Navy.

V

NOTICE TO SERVICE CONTRIBUTORS.

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The BULLETIN intends to print only original articles, translations, in whole or in part, reviews, and reports and notices of Government or departmental activities, official announcements, etc. All original contributions are accepted on the assumption that they have not appeared previously and are not to be reprinted elsewhere without an understanding to that effect.

The Navy Dental School opened February 3, 1923, as the dental department of the United States Naval Medical School.

Its purpose is to furnish post graduate instruction in dental medicine to officers of the Dental Corps of the Navy and to train and equip men of the Hospital Corps as assistants to dental officers.

Instruction is given in two courses of four months each, commencing in February and September.

The establishment of the school is the result of a recognition of the value of dentistry in the Navy as a factor in assisting to preserve the health of the personnel and an appreciation of the importance of furnishing the highest class of dental skill that the profession affords.

The school is located on the grounds of the United States Naval Hospital at Washington, D. C., in a building devoted to other uses during the war which has been adapted to the requirements of the instruction to be given.

No dental institution in this country is better equipped with instruments and appliances for carrying on dental instruction. Only the most modern and well-tried equipment has been installed, and only a sufficient amount has been purchased to meet present needs and to allow for the addition of future improvements if such are developed. The situation of the dental school, in close proximity to the main building of the United States Naval Medical School, is such that its students have the benefit of instruction in basic medical subjects at the medical school proper. These subjects are taught by the officers of the medical school faculty in connection with the instruction given to medical officers of the regular class. The facilities of the medical school proper are at the disposal of student dental officers, and the joint instruction in bacteriology, medical diagnosis, and similar subjects, the use of the museum of classified material, etc., is invaluable.

A department of considerable importance to the school is the prosthetic laboratory maintained to care for the needs of the service in respect to the construction of prosthetic appliances and to provide

instruction to both officers and hospital corpsmen in this branch of dentistry.

The Surgeon General has authorized the construction in this laboratory of crowns, bridges, artificial dentures, and all other appliances in which the use of precious metals may be required, to be furnished patients at Government expense and at the discretion of the senior dental officer in charge with a view toward determining the expense which would be involved in extending this class of dentistry to the entire service.

The operating clinic and surgical department, in addition to furnishing a means for instruction in operative dentistry and oral hygiene, furnishes dental service to the naval hospital.

The first class under instruction is composed of 5 dental officers and 10 hospital corpsmen, the latter to be trained as dental technicians and assigned to dental duty only. It is expected that subsequent classes will bear about the same ratio to the size of the Dental Corps.

DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL BUILDING.

The Navy Dental School is housed in a one-story building erected as a part of the general expansion of the United States Naval Hospital, Washington, D. C., during the war, and turned over to the Naval Medical School some time ago to accommodate the activities of the proposed dental school and the school of aviation medicine.

It is situated on the grounds of the hospital reservation somewhat below the level of the hospital proper, on the river side, and faces the new Lincoln Memorial.

The school proper consists of a small waiting room and business office, from which there are two swinging doors opening on either side into the two largest departments of the school. The operating clinic on the right of the entrance is a room approximately 25 by 40 feet in size, containing a railed inclosure and desks for the officer in charge and the dental nurse. Facing these desks is a row of five electrodental operating units with chairs, cabinets, operating stands, etc., each unit representing a complete dental office in itself operating independently and according to a set standard. The position of all chairs and other equipment is exactly the same; each has its own sterilizer, waste receiver, light, etc.; and every instrument used has its own place to which it is returned after use. Electrodental units and chairs are finished in mahogany; other equipment is in white enamel and nickled steel.

The floor is covered with linoleum, which furnishes the required amount of resiliency and dispenses with rubber operating mats. A