Royal Dental Hospital, London, Gets Commemoration Plaque
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- Published: Thursday, 30 March 2023 09:50
- Written by Tony Jacobs
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A Westminster Council plaque commemorating the site of the the former Royal Dental Hospital, at 32 Leicester Square in the West End, was unveiled on Wednesday 29th March 2023.
Alumni of the famous dental school, led by colleague Brian Williams, campaigned for several years, and crowdfunding paid for the permanent marker. The unveiling was carried out by Prof Stanley Gelbier, who graduated from RDH in 1961.
The Dental Hospital of London was founded in 1858 at 32 Soho Square by the Odontological Society of London to provide dental care to the poor and training for dental students through the London School of Dental Surgery established in 1859 as the second oldest dental school in the world (Baltimore, USA opened in 1840).
From 1860, it trained students for the LDSRCS, established that year as the first dental qualification.In 1874 the school and hospital moved to 40-41 Leicester Square, and, in 1901 to 32-39. Through the patronage of Edward VII, the title “Royal” was acquired in 1901. It joined London University in 1911.
The Royal has overseen the careers of many people famous in dentistry’s history, some involved in the fight for the LDS and the first Dentists Register. Among many landmarks, nitrous oxide was
demonstrated there in 1868.
In 1979, London University reviewed the expense of dental education. The cost-cutting exercise saw the Royal merge with the United Medical & Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’s in June 1983.
With the unveiling of this Plaque in Leicester Square the Royal has returned to its rightful place in the very heart of London where it will remain from now on, as an historical landmark.
THE ROYAL DENTAL HOSPITAL OF LONDON AND SCHOOL OF DENTAL SURGERY(1858-1985)
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