{{Short description|Professional body for dentists in the United Kingdom}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}} {{Use British English|date=August 2015}} {{Infobox union | name = | logo_upright = yes | full_name = British Dental Association | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = BDA UK logo.jpg | logo_size = 250x250px | founded = {{Start date and age|1880}} | predecessor = | successor = | dissolved = | merged_into = | num_members = {{decrease}} 15,698<ref>{{cite web |title=BDA Form AR21 for year ended 30 September 2022 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/649acb5cf90109000c81888e/408T_2022.pdf|website=GOV.UK|access-date=9 September 2025}}</ref> | leader_title = Chair | leader_name = Eddie Crouch | publication = British Dental Journal | affiliations = | key_people = {{ubl}} John Tomes (founder) | headquarters = Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8YS | location = United Kingdom | website = [https://www.bda.org/ bda.org] | footnotes = }}

The '''British Dental Association''' ('''BDA''') is a registered trade union<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-list-of-active-trade-unions-official-list-and-schedule/trade-unions-the-current-list-and-schedule |title=Trade unions: the current list and schedule |website=gov.uk |date=14 July 2020 |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=17 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017012212/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-list-of-active-trade-unions-official-list-and-schedule/trade-unions-the-current-list-and-schedule |url-status=live }}</ref> for dentists in the United Kingdom.

Its stated mission is to "promote the interests of members, advance the science, arts and ethics of dentistry and improve the nation's oral health."

==Structure== The majority of the BDA's 16,000 members include high street dentists, working in general practice providing both National Health Service (NHS) and private care, and those working in community and hospital settings, universities and the British armed forces.

The BDA's headquarters is in Wimpole Street, London near Queen's College, London in the City of Westminster and it currently has offices in Stirling, Scotland, Belfast, Northern Ireland and Cardiff, Wales.

==History==

In 1856 two dental societies were founded in Britain: the Odontological Society of London and the College of Dentists of England. The two societies merged in 1863 to form the Odontological Society of Great Britain and joined the Royal Society of Medicine as its Odontological Section in 1907.<ref name="MedHist2005">{{cite journal |last1=Gelbier |first1=Stanley |title=Dentistry and the University of London |journal=Medical History |date=1 Oct 2005 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=445–462 |doi=10.1017/s0025727300009157 |pmid=16562330 |pmc=1251639 }}</ref>

By the 1870s leading dentists including Sir John Tomes and Sir Edwin Saunders (one of Queen Victoria's dentists) formed the Dental Reform Committee, to help bring unity, organisation and code of ethics to the dental profession. This committee campaigned successfully for the first legislation to regulate dentistry, the Dentists Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c. 33), which limited the title of "dentist" and "dental surgeon" to registered practitioners.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gelbier | first1 = Stanley | year = 2005 | title = 125 Years of Developments in Dentistry | journal = British Dental Journal | volume = 199 | issue = 7| pages = 470–473 | doi = 10.1038/sj.bdj.4812875 | pmid = 16215593 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Qualified practitioners and those who could show they had practised dentistry for five years prior to 1878 were the only ones eligible to register.<ref name="BDA ancestors">{{cite web |url=https://bda.org/museum/enquiries/was-your-ancestor-a-dentist |title=BDA Dental Museum: Was your ancestor a dentist? |publisher=British Dental Association |access-date=5 September 2016 |archive-date=5 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105042923/https://www.bda.org/museum/enquiries/was-your-ancestor-a-dentist |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|1}}

The Dental Reform Committee called for a nationwide meeting to establish the BDA in 1879 and established it in 1880. The BDA elected Sir John Tomes as its first President. Much of the BDA's early work involved prosecuting dentists in breach of the Dentists Act 1878.

One active member of the BDA was Charles Edward Wallis, being on the association's representative board for six years. He also wrote extensively for the BDJ.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gelbier |first1=Stanley |last2=Randall |first2=Sheila |date=1982 |title=Charles Edward Wallis and the rise of London's school dental service |journal=Medical History |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=395–404 |doi=10.1017/s0025727300041818 |pmid=6757599 |pmc=1139219}}</ref>

The Dentists Act 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 21) created the Dental Board of the UK to administer the Dentists Register. Thus the BDA was freed from legislation, and rapidly emerged as the leading consultative body and voice for the dental profession.

The 1921 act introduced a provision that only registered individuals could practise dentistry. However, unqualified practitioners were given opportunity to register if they could show they had been practising dentistry for five years prior to 1921. The last unqualified dentist ceased practise during the 1970s.<ref name="BDA ancestors"/>{{rp|2}}

In 1946 Lilian Lindsay became the first female president of the BDA.<ref name="society">{{cite web|url=http://www.bda.org/museum/dental-links/lindsay-society-history-of-dentistry.aspx |title=Lindsay Society for the History of Dentistry |publisher=British Dental Association |access-date=10 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106090521/http://www.bda.org/museum/dental-links/lindsay-society-history-of-dentistry.aspx |archive-date= 6 November 2011 }}</ref>

==British Dental Association Museum== Its museum in Wimpole Street holds the largest collection of dental material in Britain. It includes dental instruments, equipment, furniture, photographs, archives, fine and decorative art. The museum is maintained as a national resource for the dental profession, dental industry, researchers and members of the public and aims to promote an appreciation of dentistry today through an understanding of its past.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bda.org/museum/ |title=The British Dental Museum |website=British Dental Association |access-date=7 June 2022 |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605203745/https://bda.org/museum |url-status=live }}</ref> The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.<ref>{{cite web|title=Medical Museums|url=http://medicalmuseums.org/|website=medicalmuseums.org|access-date=26 August 2016|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109005600/http://medicalmuseums.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The museum also offers an enquiry and research service for individuals wanting to learn more about the history of dentistry or whether their ancestors were dentists. On several occasions the museum has also been used as a professional consultant on television series such as Call the Midwife.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/thebritishdentalassociation/posts/1375945475759804 |title=Don't forget to watch Call the Midwife tonight and look out for a scene portraying 1960s dentistry that we were involved in! |website=Facebook |access-date=7 June 2022 |publisher=British Dental Association |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607025630/https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fthebritishdentalassociation%2Fposts%2F1375945475759804 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==British Dental Association Library== The Robert and Lillian Lindsay Library was opened in 1920. It was founded and organised by Lillian Lindsay, the first woman to qualify as a dentist in the UK.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://bda.org/library/about-the-library| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150415135135/https://www.bda.org/library/about-the-library| archive-date = 2015-04-15| title = Library About us}} </ref> The library is the most comprehensive dental library in Europe, and subscribes to over 200 dental journals and provides members with free Medline searches.

The Library is located at BDA Headquarters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bda.org/library |title=BDA Library |website=British Dental Association |access-date=14 September 2016 |archive-date=15 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415140118/https://www.bda.org/library |url-status=live }}</ref>

It releases peer-reviewed journals published by Nature Research, ''BDJ Team'' and ''British Dental Journal''. The latter was established in 1872 as the ''Monthly Review of Dental Surgery'' and renamed ''Journal of the British Dental Association'' in 1881, before obtaining its current title in 1904. It absorbed the ''Mouth Mirror and Dental Gazette'' (1950) and later the ''Dental Magazine'' (1970). The journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal had a 2020 impact factor of 1.626.<ref name="editorial">{{cite web |url=http://www.journals.elsevier.com/advances-in-space-research/editorial-board/ |title=British Dental Journal |publisher=Nature portfolio}}</ref> Stephen Hancocks is the editor-in-chief for ''BDJ Team''.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the editors |url=http://www.nature.com/bdjteam/about-the-magazine/editors |work=BDJ Team |accessdate=20 January 2015}}</ref> The journal replaced ''Vital'', which was published between 2003 and 2013. Each issue includes one hour of verifiable continuing professional development (CPD) on topics recommended by the General Dental Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=About BDJ Team |url= http://www.nature.com/bdjteam/about-the-magazine |work=BDJ Team |accessdate=20 January 2015}}</ref>

==In popular culture== Arthur Lemming, special investigator for the BDA, is featured in a 1969 ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' sketch.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.montypython.net/scripts/dentist.php| title = Monty Python: Secret Service Dentists| website = Monty Python| access-date = 7 June 2022| archive-date = 3 March 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210303173032/https://montypython.net/scripts/dentist.php| url-status = live}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * * * {{Official website}}

{{authority control}}

British Dental Association Category:Dental organisations based in the United Kingdom Category:Trade unions in the United Kingdom Category:Medical associations based in the United Kingdom Category:Medical museums in London Category:Museums in the City of Westminster Category:Organisations based in the City of Westminster Category:Organizations established in 1880 Category:1880 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Dental museums