Dentistry in the Philippines

Events/Artifacts (north to south) Events/Artifacts Artifacts Dentistry in the Philippines can be divided into five periods of dental practice.

Their crude and "queer methods" of pulling out teeth from patients involved the use of fingers and nail pliers.

A professional regulating body was also non-existent to oversee the field of dental practice during that time period.

[2] The first dentist in Spanish Philippines to open a dental clinic to practice true dentistry was José "Capitan Cheng-cheng" Arevalo.

Arevalo later became a partner of Monsiuer M. Fertri, a dentist from France, who opened another dental clinic in Quiapo, Manila,[1] in 1858, after residing in Hong Kong.

[2] The development of dentistry as a profession started when the University of Santo Tomas offered a special course with a basic curriculum[1] to train cirujano ministrantes[2] (plural of cirujano ministrante, literally meaning "one who administers surgery").

[4] The first school of dentistry in the Philippines -The year 1913 marked the beginning of the De Ocampo Memorial College.

2462, the appointment of the members of the Board of Dental Examiners were relegated to the Director of Health and is to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

3680 and 3681, in relation to reciprocity and removal of age requirement respectively for taking the dental licensure tests.

Only a few number of dentists in the Philippines practiced their profession during the war and the occupation, often using resourcefulness due to insufficient availability of dental supplies.

Ten years before the war, there was a steady supply of dental materials and equipment from the United States.

After the war, dentists in the Philippines who survived the occupation returned to practicing their profession.

[2] In 1948, the Board of Dental Examiners became an independent regulatory body due to Philippine Republic Act No.

The board was later given the "authority to issue, suspend or revoke certificates of registration and the power to administer oaths and oversee dental education requirements" after the enactment of The Philippine Dental Act of 1965 (Republic Act No.

[1] There were Filipino dentists who excelled in the field of dentistry during the Philippine-Republics era: among them were Dr. Victorino G. Villa and Dr. Luz C. Macapanpan.

Villa wrote an article about detino-enamel and other research papers that were published in the United States.

Serving multiple Philippine presidents, he is remembered for his engaging lectures and love of music.