Twentieth century influences on Queensland dental practice: a tangential view

Political scientists, historians and journalists intermittently suggest that, within the Australian context, public policy and its administration in Queensland are different. Significant evidence suggests that, from colonial times, distance and decentralization have influenced Queenslanders' demographic profiles and collective identity. Using historical analysis to qualify and quantify both the alleged difference and its social significance warrants caution. Nonetheless, some developments in public dental policy and the practice of dentistry across Queensland provide intriguing contrasts. This study, a literature review, uses historical method. The authors focus on pivotal proceedings that affected both the dental profession and dental practice in the twentieth century. These events embraced the genesis and evolution of dental education and influenced fluoride politics and policies controlling the delivery of public dental services. These developments reflected not only the contemporaneous social and political fabric but also the broader influences on Queensland history, namely: area, distance, decentralization, groundwater, isolation and topography. The events and observations in this report lend some support to hypotheses concerning a Queensland difference within the Australian context of public policy and its administration.