The UK Standing Dental Advisory Committee (1948-2010) with special reference to its Expert Working Party on...

While the British Dental Association initially advised its members against joining the NHS (National Health Service), its success for dentistry was assured by the enthusiastic support of the Incorporated Dental Society Ltd, led by Frederick Ballard. Regarded by the Socialist Medical Association, of which he was a member, as the 'voice of British dentistry', Ballard was one of the first members of the Central Health Services Council set up in 1946 to provide advice to the Government. Subsequently, the Standing Dental Advisory Committee - one of four which Aneurin Bevan set up in 1949 - continued to provide valuable professional advice to successive Ministers of Health until it was abolished by Alan Johnson in 2010.