WWI Canadian Army Dental Corps Collar Tab

WWI Canadian Army Dental Corps Collar Tab - Pickled copper, unmarked, 29 mm x 29.8 mm, intact lugs and pin, extremely fine. Footnote: The medical standards of the Canadian Army were very rigid and numerous recruits were turned away due to poor teeth. In 1915, the Canadian Dental Association approached Sir Samuel Hughes, Minister of Militia, offering to establish a dental corps within the army to remedy this situation. It is believed that the Canadian Army Dental Corps was the first corps of its kind. The first draft consisted of some 27 officers, all dental surgeons, 35 NCOs, who were dental technicians, and 40 privates. It is estimated that nearly 2.5 million dental procedures were performed during the war in England and France alone. At the war's end, every returning soldier was given dental treatment.