Agent TypeOrganisationActivities & OccupationsAuxiliariesHistoryThe Dental Hospital Auxiliary, also known as the Royal Dental Hospital Auxiliary, commenced in 1926 amongst the wives of members of the dental profession when every effort was being expended to establish a dental hospital in Melbourne to educate dentists and 'treat the deserving poor'. The Auxiliary, affectionately referred to as 'the Ladies', organised voluntary fundraising events towards the larger goals of the profession. These events were initially slide shows or cinema nights, but in the 1930s fundraising began to concentrate on the collection of waste amalgum from dental practices for sale to precious metal refiners. The Auxiliary enthused its members to contact dentists across the state of Victoria, but had their greatest success amongst the Melbourne city practitioners. Collection of waste amalgum remained the most successful fundraising effort of the Auxiliary into the 1990s, when revenue began to fall due to the introduction of new technologies into dentistry. The Auxiliary continued with less remunerative events, but the Auxiliary disbanded with a ceremony on 7th March 2008 at the Royal Dental Hospital, 720 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Atkinson, Henry F., 'The Ladies Auxiliary 1926-2008', Dent-al: Alumni newsletter [of the School of Dental Science, University of Melbourne], issue 10, 2008, pp. 8-9.
![[2011.0055] Records of the Dental Hospital Auxiliary](/img/placeholder.gif?1761251355 "[2011.0055] Records of the Dental Hospital Auxiliary")