The Dental and Oral Registry
Major Cornell's administration as Curator was signalized by the establishment, in 1933, of the fourth of the registries and the first to be set up as a part of the American Registry of Pathology. The Dental and Oral Pathology Registry added in 1933 was, in a sense, a reactivation of the arrangement of 1895 under which the American Dental Association designated the Museum as the national depository for its dental and oral specimens and materials. Since this designation, there had been periods of activity, and also of inactivity, in carrying out the plan for the deposit of material in the museum. The action taken in 1933 contemplated a different and more active participation of the dental profession in the development of a full-fledged registry, with the working support of a committee of the American Dental Association, headed by Dr. Henry A. Swanson of Washington.
By the end of 1936, the Dental and Oral Pathology Registry had a total of 483 accessions, many of which had been transferred to it from the materials already collected in connection with the earlier registries. The dental registry, however, was not yet "actually functioning" to the same degree of activity as the other registries, even though there had been an official relationship between the Museum and the organized dental profession for 40 years.
In a mimeographed statement, undated but apparently issued in 1939, when there were 808 cases in the Registry, the purposes and intentions of the committee of the Dental Association cooperating with the Museum were outlined along general lines. It was intended to "collect material from, and com- pile data appertaining to, the pathological disturbances of the hard and soft tissues of the oral cavity * * *. All cases of definite or suspected malignancy * * * will be followed by annual inquiry addressed to the contributor for a period of five years." The purpose of the Registry was to furnish consultation service in such cases as could not be diagnosed locally, and to prepare loan collections consisting of microscopic preparations, photographs, lantern slides, and other material of illustrative cases for use in dental schools, societies, and study clubs. It was the expressed desire of the committee to enlarge and modernize the dental exhibit of the Museum "so that it will be of interest, educational value and historic record second to none." 12[1]
- ↑ 12 Ash, James E.: Data for the Preparation of Statement Requested by Dr. E. H. Bruening, undated. On file in historical records of AFIP.
