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Story: Dental care

Wartime dentistry: dental technician in Italy, Second World War

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Wartime dentistry: dental technician in Italy, Second World War

F. W. Ward, a dental mechanic from Blenheim in the New Zealand Mobile Dental Unit, works on a set of false teeth in a tent in Italy in September 1944. Dental technicians provided a crucial service for servicemen during the Second World War, as many soldiers had false teeth and repairs were often necessary. Sometimes extractions required the fitting of new sets of false teeth.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, War History Collection (DA-01514)

Reference: DA-06629-F

by George Kaye

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, Dental care – Wartime and state-supported dental care, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/30588/wartime-dentistry-dental-technician-in-italy-second-world-war (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Andrew Schmidt and Susan Moffat, published 29 March 2011.