The Odonto-Chirurgical Society of Scotland, founded in 1867, is the oldest dental society in the United Kingdom, if not the world, still actively functioning under its original title (the use of the title “Royal” was granted in November 1966) and upholding the original objectives. Its roots are traceable to January 1865, when John Smith invited a few surgeons to meet in the Edinburgh Dental Dispensary, with the purpose of founding a society of persons practising ethical dentistry.
