Royal Canadian Dental Corps

Royal Canadian Dental Corps
File:Royal Canadian Dental Corps.jpg
Active	1939–present
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Forces personnel branch
Size	1 headquarters and 26 detachments located in Canada and Europe. Personnel from 1 Dental Unit are also posted to 1 Field Ambulance in Edmonton, AB, 2 Field Ambulance in Petawawa,ON, 5 Field Ambulance in Valcartier, QC, and 1 Canadian Field Hospital in Petawawa, ON.
Motto	Sanitas in Ore
March	"March Past of the Royal Canadian Dental Corps", "Greensleeves"
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	HRH the Duchess of Gloucester
Notable commanders	Colonel John A Armstrong (1915-1919), Brigadier General William R Thompson (1976-1982), and Brigadier General Victor J Lanctis (1993-1996)** Brigadier General Lanctis was the last director general of the CFDS to hold the rank of brigadier general; all after him held the rank of colonel.**

The Royal Canadian Dental Corps (French: Corps dentaire royal canadien) is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Royal Canadian Dental Corps and the Royal Canadian Medical Service are formations of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group (CF H Svcs Gp) within the Military Personnel Command reporting to the Chief of Military Personnel. The branch was previously named the Dental Branch from 1968 to 2013.

Today

1 Dental Unit is composed of military and civilian personnel dedicated to providing world class dental care to the soldiers, sailors, and airmen of the Canadian Armed Forces in both garrison and while deployed overseas.

History

The Canadian Dental Corps was authorized on 31 August 1939. The Regular and Reserve components of the Canadian Dental Corps were collectively redesignated The Royal Canadian Dental Corps on 15 January 1947. The badge of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in this era consisted of a circle of maple leaves, with the Tudor Crown on top. At the centre of the circle is the text "RCDC".

After the Second World War, a series of coloured berets were adopted, with other arms and services wearing midnight blue berets, with a large coloured "flash" in corps colours – emerald green for the Royal Canadian Dental Corps.

Unification

When the Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force were merged in 1968 to form the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Dental Corps and Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps were deactivated and merged with their Naval and Air Force counterparts to form the Dental Branch and the Canadian Forces Medical Service of the Canadian Forces Health Services Group (CF H Svcs Gp). The rifle green beret was adopted as the CF standard.

An announcement dated 9 October 2013 revived the title Royal Canadian Dental Corps for the dental services branch of the Canadian armed forces. “The bestowing and restoration of the Canadian Forces Health Services historical names is an essential part of the government’s commitment to honour the memories of so many brave Canadians who have sacrificed in service to Canada,” said the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Minister of National Defence. “It reinstates an important and recognizable part of our military heritage, as well as a key part of our nation’s identity.”

Mandate

The Canadian Armed Forces website gives this as the vision for the Dental Branch: "The Royal Canadian Dental Corps (RCDC), building upon our proud heritage, will be universally recognized as a premier military dental service capable of providing full spectrum dental care whose progressive actions will directly contribute to CF operational readiness and quality of life."

Related units

This unit was allied with the following:

• Royal Army Dental Corps

Order of precedence

Preceded by Royal Canadian Medical Service

Royal Canadian Dental Corps

Succeeded by Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

External links

• Official website