When the author studied at the Royal Dental Hospital from 1957 to 1961, John Hovell was a highly respected teacher and consultant, very popular with both patients and undergraduates. Hovell uniquely practised two widely different specialties at consultant level: oral surgery and orthodontics. Moreover, his story is one of a great dental clinician, a dental politician and a charismatic and caring man.
Hovell J. Curriculum vitae attached to letter of application for a post at St Thomas’ Hospital, 11 March 1946.
4.
ESB [Edward or Eddy S Broadway]. Obituary: John Herbert Hovell, FDS MRCS LRCP LDS DOrth. British Dental Journal1988; 164: 415–415.
5.
At that time, full-time staff worked for 12 hours per week, that is for 11 sessions.
6.
Hovell S, Personal communication, 26 September 2010.
7.
Formed in 1921, it became the ‘Royal’ Army Dental Corps in November 1946.
8.
Chapman CW. Two world wars and the years between. In AF Wallace. The History of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons: the first 40 years. London: Churchill Livingstone, 1987, pp.1–11, quoted by Murray Meikle, Personal communication, October 2009.
9.
WakeMJCHovellJH. The man. British Journal ofOral and Maxillofacial Surgery1991; 29: 399–403, 400.
10.
ESB (op. cit., Ref. 4), fn 4.
11.
HovellJH. Dental sepsis in war. The Medical Press and Circular1941; 205: 119–119.
12.
Hovell JH. Trismus following war injuries. BDJ Services Supplement 1945; 79: 40–44.
13.
Hovell S (op. cit. ref. 6).
14.
Hovell JH. Letter to St Thomas’ Hospital, 11 March 1946, written from 12 Chandos Street.
15.
Professor H Stobie, Dean of RDH, letter to St Thomas’ Hospital.
16.
An abnormal increased distance between the eyes seen in various syndromes.
17.
Wake M, Personal communication.
18.
Hovell S, op. cit., fn 13.
19.
The Territorial Decoration (TD) was instituted in 1908 for officers of the Territorial Force to recognize 20 years service, non-commissioned service counting as half. It was replaced in 1930 by the Territorial Efficiency Decoration. See http://www.britishmedals.info/territorial _decoration.html (accessed 19 September 2013).
20.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 401.
21.
Later Professor of Orthodontics at Guy’s Hospital.
22.
ESB (op. cit., Ref. 4), fn 4.
23.
Although they were the first post-war courses, both the London Hospital and the Eastman mounted some before the war. S Taylor, A personal memory, 26 October 2009.
24.
RoseJCampbellACEirewHL. A History of the British Orthodontic Societies (1907–1994), London: BOS, 2002, pp. 22–22.
25.
HendersonD. Orthognathic surgery: perspectively and prospectively. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery1991; 29: 404–411.
26.
DD [David Downton]. Obituary: John Herbert Hovell T.D., F.R.C. S., F.D.R.C.S. (Eng), F.F.D.R.C.S.(I), D.Orth. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery1989; 27: 88–88.
27.
Willmott D, Personal communication, October 2009.
28.
Bradley J. Personal communication. Later he was Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon to the Burnley, Bury, Bolton and Blackburn Hospitals.
29.
Winstock became Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at Edgware General Hospital, Middlesex.
30.
RayneJThe Hospitals Group. In: CohenRA (ed). The advance of the dental profession: a centenary history, 1880–1980, London: British Dental Association, 1979, pp. 145–148, 145.
31.
Association Honours. British Dental Journal1980; 149: 2–2.
32.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 401.
33.
The Royal College of Surgeons of England. British Dental Journal1962; 113: 36–36.
34.
Royal College of Surgeons of England: election to Fellowships. British Dental Journal1978; 144: 266–266.
35.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 400.
36.
Hovell JH. Election address. British Dental Journal1956; 100: 327–327.
37.
Hovell JH. Election address. British Dental Journal1961; 110: 368–369.
38.
Gelbier S. Dental dressers: 1920–1942. Dental Historian2006; 42: 27–46.
39.
Hindley-SmithD. General dental council: preliminary results on the election of members to the council. British Dental Journal1961; 111: 40–41.
40.
Rose et al., op. cit., Ref. 24, fn 24, p. 22.
41.
Wake M, op. cit. Ref. 17.
42.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 401.
43.
Form submitted by Hovell to BDA prior to award of Honorary Fellowship.
44.
HuntingP. The history of the Royal Society of Medicine, London: RSM Press Ltd, 2002, pp. 243–243.
45.
Armed Forces Medical Advisory Board. British Dental Journal1978; 138: 414–414.
46.
Stuart Taylor’s notes taken at the meeting, Personal communication.
47.
HovellJH. A working model to aid in teaching orthodontic diagnosis. Transactions of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics1949; 35: 42–42.
48.
HovellJH. Aetiological approach to orthodontic diagnosis. Transactions of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics1950; 36: 25–41.
49.
HovellJH. The new look in orthodontics. Transactions of the British Society for the Study of Othodontics1956; 42: 15–22.
50.
HovellJH. Some surgical procedures related to orthodontic treatment. Transactions of the British Society for the Study of Orthodontics1958; 44: 21–30.
51.
Hovell, 1956, op. cit., fn 48.
52.
Hovell, 1956, op. cit., fn 49.
53.
Edward Hartley Angle was the American responsible for the development of the specialty of orthodontics. He set up a School of Orthodontia that attracted many prominent dentists from across the world, many of whom became prominent orthodontists in their own countries. He classified malocclusion and became known as the ‘father of orthodontics’.
54.
Taylor, op. cit., fn 44.
55.
This was long before the current emphasis on evidence-based dentistry.
56.
Then responsible for paying NHS dentists.
57.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 402.
58.
HovellJH. Some surgical procedures related to orthodontic treatment. Dental Practitioner1956; 9: 21–21.
59.
WaltherDP. Orthodontic notes, 1st ed. Bristol: John Wright & Sons, Ltd, 1960, pp. 198–198.
60.
GS Taylor, who became a Consultant Orthodontist, said it coincided with him taking the DOrth examination. He thought the chapters were good then and ‘present trainees could still benefit from reading them’.
61.
HovellJH. Recent advances in orthodontics. British Dental Journal1955; 98: 114–122.
62.
HovellJH. Condylar hyperplasia. British Journal of Oral Surgery1963; 1: 105–111.
63.
HovellJH. Varieties of mandibular form. Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England1965; 37: 1–1.
64.
Hovell S (op. cit. Ref. 6).
65.
Wake M, Personal communication, June 2010.
66.
Ibid.
67.
Many are now held at the Imperial War Museum in London where they can be consulted.
68.
Hovell P. Personal communication, July 2010.
69.
Medical Directory, 1978, p. 1274.
70.
Henderson D. Personal communication, 16 November 2009.
71.
Obituary: John Herbert Hovell. The Times, 22 August 1980.
72.
ESB [Edward S Broadway]. Obituary: John Herbert Hovell, FDS MRCS LRCP LDS DOrth. British Dental Journal 1988; 165: 418.
73.
Professor James Moss, personal communication, 15 October 2009.
74.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 400.
75.
Bradley J. Personal communication, 27 November 2009.
76.
Wake, op. cit., fn 9, p. 402.
77.
Bradley, op cit., fn 72.
78.
Wake M, op. cit. Ref. 17.
79.
Notice ‘12 April 1991, Brighton England’. British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery1990; 28: 424–424.
