The preamble to the bill reads:
WHEREAS it is expedient for the protection of the public that there should be, by enactment, be established a certain standard of qualification required by each person practising the profession or calling of dentistry in the province.
WE, THEREFORE, pray that an Act be passed requiring that person so practising shall be examined by a competent Board as to their qualifications to practise the said profession or calling.
The bill was passed on March 4, 1868. It incorporated the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. The College was granted full powers of licensing and regulating dentistry in the province.
This was the first dental act to be adopted anywhere in the world.
RCDSO went on to found the first permanent dental school in Canada in 1875. It began modestly with two teachers – James B. Willmott and Luke Teskey – and 11 students. The school was located over a cabinet shop at 46 Church Street in Toronto.
By 1888, the University of Toronto agreed that graduates from the school would receive the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery if they passed an examination set by the university. The first examinations took place in March 1889. Twenty-five students passed the examinations and received doctorate degrees. These were the first such degrees conferred outside the United States. It remained the only dental school in Canada until 1892.
The school continued to grow and expand, moving several times. By 1924, the building, fittings, and equipment were valued at just under half a million dollars. All of this was supported and funded without any assistance from outside the profession.
In 1924, College members voted by an overwhelming majority to have the dental school become the property of the University of Toronto. The next year the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Toronto was established.