Tales from Te Papa - Dental Nurse Equipment

"The murder house" became a popular term for going to the dental clinic, and the first documented use of the phrase "murder house" was in 1964.

– Te Papa curator Kirstie Ross describes the history of an infamous phrase

The upskilling of women to provide dental care in schools was not supported by everyone. Numerous meetings were held around the country and submissions were made to the government opposing the training of women to perform dentist’s work.

– NZ History article on reaction to female dental nurse trainees in the 1920s

In 1912, medical inspections in schools, introduced by the government, revealed that 72% of Standard Two children were suffering from ‘defective teeth’.

– Writers Andrew Schmidt & Susan Moffat, in a Te Ara article on dental care in New Zealand