The Commonwealth Bureau of Dental Standards evolved from the Dental Materials Research Laboratory (CA ), a body attached to the Faculty of Dental Science of the University of Melbourne and involved in dental materials research since 1934.
 
As a result of the important work done by the Laboratory during World War 2, the National Health and Medical Research Council which had granted funds to the Laboratory from 1939 recommended that it be established on a national basis. On 1 January 1947 the Bureau was established to function on a temporary basis under the control of the Commonwealth Department of Health. The Department of Health took over the Laboratory from the Australian College of Dentistry, the College donating all the equipment it had accumulated. Although formally dissociated from the University in regard to administration, the Bureau was accommodated by the University of Melbourne, first in one of its departmental laboratories and later in a temporary building erected within the university grounds.
 
When the Bureau was formed there was a re-organization of senior staff. Alan R. Docking was appointed Officer-in-Charge and he headed the Bureau until his death in September 1973. At its inception the staff of the Bureau totalled seven people from the professions of chemistry, physics and metallurgy.
 
The Bureau's functions are described in 1954 as:
 
1. Original research into dental equipment, materials, techniques and    processes.
 
2. In consultation with a representative Committee of the Department    of Health, the Australian Dental Association (A.D.A.) and the    Standards Association of Australia, develop specifications for    dental materials and equipment.
 
3. Carry out surveys of dental materials on sale to the profession in    Australia and submit reports to recognized Australia scientific    journals.
 
4. Provide a consultative service and testing facilities for local    manufacturers of dental materials.
 
The Laboratory receives a large range and volume of products from world-wide sources for use on the Australian dental market and tests them against prepared standards and for general assessment. Approved samples are placed on the A.D.A's list of certified products which is used by dentists for selection of their materials.
 
The Bureau functioned on a temporary basis until September 1953 when, as a result of a Federal Cabinet decision, seven permanent positions were created. This permanency involved neither a change in staff or function but was "official recognition of the fact that the service rendered during its first 5 years was of definite value to the dental profession and so ultimately to the community."(1)
 
Materials have always been the main orientation of the Bureau. Initially the work was strictly on dental materials - amalgams, cements and mineral products, denture repairs, synthetic resins, modelling wax, metals and alloys and casting investments. By the early 1970's testing included dental X-ray, various orthodontic (movement of teeth) items of metal and rubber endodontic (treatment of diseases of the tooth pulp) materials, toothbrushes, dental chisels, excavators and probes.
 
Over the years the emphasis has shifted to include biomaterials in the Laboratory's field of research. This involves the biological study of the effect of materials on the body. While dental materials are still predominant, the shift is now toward the testing of general medical materials.
 
Research into medical materials has long been included in the Bureau's work but has played a very minor role. By 1953 when the Bureau had become permanent, materials tested included anaesthetic solutions and medical and surgical instruments such as re-usable and single-use hypodermic syringes, as well as dental materials. Now there is considerably more research on materials and devices of a medical nature such as scalpels and other surgical instruments, hip and knee prostheses, orthopaedic plaster, blood packs, metal surgical implants, the use of plastics for surgical implants and contraceptive devices, all of which are submitted for testing by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
 
The quantities of testing of dental materials has decreased due to an internal change of policy. The Laboratory no longer encourages random submission of materials for accreditation. This is partly because new standards and a scientific approach are already existing in the manufacture of dental products today. Subsequently there is lesser involvement between the Laboratory and the dental profession than in the past. The Laboratory hopes to bring the level of medical materials testing up to that of the dental materials and equipment in the future.
 
The Laboratory is also involved in three other areas. Firstly, it has published a large amount of material on dental standards and on its various research programs. Secondly, in addition to its testing programs the Laboratory offers an advisory service for dentists and their auxiliaries as well as manufacturers and distributors. The final function is in the international sphere. Since its inception the Laboratory has actively participated in the preparation of
international dental standards. Participation is by correspondence and attendance at annual conferences.
 
The Melbourne Laboratory is the only such testing place in Australia. It uses the Therapeutic Goods Act 1966-1973 as its charter and funding and general technical policy are controlled by the Department of Health. The Department also arranges appointments of personnel. Local staff matters, accounts and accommodation are looked after by the Victorian office of the Department.
 
In the 1973/74 financial year, as well as a change of name a new Director, Mr J.B.Ware, was appointed and there was also a significant increase in the Laboratory's staff which permitted an expansion of research and testing work. Today (1980) the staff numbers are 14; 12 technical people and two clerical/administrative officers. As in the past, the Laboratory also caters for post-graduate research students in dentistry, physics, metallurgy and other related fields.
 
Records held by the Laboratory consist of correspondence files covering policy, technical matters relating to the testing of materials, and administrative concerns such as staffing, accounts, and training. The Laboratory also gathers research information; a variety of publications and reprints from dental journals.
 
For the purposes of central office administration, the supervision of the Laboratory was transferred from the Medical Services Division of the Department of Health to the National Biological Standards Laboratory Division on 1 January 1979. The Laboratory is scheduled to move to Canberra in 1984.
 
Reference:
 
1. Commonwealth Department of Health, Bureau of Dental Standards. Sixth    & Seventh Annual Reports 30 June, 1953 - preface.
 
Other Sources:
 
1.  Alan R. Docking, "Twenty Years of Dental Materials Research in     Australia: The Story of the Commonwealth Bureau of Dental     Standards." The Australian Journal of Dentistry, December 1955.  
2.  Year Book of the Commonwealth of Australia, No. 39, 1953, pp.283-     284.
 
3.  Department of Health - Annual Reports - 1978-79 Commonwealth     Parliamentary Paper No. 319 of 1979, pp.99-102; 1973-74
    Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers 1974, Vol.6, pp.91-94.
 
4.  Therapeutic Goods Act 1966-73. Acts of the Australian Parliament 1901-1973, Vol.12, pp.65-79.
 

Historical agency address
1947-1958: University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic
1958-1978: 18 Londsdale Street, Melbourne
1978-    : 240 Langreige Street, Abbotsford, Vic