Ethics; 'in consideration of the love he bears.' Apprenticeship in the nineteenth century, and the development of professional ethics in dentistry. Part 1. The practical reality.

This paper takes a look at the ancient institution of apprenticeship. In doing so it regards the conventions of the scheme as having had a positive influence on the morality, legal identity, and professional allegiance of dentists during the ethical development of their profession in the nineteenth century. Two important effects can be detected from the records available. One is general, since the moral ground of apprenticeship derived from, and spread throughout, society, and the other is particular to the development of dentistry as a profession, as those who were apprenticed to dentists acquired a natural loyalty to their dentist Masters in person, and to their craft.