Oral Health Victoria (previously known as The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne 1969-1995; Dental Health Services Victoria 1995-2025)

Full description

First established in 1890 by the Dental Association of Victoria, The Melbourne Dental Hospital at 225 Lonsdale Street was formed to provide free or low-cost dental treatment for Melbourne's poor and to provide teaching resources for dental education.

The hospital was incorporated by Order-in-Council made the 17 August 1897 under the Hospitals and Charities Act 1890. Also that year, the hospital's teaching capabilities expanded with the establishment of the Australian College of Dentistry. Both the Hospital and the College shared administrative staff and management committee members.

In 1904 the University of Melbourne established a Faculty of Dental Science and the College became affiliated. In 1907 the Hospital and College moved to a purpose built-facility in 193 Spring Street both designed and financed by the College with the Hospital as tenants.

Management, administration and operation of the two organisations became intertwined during the first part of the twentieth century with the Hospital effectively being managed by the College. In an attempt separate the two organisations in 1926, a state government committee proposed the establishment of a new Dental College in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Melbourne while the Dental Hospital would be incorporated into The (Royal) Melbourne Hospital. While the proposal was accepted and implemented by 1929, separation was effectively in name only as the organisations continued to share staff, resources and committee members.

In 1934 planning began for a new, purpose-built dental hospital in Parkville opposite The Royal Melbourne Hospital. After several decades of negotiation between the hospital and the Hospitals and Charities Commission, organisational restructuring at the University of Melbourne Medical Faculty, and delays caused by World War II, the new premises of The Dental Hospital of Melbourne opened in 1963. While the site was jointly owned, the hospital was responsible for patient care while the faculty was  responsible for teaching, allowing the two organisations to be more practically separated.

In 1942 the hospital name changed to The Dental Hospital of Melbourne, then was again renamed The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne (RDHM) by royal charter on 8 July 1969, effective 29 October 1969.

The hospital was officially renamed Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) by Order-in-Council made 19 December 1995 under the Health Services Act 1988, Section 8(1), although the hospital continued to operate under The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne title as the DHSV's provider of dental services.

Along with the operation of RDHM, DHSV became responsible for the purchase and distribution of community dental services throughout Victoria. DHSV also began contributing to the education of oral health professionals, development and promotion of oral health programs, oral health research, policy, funding and service development.

DHSV continues to operate RDHM as a teaching hospital and has partnerships with The University of Melbourne, RMIT University and LaTrobe University. The hospital moved to its current site in Carlton in 2003.

In 2025, Dental Health Services Victoria was renamed Oral Health Victoria (Victoria Government Gazette G26, 26 June 2025 pp. 1401). This change was made to reflect the expanded scope of work done by DHSV. This includes providing healthcare, running prevention and population health programs, and conducting policy and research work.

Due its complex administrative history, many of the hospital's records are in the custody of the University of Melbourne Archives.