Military dentistry of the USSR in the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War of 1939–1940

BACKGROUND: The Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War is of interest not only from the side of operational and tactical art and variety of directions of military troop operations but also from the side of material and medical support of troops and sanitary evacuation of the wounded.

AIM: To present data on military dentistry and dentists of the USSR in the Soviet-Finnish (winter) war.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The research materials were official statistical reports on the activities of medical units, research and dissertation works, regulatory legal documents, materials of scientific conferences, books, monographs, and scientific articles testifying to the activities of medical workers during the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War.

RESULTS: The study of archival documents made it possible to establish that the main burden on the organization of medical care for the wounded during the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War was assigned to the Department of Dentistry of the Military Medical Academy. Given the combat experience of military dentists in the areas of Lake Khasan and Khalkhin-Gol River during the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War, they created models of standard transport bandages for the upper and lower jaws. They also developed instructions and manuals on the surgical treatment of gunshot wounds of the maxillofacial region at the stages of medical evacuation, features of treatment, nutrition, and care of maxillofacial wounds in front conditions, which, according to eyewitnesses of that time, was a real problem.

CONCLUSION: The experience of military dentists in the combat area of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War has brought lots of new things to maxillofacial surgery and traumatology from the point of view of organizational and therapeutic.