Dentistry and maxillofacial surgery during the Leningrad siege

Military doctors, including Military Medical Academy named after S.M. Kirov employees, played an important role in the USSR victory over Nazi Germany. This has historical information. However, the work of military dentists in the besieged Leningrad conditions is practically not covered.

To provide information about the professional activities of military dentists and maxillofacial surgeons during the blockade of Leningrad.

The study included official statistical reports on the activities of medical units, research, and dissertations, materials from scientific conferences, as well as books, monographs, and scientific articles that testify to the activities of medical workers during the blockade of Leningrad. During the blockade of Leningrad, the work of military dentists provides an example of complex medical and diagnostic problem intensive solutions against the backdrop of an acute financial, material, and labor resource shortage. Specialized medical care for the maxillofacial wound under the siege of Leningrad was provided in the dental clinic of the Military Medical Academy and evacuation hospitals. A quarter of those wounded in the face simultaneously had lesions in other areas, such as the limbs, ears, nose, and throat organs, eyes, etc. With a significant percentage of severe wounds, a low percentage of fatal cases of wounds in the face, accounting for approximately 1.5% of the total number of wounds. During the blockade of the Neva City, military dentists significantly improved surgical and orthopedic methods of treating maxillofacial wounded and dental patients, which is most fully presented in the 6th volume of the “Experience of Soviet Medicine in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945” (1951), where, among the 22 members of the team of authors, 18 are from Leningrad. According to the Leningrad Front, the total number of military personnel that returned to military service was 8–10% higher than the average percentage of those fully recovered on all fronts in different years of the war.