Name/TitleEquipment: Dental Student’s Conservation Kit
About this objectThis green painted wooden case is purpose built with lockable side access panel. The drawers inside are of differing depths for the dental instruments and equipment. Many instruments remain in their drawer partitions, very few original items with majority replaced after a succession of student use.
Paperwork from the first owner of this particular conservation kit was stored in the top shelf describes the layout of the drawers and the equipment allocated to each drawer is detailed; handwritten values and prices could be for the resale of the kit to the next dental student.
Known by the abbreviation “cons kit”, each dental student would purchase a new or second hand kit at the beginning of their training. Each student then provided their own equipment for their procedures in the Dental School Clinic. In the photo from the Adelaide Dental School, circa 1967, the cons kit can be seen in the cupboard system to the right of the chair.
Date MadeCa 1940
Medium and Materialswood, metal, rubber, paper
Measurements37cm long x 30 cm high
Subject and Association KeywordsSouth Australian Dental Society (S.A.D.S)
Object TypeEquipment
Object numberAR#3773





