Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School established in 1878 in a joint venture by the Edinburgh Dental Dispensary and the Scottish Dental Education Committee, following the 1878 Dentists Act. In 1948 the school became part of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Edinburgh and graduating students were awarded the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery. The building the hospital and school occupied in Chambers Street, Edinburgh until it closed in 1994 was opened in 1927. The decision to close the school was taken in 1989 as part of a UK-wide reduction in dental student numbers. The tusks adorning a Scottish thistle in the original version of the tie, thought to have been produced in maroon as well as green (21231 – condition, worn) is reproduced in the design of the tie, believed to have been introduced in the 1960’s (19937 – condition, good). The tusks – a possible link to a complete elephant skeleton which was housed in the entrance to the University of Edinburgh Medical School where dental students received instruction in basic sciences, together with medical and, for certain subjects, veterinary students.