The national voice of Filipino dentistry

This badge is indicative of a sacred person not to be molested — a magical potency for protection, used as a “King’s Scepter” or stick on sleeves. The original form of a Caduceus was a branch with two twigs growing at the top like a dowser’s rod. These twigs were then pulled down and entwined around the main branch. The Orientals had their own interpretation, whereas the twigs became snakes… somewhat like the staff carried by Aesculapius (Gr. Asklepias), the “Originator of Medicine,” honored as a hero of Athens and eventually as a god. Temples known as Aesculapias were erected in many parts of Greece, particularly in the high mountains — it was at one such Aesculapia that Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” was born.

Aesculapius was a Greek “God of Medicine” who lived about the 12th or 13th century B.C. His father was Apollo, the “Sun God” and god of healing; his mother, the nymph Cronis. The ancient people connected the sun to the curing of disease. The great Greek poet Homer mentioned Aesculapius in his Iliad as a skillful physician who could restore life to the dead — until Zeus, fearing he might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt. Aesculapius’ symbol was a serpent entwined around a staff.

Another myth traces the Caduceus to Hermes, known to the Romans as Mercury, messenger of the Gods. He owned a lyre that Apollo — god of manly youth and beauty, poetry, oracles, healing and music — wanted so badly he traded his own magic wand for it, a wand said to influence all things and bestow wealth and good fortune. This was the first Caduceus: an olive branch bound with garlands. One day, Hermes came upon two serpents fighting and separated them with this wand. Those two serpents are still seen today, entwined around a staff on medical and dental insignias — representing goodness, wisdom, and the power to heal. The wings at the top represent Mercury’s speed as messenger of the Gods.

The PDA logo has undergone an evolutionary process. Before World War II, the Caduceus — with its winged staff and intertwined serpents — was frequently used in the United States as a medical emblem, though without real medical relevance, since it originally represented the wand of Hermes as patron of traders. Dentistry adopted the emblem and added the letter “D.” The earliest copy of the PDA Journal in the author’s possession, dated May 1952, shows the logo as a staff with a serpent entwined and two sprigs with leaves at its base, enclosed by an equilateral triangle — its base representing Education, and its two sides, Organization and Licensure — all encircled by the words “Philippine Dental Association” and, at the bottom, “Founded in 1908.”

Since the Journal was first published in 1948, the same logo likely appeared even earlier; its last appearance was in August 1961. A new design debuted in the September 1961 issue: a staff with an entwined serpent — the “Dahong Palay,” a poisonous Philippine snake — over crossed Sampaguita sprigs. Four sets of leaves on each side (16 in total) represented half the human permanent dentition, and five Sampaguita flowers on each side represented half the temporary dentition (permanent and temporary sets totaling 32 and 20 teeth, respectively). For the first time, the Tagalog letter “Da” appeared between the staff and the sprigs — reputedly borrowed from the pre-Hispanic Alibata (or Baybayin), the basis of the modern Filipino alphabet, and still in use among the Mangyans of Mindoro and other ethnic groups today. “Da” stands for Dentistry. The triangle disappeared, but the encircling words “Philippine Dental Association” remained, with “1908” and three stars — for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao — below. This design was adapted, with minor modification, from the insignia of the Armed Forces Dental Service, approved by the Heraldry Committee, Office of the President, in 1956. The Journal lapsed after its July–September 1986 issue and resumed in June–August 1988 with yet another configuration — sprigs now pointed, leaves and flowers less distinct. The DDM Journal served as the PDA’s official organ from 1990 to March 1991 (three issues).

A further variation appeared in the June–August 1989 issue: essentially the same design, but with the Sampaguita sprigs moved to the sides of the staff, serpent, and letter “Da,” with “1908” separating them at the bottom. This version carried eight sets of leaves per side (32 total) and seven Sampaguita flowers per side (14 total) — apparently meant, again, to represent the permanent and temporary dentitions. But the count doesn’t quite hold: temporary dentition totals 20 teeth, or 10 per side, not 7.

As noted at the outset, the writer has observed real variation in how the logo has been represented — not only across Journal issues, but in banners, publications, and stationery from the Association, its chapters, and its affiliates. Even the color schemes appear in confusingly various hues. The local color and symbolism, as best the author recalls, were those approved by the Heraldry Committee in 1956 for the Armed Forces Dental Service upon its separation from the Medical Service — later adopted by PDA with minor modifications, and endowed throughout with genuine nationalistic fervor.