The Foundation

The initiative for the foundation of an “Europäische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Fluoridforschung und Kariesprophylaxe” (European Working Group for Fluoride Research and Caries Prophylaxis) goes back to the Swiss dentist Hans R. Held. He frequently met with the German dentist Hans Joachim Schmidt (Stuttgart) for making the blueprints to establish the future ORCA.

After the World War II transatlantic scientific isolation both dentists were impressed by reports from the USA on the anti caries effect of fluoride containing drinking water. In the early fiftieth that news coincided with dramatically increasing rates of tooth decay.

In accordance with the foundation protocol the act of “birth” of the later ORCA took place on November 7, 1953, 20:30 in the “Arabic Saloon” of the Hotel Halm, here in Konstanz.

Read the complete history of ORCA (PDF-File, Updated July 2015)