Abstract
This special issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand is dedicated to the field of dentistry. The cover art is inspired by four sculptures that adorn the exterior of the Walsh Building at the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry. The artwork has four parts, which are dedicated ‘To the art of dentistry’, ‘To the physical sciences’, ‘To the medical sciences’, and ‘To the biological sciences’. This aptly illustrates that dentistry, and dental research, encompasses a wide range of disciplines from the arts and sciences.