[Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Nottingham City.

  • Nottingham (England). City Council.
Date:
1969
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1969] / School Medical Officer of Health, Nottingham City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/48 (page 6)
    THE SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE Report by Mr. N. H. Whitehousc, Principal School Dental Officer. Staffing: On 3 i st December, 1969, the dental staff consisted of:- Salaried Sessional Principal School Dental Officer 1 0 ( - ) — ( ~) Orthodontist •4 ( -4) •1 ( - ) Dental Officers 4-9 (30) 1-2 (13) 6-3 (3-4) 1-3 (1-3) Medical Officers (dental anaesthetists) “ ( - ) •6 ( 5) Dental Auxiliaries .. 2-0 (2-0) - ( - ) 8-3 (5-4) 1-9 (1 8) Ten dental surgery assistants gave a whole-time equivalent of 8-2. During the year, the dental staff increased to the highest level ever and it was encouraging that there was remarkable stability. Unfortunately, owing to the late completion of the dental suite at the Hyson Green Health Centre, we had to turn away would-be recruits in the Autumn. However, we hope to occupy the new premises early in 1970 and I feel sure that the modern premises and latest equipment which will be provided will prove an attraction to professional staff. It is heartening to look to the future and see that the Health Centre building programme will provide enough new dental surgeries in the next 5—7 years to bring the dentist/child ratio to the recommended level of 1:3,000. Perhaps now is the time to look even further ahead and begin to plan to provide buildings to reduce this ratio still further. Only if there is one dentist for every 1,000 children, combining conservative and preventive techniques can the amount of dental caries in Nottingham be controlled. In January 1969, Mr. Vohra joined the salaried dental staff, followed in March by Mr. Savidge. They have both proved valuable additions. Miss Harvey, one of the dental auxiliaries left us in November, but we were fortunate in recruiting Mrs. Anelay to replace her. Dr. Ferris, one of our part-time anaesthetists left us in July to study for her Fellowship in Anaesthetics but was quickly replaced by Dr. Bhatia, a general practitioner in the area. Evening Sessions: The provision of evening sessions was begun as an experiment in April and was extended in July. There is no doubt that the sessions have proved very successful both as an extension of the service available to older children who do not wish to lose school time and in making full, economic use of the limited premises currently available. I hope that the scheme will be expanded considerably during 1970. Dental Auxiliaries: I am happy to report that the dental auxiliaries who have been with us since the autumn of 1968 have integrated well with the rest of the dental staff. In these days when professional manpower is strictly limited, they are a great asset in the dental team. It is unfortunate that though the experi-