[Report 1933] / Medical Officer of Health, Plymouth Borough.

  • Plymouth (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1933
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1933] / Medical Officer of Health, Plymouth Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    184/204 (page 156)
    Dental Services. The Dental Surgeons’ report is as follows “ The aim of the School Dental Service is to treat children in such a way that as many as possible will, at the termination of their school life, leave with sound mouths and a knowledge of how to continue to keep them free from disease. “ We teach parents and children that to be bodily and mentally healthy it is first of all necessary to be dentally healthy. That a clean and healthy mouth lessens the probability of contracting infectious diseases, facilitates the development of regular features, normal voice, and minimises the chance of developing infection of the tonsils and the ear. That mechanical cleansing of the teeth, removing food debris and germs, will greatly help in keeping them free from decay, but the regular assistance of a dental surgeon is necessary to preserve the natural teeth as long as possible. “ The inspection of children in the Schools and the treatment given at the Clinic have been carried out as in previous years. Since all the schools have had to be inspected, it is found that it has taken on an average about eighteen months to complete the whole. This is somewhat unsatisfactory, as it means that the children have to wait that period until the next inspection, and a great deal of damage can be done during that time. The new schools taken over have needed a great deal of treatment after the first inspection. This should be somewhat reduced during the coming year, and perhaps allow the round of inspection and treatment to be com¬ pleted in about fifteen months. “ Casuals. These are children whose parents have refused, in writing, after the inspection at the School, to accept treatment, but months later, being in pain, attend for urgent treatment. This means that extractions have now become necessary when the original need was a filling which would have saved the tooth for years. The School Clinic is not an out-patient dental department, and if it is used as such, it loses its purpose, namely, that it exists for conservative dentistry. “ There has been an increase of 252 fillings, whilst the extrac¬ tions have been reduced by 2,703. This can be accounted for by the fact that children of pre-school age are having treatment at Beaumont House, and so a great many arrive at school with mouths in better condition than before this treatment was available.