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24
older children. In every detail these figures supplement and confirm the inferences drawn from the
statistics relating to the older children.

Condition of
the teeth.
The Council's scheme for dental treatment is based primarily upon the inspection of the children
at the age of 6 to 8 in the schools by dental surgeons attached to the local treatment centres. The figures
dealt with in this paragraph relate only to the examination of the children in the age groups examined
by the school doctors. They are valuable as an annual stocktaking.
The total amount of dental decay present in the children in the schools remains, unfortunately,
very great. It is satisfactory, however, that the measures taken by the Council, although not yet
complete, result in a continuous improvement of the dental condition of the children throughout school
life, as shown by the better condition of the leaver children as compared with the eight-year-old group,
and of the latter as compared with the entrants. Each successive year, too, the examination of leaver
children presents better results than the previous year.
The percentage of entrants with severe caries or oral sepsis was during 1917—Boys, 23'8 per cent.;
girls, 23 3 per cent.; in the eight-year-old group—Boys, 14 0 per cent. ; girls, 13-1 per cent. ; in the leaver
group, boys, 6.2 per cent.; girls, 5.5 per cent. Corresponding improvement occurs in each successive
age group in regard to children noted with sound dentures. Of course it would not be fair to claim
the whole of this improvement as a result of medical inspection and treatment during school life, as
some part of it is due to the decay of the milk dentition of the entrants, but the practice of concentrating
effort upon the worst cases of dental disease in the older children must materially have reduced the
number of cases of serious defect at the oldest age. The percentage of leaver children with good teeth
was in 1917, boys, 55.2 ; girls, 564 ; 1916, boys, 53.1 ; girls, 55.0 ; 1915, boys, 53.1; girls, 555 ; 1914,
boys, 51.9 ; girls, 541 ; 1913, boys, 50 0 ; girls, 52.4 ; 1912, boys, 47.3 ; girls, 50.6. There is therefore
not only an improvement noticeable in any one year when the younger children are compared with the
older children actually in the schools, but there has been since 1912 a steadily increasing percentage
of children leaving school with sound teeth. Unfortunately, the children entering school show no
improvement from year to year, and the seeds of decay are already present before the school service of
medical care has an opportunity of stepping in.
Although the effect of the care of children's teeth during sohool life is making itself felt, it is of
course unsatisfactory that nearly 45 per cent. of the leavers should be reported as having some degree
of caries, but it must be remembered that this includes all eases in which even the slightest decay is
recognised, and it must further be remembered that the children enjoy two years of school life subsequent
to the leaving examination, and further improvement no doubt takes place during this period.
Diseases of
the Nose and
Throat.
There was a slight increase during 1917 in the number of children referred for treatment for
adenoid growths and enlarged tonsils, the eight-year-old, as usual, providing a larger percentage than
the leaver group. The incidence upon the sexes of these throat conditions remains in each group
practically identical. Amongst the eight-year-old children, 5.9 per cent. of the boys and 5.7 per cent.
of the girls were referred for treatment for these conditions, and amongst the leavers 3.8 per cent. of
the boys and 3 9 per cent. of the girls.
Although slightly higher than the percentages for 1916, which were the lowest on record, the
figures remain lower than they were in former years. For instance, the percentage of the eight-year-old
group referred for treatment in 1912 was boys, 8.9 ; girls, 8.6 ; and of leavers, boys, 7.9 ; girls, 8.7. The
progressive reduction at the leaver age as compared with the eight-year-old group is undoubtedly due
to the care in medical matters exercised over the children while at school.
One of the important influences in improvement of these conditions in children is the attention
paid to correct breathing and the provision of breathing exercises as part of the physical education in
school. Unfortunately, there is some confusion owing to the existence of two sets of breathing exercises,
one designed to promote correct and healthy breathing habits and the other used as a drill preparatory
to singing lessons. Contrary directions are given in the two sets of exercises, and it has been pointed
out that the exercises for voice are liable to promote undesirable habits of ordinary breathing. The
* Figures for 3rd term only.