View report page

15
At those schools visited 30,553 were inspected and 15,024
(49.2 per cent.) referred for treatment, compared with 28,962
inspected and 14,370 (49.6 per cent.) referred in 1956.
In view of the present limitations relating to work which
can be carried out on temporary teeth, the above figure should
not be regarded as an index of the incidence of decay, which is
naturally appreciably higher. For practical purposes a mouth
is regarded as "functional" unless the case is actually referred
for treatment.
The results obtained from school inspections were as follows: -
Acceptance of Treatment 44.5%
Refused Treatment 43.4%
Forms Not Returned 12.1%
Compared with last year this represents a fall of 3.6 per
cent. in the acceptance rate, and a total decrease of some 29.6
per cent. since the peak of 1949. The corresponding figure for
1937 was in the region of 57 per cent.
Acceptance Rate
As indicated above increased attention for children under
the N.H.I. Regulations has in the main been beneficial to the
School Service by removing the extreme burden of post war years.
If uniformly distributed this reduced patronage should, in theory,
allow for a higher standard of attention for those remaining
within the Scheme. In practice, advantages so gained are to a
large degree offset by increased provision for the newer areas
of the Borough where the demand is abnormally high.
The following Table demonstrates the variations in the acceptance
rate during recent years: -

* SPECIALS - Those referred by Head Teachers with Emergency Forms.