London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1965
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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furnished dental surgery. All clinics have air-turbine dental
drills, in addition to the conventional items. With the exception
of the Selhurst Road clinic all have dental X-Ray machines, and
all have dental anaesthetic equipment with facilities for
patients' recovery after anaesthetic sessions.
Appended are the figures giving details of the number and
nature of items of treatment performed by dental officers during
the year. Not only has there been an increase in staff and
school population, but also new and different returns are now
required by the Department of Education and Science. This is to
facilitate comparison of the School Dental Service productivity
with that of the General Dental Services of the National Health
Service. The immediate result of this is that the figures
collected for 1965 are no longer comparable with those of previous
years, and no conclusions may be drawn.
The benefit of regular visits to a dentist cannot be stressed too much, and even if no immediate treatment is desirable, the oral condition may be discussed with child and parent and advice given about dental care.
| 1965 | 1964 | |
|---|---|---|
| School population | 45,584 | 35,885 |
| Number inspected | 36,851 | 31,460 |
| % inspected | 82.6% | 89.4% |
| Number requiring treatment | 14,362 | 10,548 |
| % requiring treatment | 38% | 33.5% |
| Number offered treatment | 12,016 | 10,548 |
| Number of consents | 4,098 | 3,745 |
| % of consents | 34.1% | 35.5% |
| * Number refusing treatment | 6,009 | 5,164 |
| % refusing treatment | 50% | 48.9% |
| Forms not returned | 1,909 | 1,639 |
| % of forms not returned | 15.9% | 15.6% |
*This figure includes those attending for treatment outside
the school service. A new consent form has been introduced and
it is hoped to collect information as to the actual numbers of
such patients.
The percentage of school children inspected this year is
lower because of changes in staff and unavoidable intervals
between resignations and appointments. The percentage of children
requiring treatment appears to be higher because of the change
of policy previously mentioned.