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Report of the Principal School Dental Officer for the year 1971
During the year the staffing position remained rather more
stable than in previous years and this is reflected in the
considerably greater number of children treated during
1971. Table A compares the individual number of
attendances for treatment during the past three years.

Unfortunately, as was predicted in previous reports the
number of children seeking treatment for dental
emergencies also increased (Table A), and the rise in the
number of emergencies appears likely to continue in 1972.
This is partly due to the reluctance of the Hospital service
to provide anaesthetic facilities for extractions due to
staffing difficulties, and an increasing number of children
are being referred to the Borough clinics by General Dental
Practitioners when extraction under General Anaesthesia is
required. The availability of anaesthetists is a matter of
concern, and if the demand for general anaesthetic sessions
should increase substantially it may prove exceedingly
difficult to obtain the services of additional anaesthetists.
Appointments not kept
Reference to Table A will show the number of appointment:
not kept during the last three years. In 1971 this figure
reached the alarming total of 7,394. It must be accepted
that any service fdr children will be subject to a certain
amount of disruption due to acute illness, either of the
patient, or other brothers and sisters. However the loss of
over 7,000 appointments during the year is a serious waste
of valuable surgery time, and is a figure which must be
reduced if at all possible in future years.
Dental Health Education
Visits to schools have continued during the year, and
children have been encouraged to visit the clinics to observe
the work, and to become familiar with the equipment, at
times when they themselves are not undergoing treatment.
Maintenance of dental record cards
It was agreed that central control of dental record cards
would be an advantage. The cards will be stored in clinics
providing treatment for the individual children but the
responsibility for the maintenance of the cards will be with
the 'Dental Office', which will have an additional clerical
officer appointed early in 1972.
Fluoridation of water supplies
The position remains unchanged from that reported in
previous years. Other methods of prevention are
continuously evaluated but at the present time no effective
alternative to Fluoridation has been reported which can be
used on a community basis.
Routine School Dental Inspections
A considerable increase in the number of children routinely
inspected at schools occurred during 1971. Table B
compared the number of children inspected during the last
three years.

The number inspected in 1971 (20,341) represents about
two thirds of the children in schools, but would have
represented nearly all the school children if this figure had
been achieved in 1965 when the Borough was formed.
The raising of the school leaving age will further increase
the potential number of children to be inspected each year.
The Future
The future of the School Dental Service is at the moment
uncertain, but it is almost certain that dental care will
become the responsibility of an Area Health Board in 1974.
The figures quoted in this report underline the need not
only for the continuation of the School Dental Service, but
for its expansion and improvement.
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