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While two L.C.C. school dental clinics exist in the borough,
school children are brought to our centres mainly because they
were treated here as toddlers and their parents are also patients.
This is encouraged as far as possible since it tends to obtain the
conditions that exist in private practice. The Board of Education
makes a grant to Education Authorities in the respect of school
dental treatment. The London County Council lays down that
the cost of treatment per child is 7/-. Except in necessitous cases
a charge of 1/- per child is made in our centres, and during 1927
466 school children were treated. The question arises as to
whether it is possible to obtain a grant for this work.
The number of toddlers treated annually is only a fraction of
the number that require treatment. The difficulty standing in
the way of any organized effort as prevention of dental disease in
the temporary dentition is that of obtaining access to the toddlers,
since they are not gathered together as school children are. The
numbers attending child welfare centres is very small. Since
dental disease is a serious menace to child welfare and as access to
the toddler may be obtained only in the home, could the appointment
of a dental visitor analogous to a health visitor be considered
Her duties would consist of home visits, dental inspections
in the home, advice on dental matters and making appointments
for treatment. It may be considered that this duty is a
part of the health visitor's routine, and during the last seven years
they have helped. However, the problem is one of such importance
that such an appointment may be considered even if only
for a period and as a experiment.
Tables III. and IV. show the treatment carried out at
98 Rotherhithe New Road. The figures are satisfactory for a
half-time centre that has only existed about twelve months.
Mr. Shapland, the assistant dental officer, who succeeded to the
appointment in March 1927 points out that during the second
half-year the numbers have increased by 50% over the first
half.
I am,
Your obedient Servant,
GRANTLEY SMITH,
Municipal Dental Surgeon.