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MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE DENTAL SERVICE.
The Ministries recommend that approximately eleven per cent of
chairside time in the local authority dental service should be devoted
to treatment of the priority classes - children under five years,
nursing and expectant mothers. During 1967, the apportionment of
equivalent full-time treatment sessions was 8.6 per cent for this
service and 91.4 per cent for the school dental service. This
represents an improvement over the 1966 figure when the apportionments
were 7.3 and 92.7.
One aim of the dental service is to inculcate good habits of
dental health and care in children at a very early age. Mothers are
encouraged to introduce their children to the dental surgery when
they are still toddlers so that they become accustomed to the
environment of the surgery through regular examination and the carrying
out of necessary minor treatment. Fear of visiting the dentist in
later life is thus minimised, defects are detected and corrected early.
Dental decay is frequently seen in very young children whose
teeth are particularly vulnerable, invariably as the result of bad
dietetic habits, poor oral hygiene or the use of undiluted vitamin
syrups. The worst cases are usually due to a combination of all
three.
The other main effort of this service is directed to the care
and dental treatment of expectant and nursing mothers who require
healthy mouths to be able to consume a good nourishing diet. They
are also particularly susceptible to certain gum conditions
(pregnancy gingivitis) so careful observation should be kept on their
mouths to take preventive action early.
The improvement in the number of mothers seeking examination
and treatment during 1967 was gratifying.
Walmer Road Centre houses both dental and welfare clinics. As
a result, mothers can readily seek advice for themselves and their
young children from the dental surgeon and attendances are better
than is the case elsewhere. The other Welfare Centres refer patients
to neighbouring dental clinics, but, because patients have to travel
to a different clinic for their dental treatment, attendances are low.