View report page

294
Authority, whereby only the five year old entrants in infants' schools
were to be examined whilst the rest of the parents and guardians
of the school population were to opt on a form supplied via the
school whether they wished their children to be examined and
treated by the School Dental Service or by dental surgeons in
general practice. In view of the use of a form SHS.59 this option
procedure was generally referred to as the SHS.59 scheme. The
distribution of forms SHS.59 had again to be limited to a small
number of schools, to avoid a demand for treatment by the School
Dental Service exceeding treatment facilities.
The dental service established by the L.C.C. in the area of this
Borough was fully engaged in the actual treatment of existing
dental lesions but contained shortcomings in the essentials of dental
health education and preventive dentistry. These aspects will have
to be considered for expansion in the near future.
Whilst two of the clinics provided every child patient with
initial dental health explanations and instructions and subsequent
strict supervision, the element of fluctuation in dental man-power
rendered it impossible in 1965 to introduce dental health instruction
of patients into all the clinics. In the latter part of 1965 the Principal
School Dental Officer visited all Head Teachers of schools whose
children either underwent dental inspections or were considered
under the SHS.59 Scheme. The objects of his visits were: (a) to
acquaint all Head Teachers and teaching staff with the aetiology
and prevention of dental disease; (b) to encourage Head Teachers
and teaching staff to give the children simple tuition on preventive
measures; (c) to establish oral health education as a part of the
school curriculum by constant repetition of the main theme througout
school age; (d) to make available preventive procedures, such
as water after meals, the abolition of carbohydrates in tuck shops,
and the discouragement of in-between-meal snacks.
As mentioned above, the limited facilities of the School
Dental Service were in 1965 mainly concentrated on supplementing
the hard pressed general dental practitioners and on limited school
inspections. Whilst this activity was undertaken to the maximum
capacity of the slender professional resources available, it is the
writer's opinion that the School Dental Service should have a wider
field of activity than mere treatment and inspection. Dental Health
Education to supply the child with a firm understanding of the
causes and prevention of dental disease is the next step in the
programme, together with epidemiological surveys and analysis of
the data obtained from school examinations.
It is anticipated that future annual reports will include progress
in this direction and will see the School Dental Officer participating
in the team educating the child for its future life and acting in a
preventive as well as in a therapeutic capacity."