View report page

123
Dental services for the Maternity and Child Welfare population
were referred to in the 1965 Report as a 'minimal token service'. It
is distressing, therefore, knowing of the tremendous need of the
small child for optimal introduction to preventive knowledge and
treatment by means of a specialised service, to have to explain away
its practical non-existence by the irrefutable argument of lack of
suitable qualified staff. We know what has to be done and we are
most eager to do it. We know what direction to take and we know
that with increasing operational efficiency of the School Dental
Service we will also reach the aim of an effective and vigorous
service for the priority classes.
As stressed repeatedly, prevention is every bit as important as
the treatment of established lesions. In dealing with preventive
measures there must be a division between those which can be carried
out by the patient or mother to minimise damage to existing teeth,
and those which the community can take to strengthen resistance of
teeth to dental decay. It is established beyond any doubt that the
addition of one part per million of sodium fluoride to water ingested
by a child during its period of tooth development, is a systemically
completely harmless measure but which increases the resistance of
the tooth to dental decay by anything up to 40% or more. Such a
step, however, must not result in less vigilance towards dental caries
and the introduction of other preventive measures. Although this
Council is dedicated towards fluoridation of its water supply, it is
sad to record that, of the 34 local health authorities supplied by the
Metropolitan Water Board, 26 are in favour and 8 against fluoridation.
Notwithstanding Ministry approval and its support in the
event of legal proceedings, the Metropolitan Water Board has
publicly stated that, on such a public issue, it requires unanimity
before it will act. It is, perhaps, superfluous to say that most responsible
bodies in the medical world support fluoridation and the
London Boroughs' Association is aware of and actively interested
in the problem.
The present position in Greenwich may be summarised as
follows. Despite the great and indisputable need of the community
for Maternity and Child Welfare dental services, they remain
deplorably rudimentary in character. Although modernisation of the
clinics has rendered them more effective and conducive to the
recruitment of dental surgeons, the chain of efficient service cannot
be completed without the missing link of suitable dental officers.
Dental health education, in print, is the only field where tangible
improvement has been achieved and this will persist until, with the
advent of an adequate team of dental surgeons, the Council's wider
plans can be realised. Fluoridation, if it could be made available, is
the one sure measure calculated in the long run to reduce the need
for professional assistance."