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293
THE SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE
Report of the Principal School Dental Officer
In June, 1967, the school dental services in the Borough were
reviewed by an officer representing the Department of Education
and Science and the Ministry of Health and my report is based
mainly on observations concerning points arising from that
inspection.
The inspector recommended at least one inspection per year, at
school, of all children on the school roll with the offer of treatment
if this was found to be necessary.
Because routine inspections in the Inner London Education
Authority's area did not commence until September, 1966, the
respective Ministers appreciated that special interim measures were
essential before full inspection could be achieved.
Although the relatively low number of school dental inspections
carried out invited criticism, the policy of giving routine inspections,
in the first instance, to children in Infants and Junior schools, combined
with a satisfactory output of treatment per session, was
commended.
At the time of the review, it should be observed that because of
the acute shortage of dental surgeons, school dental inspections
were deliberately restricted to keep pace with available treatment
facilities. Manifestly, we are in full agreement with the necessity of
annual inspection and have due regard to the collective dental
health of schoolchildren, but any approach other than the one
adopted would have led to intractable treatment demands. Nevertheless,
during the autumn term an urgent inspection was carried
out, although this too had to be geared, pari passu, to the treatment
facilities which could be offered.
In this context, it would be apposite to recall that in the I.L.E.A.
School Health Statistics for 1967 our attendance rate per session
was shown to be the second highest whilst our emergency attendances
held pride of place, as did our fillings of both permanent and
deciduous teeth. Of all the Inner London Boroughs our extraction
rate was the lowest. Furthermore, in order to assist dental officers,
the School Dental Service is supplied by the School Medical Officer
with particulars concerning children suffering from diabetes,
epilepsy, haemophilia, rheumatic carditis, congenital heart disease,
allergies and other conditions or drug treatments most likely to
have a bearing on dentistry.
In the review, concern was expressed at staff shortages, the
necessity to recruit more dental officers was stressed and it was
intimated that future plans should include the engagement of an