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Investigation Clinics and total attendances of 1,377 (1,392) were made and
90 (52) children were discharged.
A new clinic was opened at The Grove Health Centre,
Audiology
156 (142) new patients attended the Audiology Clinic and 280 (232)
total attendances were made and 44 children were discharged.
Hospital Appointments
476 (259) children were referred from school medical examinations for
specialist opinion. The general practitioners were consulted on all these,
and with their approval, 411 (226) were referred through the School Health
Service to the appropriate hospital departments and School Health Clinics.
The general practitioners preferred to make their own arrangements for the
treatment of 21 (33) children.
School Dental Service Report. 1968
"The most common cause of the loss of teeth is the negligence of those
people who do not clean their teeth when they might, and they perceive
the lodgement of the foreign substance which produces disease on the gums".
So wrote Pierre Fauchard in 1746 and few authorities would take exception
to his remarks today.
Receint reports have underlined the exceedingly high prevalence of
gingivitis among school children, and its long term untreated sequelae,
chronic periodental disease, in the older age groups. More teeth are lost
as a result of periodental disease than by caries, yet the very slow rate
of destruction of the supporting tissues of the teeth, taking many years
for extractions to become necessary, has led dentists to be indifferent
with prophylactic procedures, and patients less than meticulous with their
own home teeth care. The annual sale of toothbrushes in this country
hardly exceeds one per person per annum, for those with any natural teeth
at all, and as a nation it would appear that we think more of our hair
than our teeth. Personal expenditure upon hairdressing services in 1967
exceeded £175 million, compared with the £100 million expenditure on the
dental services.
There remains, then, an dbvious need for the continuous dissemination
of basic dental health knowledge, for which a unique Mobile Dental Health
Unit, sponsored jointly by the Inner London Education Authority and the
London Borough of Hammersmith was inaugurated on September 19th 1968, by
the Worshipful the Mayor of Hammersmith, Alderman Sir Samuel Salmon, J.P.,
in the presence of a very distinguished gathering, including Mr.Christopher
Chataway, the Leader of the Inner London Education Authority and Admiral
William Holgate, C.B.,O.B.E., Chief Dental Officer to the Ministry of
Health.
The Unit was designed by the Principal School Dental Officer in conjunction
with the Health Education Officer for use in the Borough's primary
schools, and has been widely acclaimed for its advanced educational principles
and potential. The normal pattern of usage of the Unit has been
that it visits each primary school for a period of one week, each class
receiving at least one lesson, given by a Dental Auxiliary with the class
teacher being present. The Unit consists of a series of light weight prepared
visual aids to a complete lesson, allowing maximum pupil participation
D.9