View report page

REPORT OF THE PRINCIPAL SCHOOL DENTAL OFFICER AND
CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER
The School Dental Service, carried out on behalf of the Inner London Education Authority and in
conjunction with the Borough service, has run smoothly during 1972. It has not been beset with the staff
shortages which often hits a service of this character.
Possibly due to this and the lack of dislocation which is inevitable when dental officers or dental
surgery assistants leave and cannot quickly be replaced, considerable progress in all branches of the service
was made.
It is pleasing to note that the sessional average for fillings, both in temporary and permanent teeth,
rose from 4.4 in 1971 to 6.0 in 1972, slightly above the national average.
The ratio of permanent teeth filled to those extracted was 46.5, compared with 29.6 for 1971, and
that of temporary teeth 4.3 compared with 3.1 for 1971, an encouraging improvement.
The orthodontic service progressed in ail directions since its inception. There were 45 new cases against
28 for 1971; 46 removable appliances were fitted against 34 for 1971 and 4 fixed appliances against nil for
1971.
Thus the general pattern for the year was one of improvement, although the number of school inspection
sessions did not reach the high level of 1971.
One important feature of the service was the addition of a dental auxiliary whose function was to
promote dental health education among other duties.
Dental health education was continued through the usual channels of talks at schools and by the displays
of posters wherever possible. One of the windows of the departmental offices has invariably on show
either a page turning machine or some similar means of communicating the ill-effects of dental disease.
87