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124
The inspections again confirmed that there are large numbers of schoolchildren
in need of dental treatment. Although the gross dental sepsis era has fortunately
passed, there are still too many children not receiving regular dental care either
from hospital, general practice, or local authority services.
Invitations sent to parents of new school entrants to attend dental inspections
of their children met with a reasonably satisfactory response. Many of the parents,
while clearly being concerned for their children's well-being, showed little appreciation
of the need for early dental attention.
D.M.F. (Decayed, missing, filled) Surveys
(i) New school entrants. A D.M.F. survey was carried out with the dental
inspection of new school entrants. Results are summarised below:
No. of schools No. of pupils D.M.F.
38 2,247 3.54
Different schools showed a wide variation from the average, between 1.53 to
5.45. The children inspected presented with 4,226 decayed savable teeth, 1,081
decayed unsavable teeth, and 1,556 teeth which were already filled. This indicates
that an average of 2.3 teeth per child needed attention, and that 0.69 teeth per
child had already been filled.
(ii) Special schools. A special survey covering children of age range 5—16
years was carried out at special schools —
Type of school D.M.F.
Educationally subnormal 8.1
Partially sighted 6.0
Open Air (1) 6.9
Open Air (2) 4.0
Physically handicapped 9.6
Maladjusted 5.9
Some attempt was made to ascertain where treatment was being provided. It was
apparent that there was a fairly small group obtaining dental care under hospital
services, largely because of a medical condition. The amount of treatment required
was sometimes extensive, and emphasized the need to provide adequate
facilities for the treatment of handicapped children.
Treatment provision
Although, owing to shortage of dental officers, the total number of sessions
was less than in 1966, and despite the increased number of sessions devoted to
dental inspections, the number of conservations both for permanent and deciduous