London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Lewisham 1968
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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DENTAL SERVICES FOR EXPECTANT AND NURSING MOTHERS AND CHILDREN
UNDER5 YEARS
| A: Attendances and Treatment | ||||
| Number of Visits for Treatment During Year | ||||
| First Visit | 859 | 18 | ||
| Subsequent Visits | 1,552 | 61 | ||
| Total Visits | 2,411 | 79 | ||
| Number of Add'l Courses of Treatment other than the First Courses commenced during year | 94 | 1 | ||
| Treatment provided during the year— | ||||
| Number of Fillings | 1,992 | 61 | ||
| Teeth Filled | 1,755 | 42 | ||
| Teeth Extracted | 208 | 27 | ||
| General Anaesthetics given | 78 | 2 | ||
| Emergency Visits by Patients | 49 | 2 | ||
| Patients X-Rayed | 16 | 5 | ||
| Patients Treated by Scaling and/or Removal of Stains from the teeth (Prophylaxis) | 653 | 11 | ||
| Teeth Otherwise Conserved | 498 | |||
| Teeth Root Filled | 3 | |||
| Inlays | 2 | |||
| Crowns | — | |||
| Number of Courses of Treatment Completed During the Year | 383 | 6 | ||
| B: Inspections | ||||
| Number of Patients given First Inspections During Year | A | 620 | D | 15 |
| Number of Patients in A. and D. above who Required Treatment | B | 428 | E | 15 |
| Number of Patients in B. and E. above who were Offered Treatment | C | 425 | F | 15 |
| C: Sessions | ||||
| For Treatment | 403.1 | |||
| For Health Education | 41.5 | |||
Day nurseries have been inspected twice a year, nursery schools once a year
including 2 creches, inspections of children at health centres have decreased, since no
dental officers could be spared for sessions.
Dental Health Education, Borough
Services at health centres continued throughout the year. Four dental health educators
have counselled 1,910 mothers in 180 sessions, averaging 10.6 a session. The team
consists of 2 dental auxiliaries and 2 dental surgery assistants.
An excellent leaflet has been prepared by the Health Education department "Will
your child be afraid to smile?", warning mothers about misuse of vitamin syrups. It
is distributed at welfare centres and given to parents of each new school entrant.
An amusing coloured card with a revised nursery rhyme "Mary had a little tooth"
is very popular with the young children.
A lecture was given to the dental staff, health visitors and school nurses at Lewisham
Hospital by Mr. O. Berman, Reader in preventive dentistry at the London Hospital
Dental School, Whitechapel.
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