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45
REPORT OF DENTAL SURGEON.
Mr. C. Hammond Williams, in his Annual Report for the year 1925
on the work carried out at the Tuberculosis Dental Clinic at Old Ford
states:—
Our figures are as follows :—
New Sessions Fillings Teeth
Attendances. Patients. Held. Inserted. Extracted. Scalings.
262 54 50 113 271 93
Compared with 1924 an increase can be noted in some instances; for
example, in attendances, fillings and scalings. Fewer Sessions have
been held by two, and the number of new patients has dropped slightly.
It will be seen that the ratio of work done to the number of attendances
is good, at the same time the number of attendances is distinctly
poor. The difficulty of sanatorium treatment and dental treatment
overlapping still exists, and I am convinced that the only remedy is for
dental treatment to be available at sanatoria. I note that this is possible
in some cases, but not in many. We find great difficulty also in
getting patients notified for gas extractions to turn up when sent for.
The number of failures to attend on these ocpasions is too great, and
though they are given two further opportunities to attend on the following
gas days, they seldom put in an appearance. It seems a pity that
these patients should not avail themselves of the free benefits offered,
but we have no authority to make dental treatment compulsory, of
oourse, and we can only persevere in the education and enlightenment
of such cases, on the importance of oral hygiene in their physical condition.
Dentures are supplied to patients attending the Tuberculosis Dental
Clinic at the same low cost as for the Maternity and Child Welfare
Dental Clinic. A difficulty has arisen in this respect. The scale of costs
in force is very much lower than that allowed by the Insurance Societies
and the Public Dental Service Association of Great Britain. Under
the scale used by the latter bodies, certain stipulations are made on the
subject of materials, etc. Our scale precludes the use of the same
materials absolutely; it is necessary, therefore, to make estimates on
the P.D.S.A. scale where patients apply for dental benefits through their
Insurance Societies. Hence the big difference in estimates. In
the case of such funds as the Hospital Saturday Fund being
called on for assistance, every effort is made to explain this
position to the authorities, lest any misunderstanding should arise.
The matter of sterilisation in the Clinic is carefully attended to, and
in the case of articles not easily sterilised, a separate set of appliances is
reserved for the Tuberculosis Dental Clinic only.
C. HAMMOND WILLIAMS, L.D.S., R.C.S., Eng.