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majority of cases. This is an excellent sign, definite proof, surely, of
the points of personal advice and propaganda on the questions of diet and
the care of the teeth.
In the adult patients oral sepsis is still rife, though it is gratifying to
note a marked desire on the patient's part to get rid of teeth which can
and do constitute a menace to general health.
Our equipment is well maintained and in good condition, and our
excellent premises are a great help in the efficient working of the Clinic.
May I take this opportunity again of thanking the staff with whom I
come in contact for their generous help and keenness.
C. HAMMOND WILLIAMS,
L.D.S., R.C.S. (Eng.).
THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ST. KATHARINE.
Report of the Senior Medical Officer.
The Dental Department here was the first in this country to be
started as an essential part of the equipment of an Infant Welfare Centre.
The good effects on the women's powers of lactation, due to the improvement
in health after efficient dentistry, were quickly seen. Some account
of the work was published and attracted notice, and since then arrangements
for dental treatment at Infant Welfare Clinics have become general.
When the work was started, the advice to attend the Department
was received with surprise and often with real scepticism, for the women
had become accustomed to the state of their mouths and to the various
stages of caries, dental abscesses, broken crowns and so forth. It seemed
that they had accustomed themselves also to the suffering this state of
things entails. At any rate they had not noticed the decline in their
health which goes with it, or, if they had, the connection had not been
realised. Many were very timid about undergoing extractions, particularly
at taking nitrous oxide. But after 16 years work the refusals
are few by comparison.
When pain has been severe or of long standing, we see sometimes
quite remarkable changes due to the relief from sleeplessness, irritability