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Visits for treatment were approximately the same as in 1969. There was
again a fall in the number of broken appointments per session. This is an encouraging
sign and will perhaps permit an extension in the number of children
treated per session in future years. Due to the increased demand following on
the rise in school inspections, there were more general anaesthetic sessions
this year and the number of extractions also increased. Fewer orthodontic cases
were seen this year as the post of Orthodontist became vacant in May and was
not filled until November.
Staff
During 1970 two full time dental officers joined the staff replacing several
part-time staff who left. These changes were largely due to a rather higher number
than usual of newly qualified dental surgeons joining the school service for a
period of between three and six months. Although this does lead to some administrative
difficulties, nevertheless the impact of newly qualified officers on the
service has many advantages. Ideally one would hope that it would be possible
to retain these recruits for at least a year. In this way changes of staff are kept
to a minimum and the children become accustomed to being treated by the same
dental officer.
The position with regard to dental surgery assistants was reasonably
satisfactory. The quality of our dental surgery assistants work is very high but
there is great difficulty in attracting suitable applicants to fill vacancies because
of the low pay scales compared to those obtained in the general dental
service. A further difficulty is the fact that young applicants are deterred by the
age-related scale which prevents the employing authority making any allowance
for previous experience in this work.
Premises and Equipment
During the year an additional surgery, equipped for a dental auxiliary,
was brought into use at 475, Lordship Lane. Extensive structural alterations and
decorations were carried out at this clinic which brought about a marked improvement
in its general appearance as a dental suite. The I.L.E.A. mobile dental
clinic was again in use at Redriff and Langbourne Schools, providing treatment
facilities for children who would otherwise have had long and difficult journeys
to the nearest clinic.
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