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Staff
At December 31, 1968 the professional full time dental staff consisted of one
Principal School Dental Officer, four full time and ten part time dental officers
together providing a whole time equivalent of 8.9 (compared with 8.6 at December 1967).
These Dental Officers are assisted by three full time dental auxiliaries who devote half
their time to clinical dentistry and half to dental health education. The professional
staff were assisted by ten full time dental surgery assistants and one full time clerk.
It must be realized that the number of professional officers cannot possibly meet in full
the examination and treatment needs of the children in the Borough particularly owing to
the stimulation of the dental health education.
Again attention must be drawn to a difficulty in recruiting dental surgery assistants
because here again their unrealistic scale of pay particularly in the younger age groups
can only attract those school leavers who wish to take up dental nursing to work in a
general dental practice rather than the local authority service, Dealing as our service
does almost exclusively with young children we need a particularly high calibre of dental
surgery assistant and this person can only be attracted if we see fit to offer a salary
at least comparable with that which can be obtained elsewhere in dentistry.
Premises and Equipment
The final stages of the modernization and redecoration programme which achieved so
much in 1967 were reached this year with the provision of new dental units in both
surgeries at Ida Samuel Dental Clinic at Underwood Road, X-ray developing machines and
other items of minor dental equipment were provided where necessary together with new
waiting room furniture. (See photographs facing this page). There remain only two surgeries
in the Borough which require new modern dental units and it is hoped that these will be
achieved next year.
In the summer the new double surgery clinic at Leopold Street was opened. The dental
suite comprises two dental surgeries, waiting room and office, the recovery room at
present being used as temporary accommodation for the chiropody service. When the recovery
room becomes available it is hoped that a day stay service will be developed for those
children who cannot accept dental treatment any other way to achieve dental fitness
by conservation under general anaesthesia. This service together with projects for
handicapped and 'difficult' children will be commenced as soon as possible during 1969.
Future plans include provision of a third (orthodontic) dental surgery at Ida Samuel
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