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86
Briefly, the effect is to produce a decongestion of the congested and inflamed
mucous membrane with its condition of stasis and tumefaction. Great success is
claimed by those French surgeons who are employing the treatment, and our observations
and experience tend to confirm these claims. Out of a series of 35 casesall
suffering from deficient nasal respiration of marked degree accompanied by
symptoms of snoring, mouth breathing, inability to blow the nose, nasal discharge,
deafness, frequent colds, etc., and showing various grades of nasal catarrh, different
forms of rhinitis and other pathological conditions of the nose, 24 cases were completely
relieved, 7 were greatly improved and the remainder showed some degree
of improvement. The benefit derived was not confined to the local condition of the
nose, but was seen in the general condition of the child. Those who in addition
had discharging ears, appeared to derive benefit in this direction also, as was evidenced
by the rapid cessation of the discharge in several cases, during the administration
of the treatment. These nasal conditions are very frequent and very intractable
and this method appears to give fair promise of supplying the solution to the problem.
A special report on this subject will be made at a later date after further experience
in the treatment. Each of the main clinics is now supplied with a set of the
apparatus required.
Inspection of
treatment
and operating
centres.
On the whole, the staff of operators at the tonsil and adenoid clinics is the best
that we have had. There is a fair amount of difference in the skill of the various
operators and the standard of excellence in some cases is very high.
Various of the minor ailments centres have also been visited and the nurses
instructed in the treatment of ears. This work is sometimes done very inefficiently,
owing firstly to lack of knowledge and training (the work being by no means simple)
and secondly to the lack of suitable equipment.
When possible it would be desirable to increase the number of ionisation centres
and also to increase the present staff of assistant aurists.
It has already been stated that 87 ears of the 168 still under treatment at the
end of 1925 were found to be well without any further treatment in 1926. This
gives the percentage of successes in cases of tympanic sepsis as 85 per cent. in 1925.
The exact percentage for 1926 cannot be known until the result of these "stand
over" cases, numbering 146 at the end of 1926, is recorded. The percentage of
cases completed during the year is 75 per cent. for tympanic repsis. The full result
when known will probably exceed the percentage for 1925.
(d) Dental defects—58 part-time inspecting dentists were engaged in examining
the teeth of children in the schools, and 2,029 sessions were devoted to this work.
There are now 58 dental centres, not including Bushy Camp School, where dental
treatment is provided separately, and arrangements have been made at these centres
for the treatment of 124,410 children.
In all 237,022 children were inspected by the dentists, and of these 163,422
(68.95 per cent.) were found to require treatment. 113,932 children were treated
at the Council's centres. The special difficulties in regard to dental treatment
are dealt with in the section on following up.
The agreed number of ten new cases at each dental session presupposed a normal
distribution of the types of defect. With the enlargement of the scheme year by
year, there is more difficulty found in ensuring this normal distribution. It is
necessary with extended provision to rely more upon those parents who do not
appreciate the advantages of regular dental attention to their children than it was
in the earlier stages of the development of the scheme. So many parents cannot
see the benefit of the "stitch in time," and wait until toothache or failing health
brings home to them the necessity for treatment. Hence the scheme becomes
weighted by the lag of advanced cases of dental decay and the school dentists find
it impossible to deal with so many as ten new cases at a session, owing to the increased
proportion of children requiring more extensive treatment. The amount of dental