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84
Special
investigation
of " school
leavers."
Dr. A.
Livingston.
At the request of the Board of Education, an investigation has been carried
out by the consulting dental surgeon into the dental state of the " school leaver."
Eight schools were chosen, including one central and one secondary school. The
forms used provided four sections in which details were sought: (i) of a general
nature ; (ii) the history of dental inspections and treatment; (iii) the condition of
the permanent teeth ; (iv) notes, including remarks on cleanliness and presence or
absence of deformity. In section (iii) the children were classified as follows :—
Al. No dental treatment except for emergencies.
A2. Irregular dental treatment.
B. Systematic dental treatment for one or two years.
C. Systematic dental treatment (intervals longer than one year) for three years
or more.
D. Systematic annual dental treatment for three or more years. Children
systematically inspected and found healthy were placed as having received treatment
that is, not in group A.

Notes:—Columns 5, 6 and 7.—Several children in categories C and D were waiting for treatment to be arranged.
Column 7.—There were only three or possibly four children that might be classed as having septic mouths
due to grossly decayed teeth with exposed nerves.
Columns 8 and 9.—There was no case of severe gum disease.
From this table it emerges that omitting a very few cases of slight gum disease,
practically all the healthy children come into group D, a demonstration of the value
of annual, systematic dental inspection and treatment. The next striking fact is
that very few indeed of the children in group D have any unsaveable carious teeth ;