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school medical officer of the borough of Heston and Isleworth. Apart from the
aesthetic standpoint, dental irregularities, crowded teeth and malocclusion have a
definite bearing upon the general health of the child, and should, therefore, be
attended to. Suitable treatment of the simpler type can conveniently be provided at
the ordinary dental centres under the guidance of a visiting orthodontist. An experimental
scheme has been put into operation in London during the past year. At the
outset, three centres at Deptford, Hammersmith and Prunella (St. George's-in-theEast)
were selected, and later two centres at Battersea and St. Mary Newington were
added. Special sessions are set apart at these centres for the preliminary examination
of a number of cases, and Mr. Bertram Samuel, the Council's consulting dental surgeon,
visited the centres on these sessions to consult with the dental surgeons engaged at
the centres, as to the treatment desirable in each case. This is charted on separate
cards, and the children are instructed to attend subsequently one or two at a time
at the ordinary dental treatment sessions, when the necessary treatment is commenced.
In some cases it is found that judicious extraction is all that is required,
whilst, in cases needing appliances, impressions are taken. These are forwarded to
the Council's dental laboratory attached to St. James' hospital, Balham, where the
necessary appliances are made and returned by post to the various centres. The
centre dentist undertakes the fitting, and the chiidren are seen at varying intervals for
adjustment of the appliances, notes being taken of the progress. In obscure cases
X-ray photographs of the jaw or parts of the jaw, showing the position of unerupted
teeth, are needed in order to enable a correct estimate to be made of the treatment
desirable. Arrangements have, therefore, been made for these to be obtained at
certain of the Council's general hospitals during the year. By these means 391
children have been treated or have commenced treatment at the five centres. There
is evidence that these special facilities are greatly appreciated by the parents, and
the attendances of the children have been maintained.
Aural centres.

In addition to the above there were:—
Throat cases 15
Nasal cases—New 178
„ Carried over from 1934 49
„ Old cases returned 38
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