London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
70
The following extract is taken from the report submitted by the Council's
consulting dental surgeon
The figures show the work undertaken during the year. The children treated
include a number referred by medical officers during the course of their inspections
at the schools, in addition to those obtained from dental surgeons' inspections in
school:—
1946 1945
Ordinary treatment sessions 15,017 8,522
General anaesthetic sessions 1,495 941
New cases treated 91,601 55,986
Total cases treated 121,434 74,874
Attendances 171,554 100,641
Temp. teeth extracted 110,177 65,591
Perm. teeth extracted 18,999 12,341
Temp. teeth restored by filling 31,117 (33,262 f.) 14,216 (14,953 f.)
Perm. teeth restored by filling 72,303 (79,866 f.) 44,988 (49,423 f.)
Scalings 6,619 2,568
Temporary dressings, etc 32,234 17,593
Local anæsthetics for extraction 22,807 11,622
Local anaesthetics for conservative treatment 4,003 3,630
General anaesthetics 4,664 21,867
Cases completed 3,006 43,795
A gratifying result is the increase in the rate of conservative dental treatment
in permanent teeth to permanent teeth extracted as compared with pre-war years.
The figures are:—
1935 2.05 to 1
1936 2.06 „ „
1937 2.31 „ „
1938 2.54 „ „
1945 4.04 „ „
1946 4.20 „ „
Other defects
In the four age groups, the percentages of children inspected during 1946 found to have defects, were as follows, those for the years 1938, 1944 and 1945 being included for comparison:—
| Nature of defect | 1946 | 1945 | 1944 | 1938 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adenoids and enlarged tonsils | 8.5 | 7.3 | 6.5 | 9.2 |
| Skin diseases | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Enlarged glands | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Exteral eye disease | 2.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Otorrhœa | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Defective hearing | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Heart disease | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 |
| Anœmia | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Lung disease (not T.B.) | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
The incidence of adenoids and tonsils is increasing but is still below the pre-war
level. There is no adequate explanation of these variations in incidence.
The incidence of skin disease is still above that of 1938, as is that of external eye
disease.
Apart from the marked fall in the incidence of heart disease, the remaining
defects are proportionately much the same as in 1938.
Vermin
The table below gives the percentages of children in each of the four prescribed
age groups found to have nits or vermin in the hair at routine inspections during