London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1948
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Dental Surgeons in the borough treatment centres were engaged on widely
differing terms, but most had, in addition to a sessional fee for attendance, a separate
fee for each denture provided. The Council's Central Dental Laboratory can provide
dentures but it was not possible, until after the end of 1948, to arrange this and to
alter this condition of service of the transferred dentist. The Central Dental
Laboratory was until then fully occupied with the production of dentures for the
transferred hospital dental service and of appliances for the Council's school dental
service.
It is the intention to integrate the maternity and child welfare dental service
with the school dental service but at the end of the year only one treatment centre
was furnishing a combined school and maternity and child welfare priority dental
service. The number of maternity and child welfare sessions in operation per week
at the end of 1948 was 68.
Much of the dental treatment for expectant mothers in London is still carried
out in the hospital dental service under the control of the regional hospital boards in
ex-L.C.C. hospitals.
A tabulation of attendances and treatments for the year follows but, owing to
the circumstances already mentioned which prevailed throughout 1948, the table is
in some respects not complete.
| M.C.W. work | General | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of sessions | * | 4,982 Ordinary 288 Gas | |
| First treatment | 10,959 | 1,916 | 12,875 |
| Attendances | 36,710 | 11,719 | 48,429 |
| Silver Nitrate treatment | 416 | 103 | 519 |
| Scalings | 1,324 | 684 | 2,008 |
| Prolonged gum treatment | 135 | — | 135 |
| Fillings | 8,549 | 1,962 | 10,511 |
| Crowns | 1 | — | 1 |
| Extractions | 17,355 | 7,259 | 24,614 |
| Dressings | 598 | 527 | 1,125 |
| Other operations | 2,728 | 1,466 | 4,194 |
| Local | 349 | 43 | 392 |
| General | 3,645 | 1,278 | 4,923 |
| New-full (U. or L.) | 1,016 | — | 1,016 |
| New partial | 149 | — | 149 |
| Others unclassified | 1,011 | 3,892 | 4,903 |
| Dentures remodelled | 8 | — | 8 |
| Repairs | 235 | 265 | 500 |
| • Figures not available. | |||
Other denial services
As already mentioned some of the boroughs provided a general dental service.
In two main health centres—Shoreditch and Finsbury—these general dental services
had been provided for many years. From the "appointed day" the Council
continued these services, gradually separating "priority" from "non-priority" work
—the latter being recognised as ultimately, at least so far as employment of the
dentists is concerned, the responsibility of the London Executive Council. Somewhat
similar action was taken from 5th July to 31st December, 1948, by the South-East
Regional Hospital Board in Bermondsey Health Centres, after which the Bermondsey
dental services were transferred to the Council,