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122
Sodium
Fluoride
treatment
and Dental
Hygienists
The investigation of the efficacy of sodium fluoride treatment in the prevention
.of dental caries which was started in September 1949 continued throughout 1950.
The re-examination of treated dentitions began before the close of the year
but sufficient time had not elapsed at the end of 1950 to warrant reliable conclusions.

Orthodontic
treatment
Orthodontic treatment continued, as in 1949. to be given by the dental staff
generally with specific reference to specialist orthodontists in certain cases. Of the
four part-time orthodontists employed at the commencement of the year, one resigned
in May another in July.
Summary of Work Completed by Orthodontists in 1950
Sessions 425
New cases 266
Attendances 5,339
Unsuitable for treatment 84
Still under treatment (at 31.12.50) 491
Fixed appliances fitted 199
Removable appliances fitted 452
Discharged, treatment completed 424
In addition 247 new cases were treated in the course of the normal treatment
sessions by clinicians, and a further 185 were accepted for treatment in hospitals ;
in all a total of 698 new cases and a reduction of 436 on the proceeding year.
Maternity and Child Welfare Dental Service
During 1950, an unknown volume of dental treatment for expectant and nursing
mothers (Part III priority service responsibility) continued to be carried out in the
Hospitals (Part II service) and in the General Dental service (Part IV schemes).
The number of maternity and child welfare dental sessions in operation per week
by the Council at the end of 1950 was sixty-one compared with seventy at the end
of 1949, and sixty-eight at the end of 1948. The number was, to a large extent,
maintained by utilising the services of some of the Council's " school " dental officers.
A tabulation of attendance and treatment figures for the year is given below with
comparative figures for 1949 and (where available) for 1948.