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Under the experimental orthodontic scheme inaugurated in September, 1934,
special orthodontic centres were established in different parts of London. The construction
of orthodontic appliances was undertaken at the Council's dental laboratory, then
at St. James's Hospital, Balham, and provision was also made for X-ray photographs
to be taken when necessary at certain of the Council's general hospitals. Owing to the
great pressure of work at the dental laboratory in providing dentures for patients at the
general hospitals, however, it became impossible to obtain, within reasonable time, the
increased number of apphances required by the orthodontic centres. The scheme
consequently was held in abeyance until March, 1936, so far as the special orthodontic
centres were concerned, but about the same time, Major-General J. P. Helliwell, then
the Council's Consulting Dental Surgeon, ascertained that the Dental Surgeon at the
Bermondsey Medical Mission Hospital dental centre (Miss E. M. Still, L.D.S.), who
had considerable experience in orthodontic work, was able to undertake orthodontic
treatment by means, to a large extent, of the fixed type of appliance which did not
necessarily require the services of a dental mechanic and which she was usually able to
make in her own laboratory. Arrangements were therefore made for suitable cases
in the district to be dealt with at the centre, and the first session was held at the
Bermondsey Medical Mission Hospital on 22nd April, 1936. One session a week was
at first allowed for this work, but from 1st September, 1936, two sessions a week
were necessary.
This method proved so successful that the Council decided to extend the work and
a second orthodontist was appointed. Both orthodontists worked five half-days a week
as from 1st April, 1937. Eight centres were equipped for the work, including the one
already in operation at Bermondsey Medical Mission Hospital, four south of the river and
four north of the river. A central workshop was also equipped at 123 Peckham Road,
S.E., where the orthodontists attended each on one session a week to deal with the
construction of the apphances, which were mainly made of stainless steel. A special
trained nurse assisted each orthodontist at the centres and in the workshop, and helped
in the making of the plaster moulds, etc. In certain instances, where removable
apphances were necessary, the models were forwarded to the Council's central dental
laboratory (opened in 1938) where it was then possible for the mechanics to construct a
limited number of orthodontic apphances in addition to their normal dental work for
the general hospitals.
The scheme continued, broadly on the same lines, during and after the war. In 1948,
as the demand for orthodontists to treat malocclusions far exceeded the potential supply,
clinicians were encouraged to treat cases themselves and the reference of orthodontic
cases to the orthodontists was controlled. This revised method for obtaining treatment
of dental deformities resulted in an increased number of children being given orthodontic
treatment without reference to the specialist orthodontists. Throughout 1949, the four
part-time orthodontists employed by the Council completed 318 cases while, in
addition, 649 (compared with only 229 in 1948) were treated by the dental surgeons,
and 67 children were accepted by hospitals ; a total of 1,134. In the ordinary treatment
centres, most orthodontic cases were treated by means of removable appliances, all of
which were fashioned at the Council's Central Dental Laboratory. The Council's
Hospital Dental Service had been transferred to the Ministry of Health's control on
5th July, 1948, but the increased demand on the laboratory for this highly skilled service
offset the decreased demand for dentures consequent upon the transference of much of
the adult dentistry to the Regional Hospital Boards.
Two part-time orthodontists resigned in 1950 and the services of only two orthodontists
continued on a part-time basis during 1951 when one of these resigned in November
of that year. At the close of 1951, only three sessions a week were expressly reserved
for the urgently required service for the correction of malocclusions. Since then it has
not been possible to augment this service but clinicians continued to be encouraged to
take part in the correction of malocclusions. Most apphances used were of the removable
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