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type and all were produced at the Council's Central Dental Laboratory. In addition,
by pre-arrangement, London dental teaching hospitals accepted additional patients
referred from treatment centres.
Dental
hygienists and
sodium
fluoride
treatment
The Government Inter-Departmental Committee on Dentistry, under the Chairmanship
of Lord Teviot, presented their final report on 18th October, 1945. The
recommendation was made inter alia ' that a scheme for the training of dental hygienists
should be initiated forthwith on such a scale as would provide an adequate test of their
value'.
On 26th July, 1949, the Council authorised the appointment of four female dental
hygienists to the staff of the Public Health Department, to be recruited from the women
trained under arrangements by the Ministry of Health. In addition to the duties prescribed
in Paragraph 192 of the Teviot Report, the Council, in October, 1949, obtained
the authority of the Ministries of Health and Education for the Council's dental
hygienists to apply a 2 per cent. aqueous solution of sodium fluoride to the teeth of
schoolchildren. This treatment had in recent years been developed in America and was
advocated as a measure to reduce the incidence of dental decay.
It was found that for twelve months after application of the sodium fluoride solution
there was a considerable reduction in tooth decay in the mouths treated, and during
1953 further investigation confirmed that there was continuing benefit throughout a
second year.
Unfortunately, the meticulous and time-consuming nature of the technique involved
in topical application of sodium fluoride prevents the ready adoption of the treatment on
a general and widespread scale. The legally essential supervision of dental hygienists by
qualified professional staff and their accommodation and equipment are further obstacles
to the use of large numbers of such ancillary workers. The Council has restricted itself
to the use of only two hygienists and to authorising the use of 2 per cent. sodium fluoride
in the Council's dental services as a commendable treatment.
School nurses and the cleansing scheme, etc.
As previously stated, in order to counteract the severe incidence of chronic infections
and parasitic disease, of which ringworm alone kept thousands of children away from
school for long periods, the London School Board appointed, in October, 1901, the
first school nurse. In 1903, Dr. Kerr reported ' numerous children, the back of whose
heads was encrusted with a thick mass of scabs, exudation and lice ' and by September,
1904, the School Board and the Council, as its successor, had appointed eleven nurses
whose duties specifically included the supervision of the general hygiene of the children.
There was then no explicit statutory sanction for dealing with conditions of personal
uncleanliness, and the nurses were compelled to carry out their duties in face of much
opposition from irate parents.
With the passing of the Council's General Powers Act, 1907, and the Children Act,
1908, the Council was given powers to arrange for the compulsory cleansing, under
certain conditions, of verminous children. Between 1904 and the passing of these Acts,
the Council had sought and obtained the co-operation of several of the borough councils
in cleansing the bodies and clothing of verminous children. These arrangements were,
however, voluntary the parents being invited to avail themselves free of charge of the
facilities for bathing and disinfestation provided by the borough councils at their stations,
which had been erected under the Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897.
The Council in 1910 established and equipped three cleansing centres and it was
at these stations that arrangements were made for the compulsory cleansing of
children in accordance with the powers conferred upon the Council by the Children
Act, 1908. These arrangements were later extended by agreement with the various
borough councils, so that by the year 1911 a fairly comprehensive scheme was in
operation for almost the whole of London.
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