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REPORT OF THE DENTAL OFFICER, CITY OF LONDON
The last report on the work of the Dental Section related only to a short period, following
the appointment by the Corporation of a Full-time Dental Officer and Dental Surgery Assistant.
In reviewing the following full twelve-months period the impressions I gained during the initial
period have largely been confirmed and may be briefly repeated here as they reflect the day to
day pattern of treatment.
The amount of decay seen in 5 year old children attending school for the first time still
gives cause for concern as of those inspected 50% needed treatment and of the other 50%, 76% had
already received treatment.
In pre-school children, that is to say children under the age of 5, the picture is, as one
might suppose, relatively as grim and to see a child of 3 yrs of age with 4 cavities is not unusual.
15 was the greatest number of cavities seen in the teeth of a child of this age.
The Main Causes are: —
(1) The vast consumption of sweetstuffs and refined carbohydrates.
(2) Eating biscuits find sweets in bed at night without cleaning the teeth afterwards.
(3) In babies and very small children the improper use of undiluted vitamin syrups.
Remedies. Dental decay could be enormously reduced if:—
(a) Sweets, biscuits, etc. were reasonably restricted between meals at home and not sold in
school tuck shops, although fruit, nuts etc. might well be available.
(b) The teeth are cleaned after food. If water can be provided, swishing it round the teeth and
swallowing is an extremely effective way of removing sticky debris without having tooth
cleaning equipment.
(c) Awareness of oral hygiene were increased by, bringing children up to realise that tooth cleaning
is a desirable social habit like washing the hands and brushing the hair.
(d) A water supply were provided which has been fluoridated to the ideal level.
Dental Health Education
This involves basically the constant reiteration of (a), (b), and (c), above, find instruction is
given when attending for treatment, and at school, by means of talks, demonstrations, films and
any audio-visual method which would appeal to children.
More of this needs to be done and plans are in hand for so doing. It is felt that a dental
health campaign (perhaps for a week) might, with considerable advantage be mounted, to be aimed
at the large number of people working in the City as well as residents.
Fluoridation
As time goes on, more and more millions of people throughout the world are drinking water
supplies where the fluoride content h^s been adjusted to the ideal level.
This is happening because communities are realising that the only really effective way
known at present to halt the increasing ravages of dental decay, the most widespread disease in
the world, is by means of adjusting the natural fluoride content of the water to a level which
produces a resistance in the enamel to dental decay. In some communities in North America this
has now been done for over 20 years.
There are, however, people who believe that this artificial adjustment of the fluoride level
of the water, although beneficial to teeth, may, over a period of years, be injurious to other
tissues of the body and that those who hold these views should not be subjected to drinking
water so adjusted, when they have no easy method of avoiding it.
The Corporation at the present time (December 1966) is alone among Inner London Boroughs
in voting against increasing the fluoride level of the water supply.
The natural content of the water supplied to the City averages .25 parts per million.
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