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REPORT OF THE DENTAL OFFICER, CITY OF LONDON
It would seem reasonable to hope that since the last report there might have been some improvement
in the teeth of school children seen in this area, but regrettably there is none, and the
position remains just as bad as it was a year ago.
Inner London Education Authority Schools
52% of children in the 6-11 age groups were found, on inspection, to need treatment, and of
the 5 year-olds (new entrants to school) no less than 50% needed treatment.
Pre-School Children
A larger number of pre-school children have been seen during the year as compared with
the previous year, but again just under 50% of these children under 5 years of age needed treatment.
A shattering thought that one out of every two of these babies needed treatment.
This means that in spite of regular inspections and treatment, and in spite of increasing
dental health education, the status quo is just about being maintained.
The main answer to this very unsatisfactory situation is, alas, not difficult to find. The sale
of chocolate and sugar confectionery rose from £291 million in 1961 to £340 million in 1966, an average
of £7 per head of population. In 1966, 606,000 tons of chocolate and sugar confectionery was
eaten or 7.6 ozs. per head. These figures do not include cakes, pastries and sweet biscuits, and
consumption is still rising. To achieve these sales £7 million was spent on Television Advertising.
Dental Disease is admittedly only a small facet of Man's Health problems, but it is still
the world's most prevalent and widespread disorder, and is not self-curing like the common cold.
Regarded economically it is the cause of millions of man-hours spent in treatment, quite apart
from the pain, distress and disfigurement it causes.
Prevention
It is at last being realised in more and more countries that our main hope lies in prevention,
and that our efforts to stem the still rising tide of dental disease can be little more than the
Canute-like gestures of inadequacy.
With our present state of knowledge the most effective weapons of prevention are:—
(a) Dental Health Education
This is the publicising by any means available, and particularly among the younger sector
of the population, of the facts about oral hygiene and diet; i.e. correct methods of tooth and
gum brushing, types of food to be encouraged and avoided and regular examinations of the
mouth.
A stepping-up of mass media publicity is what is really required to combat apathy and the
£7 millions, mentioned above, spent on advertising by the sweet manufacturers.
(b) Fluoridation of the water supply
It has been shown repeatedly that if the fluoride content of water is maintained at the recommended
level of one part per million that dental decay can be reduced significantly in
children, by up to 50%, with consequent benefits in adult life. In spite of this tremendous
aid to our problem, and although its introduction is slowly spreading across the world,
particularly in the more socially advanced countries such as New Zealand and Holland, only
a very small percentage of the water supply in this country is so treated.
The factors relating to Dental Disease as set out above are a national problem, but there is
no reason to suppose that the position in the City as regards both adults and children is any
different from elsewhere. It will no doubt be asked what can be done locally to reduce or even
contain the incidence of the disease.
(1) Dental Health Education in various forms is being stepped up but its impact will inevitably
be gradual.
(2) Fluoridation of the water supply at an effective level is non-existent.
It must be regretfully concluded that in the City the concept of preventive dentistry is simply
not keeping pace with the rest of the world, and that we are in fact slipping back despite all the
advances in dental science and technology since the last war.
Adults, National Health Service
Now that the recall system for routine checks has been operating for two years, it is encouraging
to note that an increasing proportion of those seen require no treatment, and serves to
emphasise that regular visits do bring rewards, apart from a sense of virtue to the visitor.
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