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87
and debility to the phthisis in working class patients which
one meets in the hospital wards."
Dental clinics have been established in Germany in 37
towns, and it is claimed that as a result of dental treatment
the general health of the childen has been raised and also
their standard of mental attainment has greatly improved.
This example has been followed in a few towns in this
country, of which Cambridge and Birmingham are instances.
Dental Institutes have been formed where school children
receive the necessary treatment, the required money having
been found from private sources.
Unfortunately in this district facilities for the treatment of
carious teeth amongst the poor are very limited, and we regret
to say that the amount of treatment carried out amongst the
children attending the Priory, South Acton and Beaumont
Park Schools is small.
The majority of the parents cannot possibly afford to pay
a dentist, and it is extremely difficult to persuade them to take
their children to a dental hospital for a commencing caries.
Unfortunately among children of the industrial classes teeth
are not attended to until the child has suffered considerably
from toothache. Very often at that stage it is too late to save
the tooth, and nothing remains but extraction. The presence
of a Dental Institute in the district for the treatment of the
earlier cases would render the problem of defective teeth a
fairly easy one, but under present conditions the prospect of
effective treatment is not bright.
Ear Discharge.
The methods of dealing with this condition are very
unsatisfactory, and it is difficult to awaken any parental
interest in the complaint as the children have often suffered
for many years from discharging ears.