View report page

50
It Is obvious that so large a number of children cannot be
treated at once, and the experience of other authorities has led
us to make a small start, and allow the work to develop gradually
and naturally. This avoids any possibility of money being spent
without a proportionate return, and is elastic enough to permit
any necessary modification as the scheme develops.
It was considered advisable to limit the treatment at first to
three selected schools, for it is important to remember that at first
parents may show some hostility to the treatment. They do not
realise its importance, and this is more marked in the poorer
districts. To a certain extent this can be overcome by special
talks to parents about teeth by the Medical Officer or Dentist, and
by demonstration of the difference between children with healthy
mouths who have been treated and those who have not, but the
most convincing argument is the smooth working of the dental
centre, the fact that it is generally accepted as a matter of course,
and that treatment is not necessarily painful.
These considerations led us to recommend that to begin with
the schools selected should be those where the parents have shown
themselves ready to co-operate with the school medical service,
as much depends on the attitude the parents adopt at the beginning
of the scheme.
In 1914 the scheme of treatment will, therefore, be extended
to include teeth, and a Dentist has been appointed to attend at
first one half-day a week. Arrangements have been made for
him to inspect the teeth of children between 6 and 8 in three
schools, the Priory, Central, and Southfield Road, and select
those requiring treatment. He has already begun on this
inspection.
The treatment will be carried out in three rooms in the
Council Offices. One of these is being fitted up as a treatment
room for teeth, tonsils, and adenoids, one as a recovery room,
and one as a waiting room.