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41
REPORT OF DENTAL SURGEON.
To the Medical Officer of Health,
Barking, Essex.
From the Public Dental Officer,
Barking, Essex.
Sir,
I have the honour to submit the annual report of the School
Dental Services for the year ended 31st December, 1929. The
control of the Dental Clinic during this period has been handed
over on three occasions, Mr. Spencer Smythe resigning his appointment
in August, 1929; a locum tenens maintaining service until
November, 1929, when the present Dental Officer took over duties.
In spite of these changes, the amount of work accomplished has not
decreased in comparison with other years. A more intelligent
acceptance by parents of the importance of dental treatment for
children is a notable feature of the year's work. If a child requiring
attention is accompanied by a parent, not only is advice given
and accepted, but also reasons given for the treatment necessary
in each case, a procedure which results in any objection on the
part of the parent being voluntarily withdrawn. In this matter full
credit must be given to the nursing and visiting staffs and also to
the teaching staff for their excellent co-operation in matters
relative to oral health. Dental education in Barking over a number
of years has shown a markedly favourable result, a result that is
both gratifying and stimulating, but by no means representing
the full possibilities of what can be accomplished with every circumstance
favourably inclined. The percentage of extractions to
the number of teeth examined is a fair basis upon which to judge
the dental health of a community, and more particularly is this to
be applied to the permanent teeth. A child leaving school and
retaining in sound condition and correct position all the permanent
teeth that may have erupted, can be classed as orally healthy.
At the present stage of Dental education in England it is not
reasonable to expect a majority percentage of such cases but there
is every indication of a progressively increasing number each year,
and it is such a result that the professional staff of your Dental
Clinic desire to attain. Considerable handicap must be encountered
by the indifference of the child to oral cleanliness, the equal