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(2) Re-inspections. Re-inspection of all children aged 6 at the
original inspection is made six months later, to check the condition of
those who received treatment at the dental clinic, to offer further treatment
to any who have developed fresh dental decay, and to give a
second opportunity of treatment to those who did not accept it after
the first inspection. No re-inspection is carried out at ages subsequent
to 7.
(3) Staff. The Dental Staff consists of 3 part-time dentists, one
for four sessions, and the others for two sessions each per week. In
addition, a large part of the time of one nurse is spent in assisting the
dentists at the clinic.
(C). Points Needing Consideration in Present Arrangements.
(1) Much of the benefit of treatment at the dental clinic is wasted
through the limitations of the present scheme, seeing that the children
whose teeth have been put right are not subsequently re-inspected at
each succeeding year of their school life, in order to detect and remedy
further decay as it recurs. The treatment at the age of 6 is concerned
particularly with four permanent teeth, the "6-year-old molars," in
addition to the temporary teeth. Decay in permanent teeth erupting at
later ages at present receives no treatment. To prevent the waste of
effort thus involved, annual re-inspection with treatment when necessary
should be provided. Such an extension of the scheme would need an
increase in dental staff, as detailed later, though this increase would be
required in successive stages, and not all at once.
(2) Full use cannot be made of the present premises so long as they
are used also for the eye clinic. During three half-days in each week—
Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings—no dental treatment is provided.
Apart from this it must be noted that the amount of work possible
in the present premises is limited by the capacity of the single
dental room and equipment provided. There is no satisfactory accommodation
in the Public Health Department at the Town Hall for a
second dental room, and the full development of the suggestion for
re-inspection and further treatment at each year of school life implies
the provision in due course of a second set of dental equipment, and
of fresh premises at which either one or both dental clinics could be
housed. Meanwhile a material development is possible in the present
premises, if arrangements can be made to house the eye clinic elsewhere.
A suggestion to that effect is set out below.
(3) The dental inspection and treatment is given at the age of 6,
when already a marked degree of caries is present. If this decay
could be detected at an earlier stage, by inspection at the age of 5,
on admission of the child to the school, there would be a corresponding
saving in the amount of treatment required. Somewhat greater difficulty
would be experienced in treating 5-year-old than 6-year-old children,
though the difficulty is not a serious one. In view of this, however,
I recommend below that this modification towards a lowered
age limit of inspection be postponed for one year until the dental staff
proposed has had an opportunity of gaining the confidence of children,
parents and teachers.
(4) Even at 5 years an appreciable amount of dental decay is
found, often due to rickets or other constitutional disease arising early
in life, and it would be of benefit to extend dental inspection, treatment
and instruction to the pre-school years, at which dental defect could
be arrested often by the most trivial treatment. Dental decay would
thus be detected at a still earlier stage, resulting in a further saving
of time and effort at the school dental clinic. Dental displacements