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140
child objectionable to others, while its association with deafness and
with risks of grave disease of bone and even of meningitis make it
a condition needing serious attention. In the report for 1923 reference
was made to a form of electrical treatment (ionisation) adopted
in some areas for particular types of the condition with a considerable
degree of success, usually after a very short period of treatment.
The adoption of such treatment in suitable cases is a matter
which should receive consideration as soon as the better
accommodation to be provided at the new clinic premises becomes
available.
Dental Defects.
Out of the 2,775 children, composed of the six and seven-year
age groups found to need dental treatment, 1,635 actually received
such treatment at the Dental Clinic, of whom 248 were retreated
during the year as a result of re-examination in school.
Details as to the number of attendances, number of extractions and
fillings, etc., are given in Table IV., Group 4, at the end of the
report.
Until July the work of dental inspection and treatment was
carried on by three part-time dental officers. Arrangements were
then made to put into effect the extended dental scheme approved
by the Committee, and referred to in detail in the previous annual
report. Mr. W. G. Senior was appointed as a whole-time dental
surgeon, while Mr. A. B. Oddie continued his services for three
sessions per week, pending the second stage of the expansion of
the scheme, which will involve the appointment of a second wholetime
dentist, together with the provision of a second clinic.
The new arrangement became effective as from September.
The incidental difficulties accompanying the reorganisation,
together with some inevitable temporary hindrance arising out of
the transfer of the dental clinic from the basement of the Town
Hall to 13 Katharine Street, prevent the effect of the altered scheme
becoming evident in the present report. It has, however, been
abundantly clear that the new arrangements are keenly appreciated
both by parents and by teachers, and the facilities for treatment are
becoming increasingly well known and welcome. The work done
during the last few weeks of the year showed that it will be possible
to cope with the numbers set out in the provisional estimate made
in my report to the Committee on the subject.
During the year dental inspection and treatment was limited
to children aged 6, together with re-inspecl ion of children at the age
of 7; with also a small number of special cases referred by medical