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178
Expectant and Nursing Mothers and Young Children.

The improvement in the nature of the treatment required,
noted in last year's report, has continued, and it will he seen that
fillings have increased and extractions decreased.
The hope that more time would be available for visits to centres
has been realised, this year each centre has been visited twice.
Much of the time spent at centres is utilised in advising the mothers
of young babies on such subjects as teething, habits, and the future
care of the teeth and should bear fruit in the next few years.
Where possible short talks are given to groups of mothers, in
addition each mother is given a leaflet setting out rules for the
prevention of decay. It is to be greatly regretted that sweet biscuits
are still supplied at centres ; apart from the fact that it encourages
the mothers to give children "between meal tit-bits," it
is definitely bad for the teeth of toddlers, in that a film of sugary
food is left clinging to the teeth contrary not only to the advice
contained in our leaflets but to the advice often being given to the
mother at the moment the child is eating the biscuit.