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Cases still under treatment : 22.
THE SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE.
The dental staff consists of three full-time dental surgeons.
Owing to the interregnum there were periods during the year
when the service was operating with only two dental surgeons.
The work of the School Dental Service consists chiefly in the
inspection and treatment of school children, and in addition the
treatment of patients referred under Maternity and Child Welfare,
Tuberculosis, and Mental Deficiency schemes. The Clinic in the
South Norwood district has now been operating for over a year,
and the results justify its existence. The average number of
children served by each dentist is now 7,000. Sir George Newman
gives 5,000 as a satisfactory number per dentist under present
economic conditions, and 2,300 under ideal conditions.
During the year the orthodontic treatment (regulation of the
teeth) increased considerably, and further details of this se'vice
are given elsewhere. The necessity of a service to deal with treatment
for irregularity of the teeth cannot be too strongly urged,
as, unfortunately, a considerable number of children suffer from
abnormality in position of the teeth.