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182
Age of Baby when Mother was First Seen.
1-3 mths. 4-6 mths. 7-9 mths. 9-12 mths.
21.6 ... 22.9 ... 44.5 ... 10.8
Those mothers seen when the baby was 1 to 3 months were
referred late in pregnancy, and it was impossible to call them
up for treatment before the baby was born. The percentage of
44.5 seen for the first time when the age of the baby ranged from
7 to 9 months emphasises the fact that although there has been
a great improvement in the number of women treated during
the early months of pregnancy, the proportion of those who wait
till the nursing period is still too high.
The treatment for those referred late in the nursing period
is confined to the elimination of pain and sepsis.
The Pre-School Child.
The number of young children examined was 335, i.e., an
increase of 61 on the figure of 1936. Attendances improved by
approximately 45 per cent., and conservative measures totalled
353, as against 146 in 1936. This is very gratifying, as it shows
that more parents are beginning to realise the importance of
remedial treatment.
It is regrettable that a certain number of toddlers of eighteen
months and under were referred for the extraction of upper
incisor teeth. The dental suffering which these children endured
was caused through sucking "dummies" dipped in sugar, which
produced rapid decalcification of the teeth.
The increase in the number of extracted teeth suggests that
there is a need to educate parents to bring their children much
earlier to the clinics for periodical examination, so that small
defects may be treated before thev become too extensive. Neglect
of such precautionary measures may lead to unnecessary pain
and loss of important teeth. When treatment is completed
parents are invited to write to the Clinic at the end of six months
for another appointment so that further examination may be
carried out.
The excuse that some mothers offer for not bringing their
children to the Clinic before the "toothache" stage, is that the
teeth "came through bad" and they thought it was not worth
while having anv conservative treatment. It is sometimes hard