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281
THE SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE.
Report on the Inspection and Treatment of Children Attending the
Public Elementary and Central Schools, and of Scholarship Children
Attending Secondary Schools in 1937.
The dental staff consists of four full-time dental officers. There
has been no addition in personnel during the year.
The work of the Dental Service consists chiefly in the inspection
and treatment of all children attending the public elementary and
central schools, and of scholarship children attending the secondary
schools. In addition, treatment is provided for patients referred
under Maternity and Child Welfare, Tuberculosis, and Mental
Deficiency schemes.
The clinic at the Waldrons, Duppas Hill Lane, has now been
operating for over a year and the results justify its existence.
There are now two branch clinics, the other being in the South
Norwood district. The wide area covered by the town,
and the very real danger to children of traffic if they have to travei
long distances to a clinic, makes the foundation of further brancfl
clinics a matter requiring attention. Many children in the Shirley
area have to travel over three miles to the clinic, and those who
live at Addington have a journey of over four miles to the Lodge
Road Treatment Centre which is the nearest to schools in these
areas. An additional clinic to serve these growing districts ia
urgently required together with the necessary staff to work them.
The average number of children served by each dental officer
is approximately 6,000. This is considerably in excess of the 5,000
per dental officer as advocated in the Circular 1444 of the Board of
Education, issued to local authorities in January, 1936. In consequence,
children can only be inspected once in eighteen months.
It is very undesirable as defects that are neglected for eighteen
months may require more extensive treatment and the number of
visits needed to complete treatment is considerably increased.
There has been considerable progress in the orthodontic
scheme. The number of cases on the register has increased from
702 to 874. Parents are particularly keen on this treatment and
no branch of the dental service is more appreciated. Further details
of this service are given elsewhere.