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54
DENTAL TREATMENT (MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE)
I am indebted to the Principal Dental Officer, P.G. Oliver,
Esq., L.D.S. for the following report: -
Expectant and nursing mothers are referred for this purpose
by Doctors and Consultants at Ante- and Post¬Natal Clinics;
reference can also be made by Medical Practitioners attending
similar patients. In the case of children under school age
introduction is effected via Welfare Centres or as a result of
requests by Health Visitors. By far the greater proportion of
such children, however, continue to be seen following application
by parents to respective Dental Clinics. Treatment in all
categories is carried out at School Dental Clinics and is closely
integrated with work on the Education side.
Since the introduction of routine dental attention under the
General Dental Service there has been a marked change in the
pattern of treatment in Local Authority Clinics and this has
been chiefly discernable in respect of altered requirements for
the expectant and nursing mothers. As had been anticipated the
greater proportion of mothers currently attending Ante¬Natal
Clinics are now in the habit of paying regular visits to their
own dentists, and for this reason the number deemed to require
attention bears little resemblance to the bulk of those seen on
the medical side. As a result of improved living conditions and
general social advancement, gross oral sepsis calling for wholesale
removal of teeth is largely a thing of the past, and preservation
of the natural dentition is more readily accepted as
being a true and normal aim.
Because of its reduced commitments Local Dental Services are
now better able to meet the special need of those expectant
mothers newly arrived in the Borough, who for one reason or another
are unable to secure the priority for treatment which
their condition demands. In addition to the above, more adequate
provision is now possible for those less prudent in their dental
care who, as the result of previous neglect, are found to require
urgent treatment; in practice reluctance is still shown by
some practitioners in carrying out work for those nearing their
confinement, and such cases are therefore advised to seek
attention at a local clinic.
The now well established "routine" whereby all ante¬natal
patients not in receipt of periodic oral su pervision are automatically
referred for dental examination, continues to yield a
reasonable dividend, and despite the usual quota of "missed
appointments, can result in attention for a substantial number
who would otherwise remain untreated; once contact has been made
many of these become model patients and show a welcome appreciation
of the preventive aspect of the work.