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10
SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE, 1964.
P.G. Oliver Esq., L.D.S., Principal School Dental Officer: -
This Service provides routine inspection and treatment for
those attending Borough Primary, Secondary, Technical and Special
Schools. A limited number of children from "grant aided" schools
approved by the local Education Committee are also eligible for
treatment. In conjunction with the above Service facilities are
also provided for those referred under Health, Maternity Welfare
and Mental Health Schemes. Particulars of work carried out in
connection with the above will be found in the appropriate
Report.
Among the many concrete benefits conferred by the National
Health Service not the least has been the widening of responsibility
for the dental care of the young. Whilst the above was
first discernible in relation to the General Practitioner's
Service, the progressive "easing of the load" has, over the
years, led to welcome changes in many local authority services,
though this impact has varied considerably throughout the
country. At the local level there has been a noticeable improvement
in the "climate" at school clinics in that, because of the
great reduction in the amount of emergency work requiring to be
dealt with, attention can now more effectively be focused on the
essential task of providing full and comprehensive treatment for
all entering the scheme. A continuation of the above trend could
do much to reduce existing staffing difficulties and allow for
other much needed developments.
As noted in the comparative Table included at a later stage
of this Report, a further and encouraging sign has been the
continued reduction in the percentage of pupils found to require
attention at routine school inspections. Whilst not wishing to
detract from present achievements, it should be appreciated that
this advance has come about primarily as the result of an increase
in treatment and does not necessarily point to any reduction
in the rate of dental decay. Measures to meet this more
complex problem have already received attention in these pages
and must remain the true objective of our work.
Since its expansion of the post-war period to meet the needs
of the newly developed areas, activities in the dental services
have been principally directed towards the upgrading of the
older clinics and improving facilities in districts where,
because of the unprecedented rise in the school population,
coverage has been considerably restricted. During the current
year further progress has been possible in removing those
anomalies and establishing a more uniform pattern of treatment.