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43
DENTAL TREATMENT (MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE)
W.G.Everett Esq., L. D. S., R. C. S., (Eng.) f Principal Dental Officer
Dental treatment is provided for all expectant and nursing
mothers, also children under five who are not yet eligible for
treatment within the School Dental Service. Expectant and
nursing mothers may be referred by doctors and consultants at
Ante- and Post-natal clinics. They are also accepted if referred
from other sources. Pre-school children are seen at the request
of parents and health visitors, or are referred from Toddlers'
Clinics held at Welfare Centres. Inspection and treatment is
carried out at the school dental clinics by the dental officers,
who devote a small part of their time to this work.
As is the case of the School Dental Service statistics, the
geographical increase of the Borough and the increase in staff
and clinic premises has made detailed comparison of this year's
figures with those of previous years impossible. It would appear
that the trend of the decrease in numbers of mothers seen, and
the increase in numbers of pre-school children, has been maintained.
As has been mentioned in previous reports, it is more desirable
for mothers to attend their general dental practitioners
regularly, rather than attending Local Authority clinics only
during and after pregnancies.
The effort in the future must be to persuade mothers to
bring their children for inspection long before school age is
reached. Children have most of their temporary teeth by the time
they are two years old. Unwise feeding habits and indiscriminate
sweet eating can and do create havoc in these teeth. From every
point of view it is most desirable that the first visit to a
dental surgeon should not be associated with toothache, or pain
from extensive conservative work necessitated by grossly carious
teeth.
In order to achieve early inspection it is planned to introduce
a birthday card scheme. By this method all three year old
children are sent a birthday card, calling the parents' attention
to the need for early inspection and treatment, and offering
them an appointment at a clinic near their home. Sessions would
be specifically organised to cater for such young patients.