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44
Dental Inspection.
It is interesting to compare the findings for the year
under review with those of previous years:—
Dental Inspection, 1915 to 1921.
Entrants.
Intermediate
Group.
Leavers.
Total.
Year.
Percentage
with sound
Teeth.
Percentage
with sound
Teeth.
Percentage
with sound
Teeth.
Percentage
with sound
Teeth.
1915
23.0
26.2
35.7
27.0
1916
15.6
30.2
37.2
25.3
1917
21.7
25.9
41.1
28.8
1918
28.8
25.8
44.1
32.8
1919
36.9
32.2
60.6
42.7
1920
48.6
46.4
64.2
53.1
1921
58.4
64.0
76.5
66.6
It is remarkable that since 1919 there has been a
great improvement in the condition of the teeth of all
three groups of children. One would have expected the
improvement in the third group (leavers) owing to dental
inspection and treatment in the previous years, but not
the great improvement in the first group (entrants).
Can it be that the straitened conditions in many
homes since the end of the war has led to the consumption
of fewer sweetmeats and the use of plainer fare ?
It cannot be alleged that the results are due to any
intensive propaganda regarding the most appropriate
diet, for there has been none. There has been nothing done
in the nature of instruction beyond the slow plodding