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24
The treatment was carried out by one whole-time dentist and
four part-time dentists. The number of sessions given to inspection
was 96, and the number given to treatments totalled 827.
The actual figures that follow apply to treatment for the year
of primary school children.
The number of fillings inserted in the permanent teeth totalled
3,750, this figure being greater by 669 than that of the preceding
year. The average number of fillings per ordinary session amounted
to approximately five and a quarter fillings. Also other treatment
was given at each session, including extractions, gum treatment,
scaling and impression-taking for orthodontic appliances.
Extractions were performed under both general and local
anaesthesia ; 806 permanent teeth were removed for gross caries
and for regulation purposes ; the number of temporary teeth removed
amounted to 6,171, making a total of 6,977 for the year ; 52 new
cases were fitted with orthodontic appliances during the year,
compared with 21 in the preceding year. Many of the irregularities
could have been avoided if suitable treatment could have been
obtained in the early stages.
Another disturbing condition was found during the year,
and that was the increase in the number of children with gum
infections. This was probably due to nutritional disturbances and
lack of cleaning. The number of children suffering from this
condition totalled 120. They were successfully treated with
chromic acid and hydrogen peroxide, and other drugs. Several
visits were required to complete the treatment in the more advanced
cases.
Other operations included adjustments to orthodontic appliances,
dressings of silver nitrate to temporary teeth and ulcers of the
mouth, temporary dressings to relieve pain in the teeth, scaling
of the teeth and application of drugs to gum infections. The total
number of treatments for these amounted to 1,420 for the complete
number of children treated.
In the coming year it might be possible to inspect the children
leaving school, as was done in the years before the war, when the
percentage number of children leaving school was approximately
81 with sound mouths.
The number of County School children treated from January
1st to March 31st totalled 571, which is smaller than the number
seen in the preceding year, when 663 were treated.
Extractions totalled 122 permanent and 39 temporary teeth.
The number is smaller than the extraction figure for the year 1944.
Fillings were inserted in permanent teeth and a few temporary
teeth. The number of fillings inserted amounted to 668.