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75
During 1933 the number of sessions devoted to inspection was
18, an average of 127 children being examined at each session. The
practice in Enfield is to devote sufficient time to the routine
examinations to permit an accurate record being made of the number
of unsaveable teeth, both temporary and permanent, and also a
rough estimate of the number of teeth requiring fillings. It is
true that more children can be inspected per session if a cursory
examination only is made, simply with the object of recording
which children should be notified to attend the clinic for treatment.
This procedure, however, makes it impossible to obtain a record
of the dental condition of the children whose parents subsequently
refuse their consent to treatment, as the only opportunity the dentist
has of seeing these children is during inspection at the schools.
Immediately before inspection, short talks are given to the
children on the importance of dental health, and the prevention and
treatment of dental disease. These talks are given in the classrooms
to each class separately, and the time spent in this manner is about
ten minutes for each class. It is felt that although time could be
saved if the talk were given to larger numbers of a children at time
possibly to a whole department—it is easier to maintain the interest
of children when the number addressed is small and when the information
and advice is given in the familiar surroundings of their
own classrooms.
The total number of children examined during the year was
6812, of whom 4748 were found to require treatment and 3328
actually received it. In 1926, 4015 children were found to require
treatment of whom 2532 or 63 percent, received it. As pointed
out in a recent report of the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of
Education, the number of children each dentist can treat in the
course of a year depends on the nature of the treatment given.
When much time is given to the conservation of teeth as in Enfield,
the number treated is necessarily much less than would be
the case if the treatment consisted in large measure of extractions.
An example of the amount of conservative work necessary even
when the general condition of the teeth is good and the number
accepting treatment is always high, may be found in the figures
relating to the Central School. In this school 67.4 percent, of
those examined were referred for treatment and of those referred
87.7 percent, actually received treatment. Of 251 children
receiving treatment 208 required conservative treatment, and for
these children 550 fillings were inserted, being an average of 2.19
fillings for each child treated or 1.29 fillings for each child examined.
The School Dental Service has been compared to the purchase of
furniture on the hire purchase system in which the ultimate