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DENTAL SERVICE
Under Section 48 of the Education Act, 1944, it is the duty of the local
education authority to provide medical inspection at appropriate intervals for
pupils in attendance at any school or county college maintained by them, and every
local education authority shall have power to provide for such inspection of senior
pupils in attendance at any other educational establishment maintained by them.
Medical inspection, which is compulsory for such pupils, is deemed to include
dental inspection.
Under Section 4 of the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1953, the
local education authority has duties and powers in regard to the provision of free
dental treatment, similar to those for medical treatment, but dental treatment may
only be provided by the authority through persons employed by the authority or
under arrangements made with the hospital service and not through the general
dental service.
During the year under review, of the 37,305 children on the school roll, 21,791
were inspected, this being 58% of the total (National Figure 57%). Of those
inspected 9,288 (43%) were found to require treatment (National Figure 57%) and
of these 8,301 (89%) were offered treatment (National Figure 87%). Of the 8,301
offered treatment, 6,998 (84%) accepted treatment through the school dental service
(National Figure 62%). During the year, therefore, the school dental service treated
19% of the children on the school roll (National Figure 17%), but it must be
remembered that some parents arrange dental treatment through the general dental
service. The scope of the service included not only the day special schools but also
Wavendon House Residential Special School for Educationally subnormal girls.
Owing to various changes in the establishment during the year under review,
the number of sessions devoted to treatment were again fewer than in the previous
year, yet once again the output of work per dental officer improved on the previous
year, in particular with the average number of fillings per session.
In addition to the ordinary dental treatment described, the orthodontic service
continued to be much in demand. Treatment was commenced on 251 new cases,
150 cases completed treatment, and a total of 4,990 attendances was made.
The fewer attendances than last year were due to the absence of Mrs. Brearley
who spent two months special leave in Australia.
Statistically, the service provided compares more than favourably with the
national figures but falls short of the optimum because of the difficulty in recruiting
dental officers.
The borough is fortunate in the standard of its premises and equipment. There
are nine clinics providing dental suites with a total of 13 dental surgeries, one
surgery being used exclusively for orthodontics and three surgeries being of dual
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