View report page

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 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. Dental treatment, however,
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.
Mr. T. J. H. Phillips, Chief Dental Officer and Principal School Dental Officer,
who commenced duty towards the end of the year, reported that he found the
borough fortunate in the standard of its premises and equipment.
Of the 39.845 children on the school roll, 24.337 pupils were inspected. This
is approximately 62% of the total. Of those inspected. 10,332 (42%) were found
to require treatment and of these 9,035 (87%) were offered treatment. A number
of children, of course, receive treatment through the general dental service.
In addition to ordinary dental treatment, the orthodontic service remained in
great demand. At the commencement of 1969 there were 368 cases still undergoing
treatment, while during the year 168 new cases started treatment and 158 cases
were completed. In all. 6.354 attendances were made for orthodontic treatment
during the period under review.
All dental prosthetic and orthodontic appliances are made at the dental
laboratory maintained by a neighbouring authority, and 577 removable and 62
fixed appliances were made for Enfield residents.
There are nine clinics in the borough, providing dental suites with a total of
thirteen surgeries, one surgery being used exclusively for orthodontics and three
surgeries being used for the dual purpose of dentistry and orthodontics. All premises
are fitted with up-to-date equipment, including air turbine high speed instruments,
and, for greater convenience, all anaesthetic apparatus is standard throughout
(Walton) as also are the X-ray machines.
Several major staff changes during the year had their inevitable effect on the
continuity of the dental service and this is reflected in the slight drop in the number
of sessions devoted to inspections and treatment.
113