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The School Dental Service has shown increased activity
in the year 1936. This is due mainly to the additional assistance
of a Part-time Officer who has been devoting four
sessions a week to inspection and treatment of school children
since April.
As intimated in last year's report, although the staff
is now at adequate strength there has been a certain amount
of leeway to overhaul caused by the introduction of the
Secondary School children into the scheme. All concerned
have joined in a sustained effort to overtake arrears, and
by April, 1937, the remaining two schools will be in the
annual rota providing for inspection and treatment of all
children attending the elementary and secondary schools
whose parents wish for treatment at the clinic.
This year's inspection of secondary school children,
which is the first annual re-inspection, showed a decrease in
those requiring treatment from 81% to 78%; and the average
number of fillings required per child treated fell from
3.31 to 2.68. These figures will probably prove to be an
approximate constant in the incidence of dental caries for
secondary school children.
The practice of completing as far as is practicable all
necessary fillings before undertaking any extractions has
been continued, as it tends to ensure complete treatment for
each child attending. This policy has not adversely affected
the attendance rate and its value is made evident by an
analysis of a representative school which showed that 93%
of those treated were fully treated; and further by the ratio
of extractions to fillings in permanent teeth, which in Finchley
stands at 1 :6.5 as compared with 1 :2 for all areas.
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