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School Dental Service 1966
Mr. J.G. Potter, Dental Officer from the Department of
Education and Science made a two day official visit to the
Borough during the year to study the dental services provided
by the Authority, and to inspect the dental clinic premises. In
the report which followed this inspection it was stated that the
organisation of the School Dental Service was regarded as being
generally satisfactory, with fairly comprehensive treatment, including
much conservation of deciduous teeth. The ratio of teeth
filled to teeth extracted being better than average and the orthodontic
service satisfactory. It was pointed out however, that
the percentage of the school population inspected was low, the
Ministers realising that this state of affairs was caused by
staffing difficulties. Although the shortage of staff during 1966
was as acute as ever, more inspections were carried out and
it will be noted that treatment was accepted by 70% of all patients
to whom it was offered.
Inspections
The following table gives particulars of inspections carried
out during 1966, compared with the previous year, and the
acceptance rates.

With this high acceptance rate, and working with a ratio of
approximately one Dental Surgeon to 6,000 school children, the
time available for carrying out school dental inspections is
necessarily limited. To enable staff to treat more decay in its
early stages, inspections were concentrated on primary school
children.
Treatment
Table 28 gives an outline of the routine treatment carried
out in the School Dental Service compared with the previous year.
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