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REPORT OF CHIEF DENTAL OFFICER
1. Staff
At the end of the year only 4.5 dental staff were in post,
which left 5.5 vacancies on the establishment, which could not
be filled. It is disappointing that this staffing position has persisted
since the formation of the Borough due to recruitment
difficulties. In view of staffing difficulties a full comprehensive
school inspection and treatment service for all pupils in maintained
schools cannot be achieved.
2. School Dental Inspections
The accompanying graph shows that the number of children
receiving a dental inspection at school during the year rose to
over 16,000, the highest number ever reached in this way. A
further 3,800 received a first inspection at clinics, giving a
coverage of forty-six per cent of the school population. Of those
found to require treatment, seventy-one per cent were recorded as
commencing a course of treatment at clinics, a notably high
acceptance rate. Great importance is attached to the regularity
of these inspections at schools, as in this way dental disease
can be reduced and the dentist able to deal with trouble when it
is relatively simple. Every effort is made to this end, while
bringing new schools into the scheme as conditions permit. The
appointment of a full-time dentist to the Elm Park clinic during
the year enabled primary schools in that area to be inspected for
the first time in almost four years.
Treatment
Evidence of the increasing standard of dental care is seen
in the fact that the ratio of permanent teeth filled to each extracted
has risen steadily so that in 1970 more than eleven teeth
were filled for every tooth extracted. In 1965 the ratio was eight
to one. Similarly for deciduous teeth the ratio reached 2.3 to 1 as
against 1.7 to 1 five years ago.
Orthodontics
This important aspect of dental treatment for children
shows a very satisfactory expansion, with 101 cases being
successfully completed during the year. 63 new cases commenced
and only six cases requiring to be discontinued for various
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