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olds by the Oral Hygiene Service was purchased for inclusion in
the programme Entitled, 'Henry and Jessicat', it is a delightfully
told simple story of a small boy's visit to a neighbouring farm
It has a dental message which provides amDle opportunity for
class discussion
One of the first projects undertaken by Mr Sawle on being
appointed Senior Dental Officer with special responsibility for
dental health education, was to bring small groups of junior
school children into the clinics and introduce them to the various
activities carried out in the dental surgery This was a team
exercise bythe dentistand his surgery assistant and participation
by the children obtained by taking and casting study models of
their teeth, followed by discussion and questions This was
followed up by projects on teeth and dental health being done by
the children in school
The increasing involvement of Health Visitors in group
practice work has meant that much less time has been available
for dental health education sessions inschools bythese important
members of the health team
5 Training
Mr Sawle was successful in obtaining the Diploma in
Dental Public Health in July on completion of his one-year
course of study and returned to full-time duties the following
month
Courses attended by staff during the year included a twoday
postgraduate course in Orthodontics at Keele University and
a refresher course which the writer helped to organise for the
Dental Group of the Society of Community Medicine in Oxford
This had the theme, 'The Dentist, His Team and the Community'
Reports from these courses were later presented to colleagues
at staff meetings
6 Under Five and Maternity Service
Every effort continues to be made to encourage mothers
to arrange a dental check for their young children as soon as all
their teeth have erupted In many cases this is as early as two
and a half years old and if regular visits are begun at this age
there is a much improved chance of dental disease being contained
and to some extent prevented These initial visits provide
an opportunity to reinforce the earlier instruction to mothers on
careful dietary supervision given by the Health Visitors.
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