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33
steadily developed. This is reflected in the following report
for which 'I am indebted to the Divisional Dental Officer, Mr.
K. C. B. Webster:—
"The staff consisted of five full time dental officers,
five dental attendants and five clerks for the first nine
months of the year. Dr. Kerpel resigned on October 1st
to enter private practice and was not replaced by the end
of the year. To maintain the service at the Childs Hill
Health Centre other dental officers attended there for certain
sessions each week as a locum tenens was not available.
Despite the loss of the services of one dental
officer for the last quarter the output of work was well
maintained.
The problem of accommodation to meet ever increasing,
and indeed embarrassing, demands for treatment on
the part of the participating public remained the most
serious problem throughout 1947. Work on the extension
of the Central Hendon Health Centre to provide an
additional dental surgery and dental laboratory was commenced
in mid-summer and neared completion by December.
The development of the orthodontic services to
provide for the appointment of a part-time specialist
officer has thereby been prevented. Plans were also made
for the extension of the Mill Hill Centre to provide an
additional dental surgery and for the extension of the
West Hendon Centre to improve facilities in that area.
The school population in both the Watling and Childs Hill
areas has, however, risen substantially, each area now
being of a size to provide work for two dental officers.
The year was notable, therefore, only as a period of
effort to maintain existing services in the face of increasing
demands and the Borough was indeed fortunate that
its staffing problems compared most favourably with the
majority of other areas in the Country.
SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICES.
The number of children on the school registers
increased from 14,202 to 15,497 during the year, each dental