View report page

31
Two dentists are in attendance.
The children are inspected in school (routine examination)
and selections made for treatment. Originally a nominal fee of
6d. was charged, and this entitled a child to treatment for one
year. Thereby a most efficient scheme was established, and a
child's teeth were attended to during its whole school career.
Unfortunately, as the result of the Board of Education's
communication, the fee was raised to 2s. This, coupled with
the issue of a form to be completed in necessitous cases, led to
a rapid diminution in the number of acceptances. For example,
at the last school inspected—Downsell Road—out of 252 cases
referred for treatment only 38 accepted (about 15 per cent.),
whereas formerly at least 50 per cent accepted. With the abolition
of the forms and the reduction of the fee to 1s., it is to be
hoped that the dental service will be restored to its former satisfactory
condition.
TREATMENT OF UNCLEAN LI NESS.
On an average six schools are allotted to each whole-time
school nurse for the purpose of head inspection. Each school
has been visited three times, as in the previous year.
The total number of children examined by the nurses in the
year was 47,074. The number of individual children found unclean
was 3,301, of which G93 were referred to the clinic at the
Town Hall.
Soaking the hair with oil and combing with Sacker's
hygienic comb still proves the most rapid and effective method
of removing nits. Several of these combs are in use at the clinic,
and are lent to the parents with printed directions for their use.
Parents are continuing to purchase this comb from the patentee.
The cost of the comb has recently been reduced to 3s. 8d.
Arrangements at the same time have been made for the supply
of combs in necessitous cases at 2s. l1d. The number of cases
of dirty heads reported to the Education Committee was 21, this
number being considerably less than the number represented for
the previous year. Ten parents were prosecuted, and the fines
inflicted with costs amounted to £4 10s. 0d.