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Too much stress cannot be laid upon the fact that anaesthetics
are used as a routine method whenever the operative procedures
are of such a nature that any unpleasant recollection might remain
in a child's mind, and be connected with its clinic visits.
The number of casual cases seen at the dental clinics has
again reached the high figure of 1,614. This number, however,
should fall as the time between successive dental inspections
decreases, and when the 1937 scheme of restriction of casual treatment
has had longer to make itself felt. An endeavour is now
being made to treat these cases without in any way interfering with
the routine treatment of children, whose parents appreciate conservative
dentistry, by seeing them on any school morning of the
week, thus spreading the numbers and causing less delay on any
one morning. It must readily be seen that an odd, and infrequent
visit to have an aching tooth extracted is a waste of public money,
and defeats the declared objects of the school dental service, viz.,
that as many children as possible shall leave school without the
loss of permanent teeth, free from dental disease and trained in the
care of the teeth.
It will be seen that some such method of selection is thoroughly
in agreement with official opinion by reference to the 1937 report of
the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education, page 115, where
he states that selection is necessary to ensure that the resources of
the service are utilised to the best advantage, e.g., by " exclusion
from the scheme of certain schools, age groups, or children whose
parents have refused to allow them to receive treatment."
While on the subject of the 1937 report of the Chief Medical
Officer of the Board of Education, it might be of interest to note
his remarks on page 117, where he states:—
"Much education in dental matters is carried out which
"may be described as direct education. Indirectly, however,