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Secondary Schools.
During this period treatment was carried out for the pupils
of the two Secondary Schools which were inspected during November
and December, 1938, the findings of which were reported in the
Borough of Leyton Health Report, 1938, Table V, page 200.
This work occupied a considerable amount of time during the
first quarter of the year, not only due to the amount of work found
to be necessary, but also due to the fact that the time required to
treat these children is very often twice that required for an equivalent
number of the younger elementary school schildren.
In this connection several interesting tables are appended,
one showing the percentage incidence of dental caries in the various
age groups, another showing the condition of some of the worst
mouths, largely brought about by the absence of regular annual
inspection and treatment in these two schools; and a third showing
the distribution of unsaveable and saveable permanent teeth in
the mouths of girls and boys in these schools.
These tables will show how, in the absence of a complete
scheme of dental treatment throughout a child's school life, the
work carried out during the earlier years can be largely wasted, and
how provision for dental supervision and treatment between the
school leaving age and the time the adolescent becomes eligible for
National Health Insurance Dental Benefit (approximately 4 years)
is a vital and long overdue necessity.