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suffering from mental illness, of the tuberculous, and of the chronic
sick. In previous annual reports I have drawn attention to the
disastrous position in which expectant and nursing mothers and
young children are now placed in consequence of the dental
arrangements set up under the National Health Service, and the
tragedy that priority dental service for these mothers and children
is fast disappearing. This decline of the so-called priority dental
service is indicative of the general transfer of emphasis from
preventive to curative medicine.
As far as cost is concerned, the most expensive form of medical
care is treatment in hospital, domiciliary care occupies an intermediate
position, and by far the least costly is preventive medicine.