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146
Oral Hygiene
In addition to the actual work she carried out in the scaling and
cleaning of the teeth of children referred to her by the dental
officers, the Oral Hygienist (Miss Watts) has spent a great amount of
time on oral hygiene instruction—including the use of the toothbrush,
which is so often used incorrectly.
These talks appeared to be very much appreciated, and their
value can hardly be over-estimated, for they lay the foundation on
which the child's future interest in, and appreciation of, dental
services will be built.
In the Spring of 1952, during a period of about six weeks,
Miss Watts organised a dental exhibition containing many models
of teeth in health and disease. The exhibit, on loan from the Dental
Board, was on show in the large waiting room at Park House Clinic.
On no day were these exhibits seen by less than 50 people, and on
some days by considerably more, as they were available for
inspection by expectant and nursing mothers, pre-school and school
children. Many questions were put to the staff by parents and
children as a result of what they saw, and I think the exhibition
could well be repeated in the future.
Additional Statistics
Other items of dentistry for which no allowance is made in
Table IV are as follows:—
Denture space retainers fitted 36
Denture space retainers repaired 2
X-ray films taken 189
Local anaesthetics 1,668
Applications of silver nitrate 1,311
Scaling and polishing 882