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267
"Basis of a Satisfactory Dental Scheme.
"As a result of the experience gained in the working
ot dental schemes in different parts of the country, it appears
to be necessary for the satisfactory working of a scheme of
dental inspection and treatment that the following points
should be observed :—
"1. The arrangements, including the keeping of records,
should be under the control and supervision of the School
Medical Officer, on whose staff the dentist undertaking the
work should be formally appointed.
"2. Dental inspection should be carried out by a qualified
dentist, preferably by the dentist undertaking the treatment.
In exceptional circumstances the Board are prepared
in the case of rural areas to consider proposals for the
School Medical Officer or Assistant School Medical Officer
to undertake dental inspection, provided that it can be shown
that they are conversant with the indications pointing to the
need for conservative dental treatment, and are competeni
to perform :—
(a) Adequate dental examination with probe and mirror.
(b) Proper dental recording.
Dental inspection should, as a rule, take place on the school
premises and in school hours.
"3. Attention should be concentrated in the first instance
on the group of children from six—eight years of age.
Some dentists prefer to begin with five-year-old children.
The "critical age" is, of course, the time of the emergence
of the permanent teeth.
"4. An accurate record should be kept of each mouth
examined, and of the treatment carried out.
"5. The treatment should be conservative in character,
and accordingly the bulk of the treatment work should be
by filling rather than by extraction. Conservative dentistry