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inflammation and defective hearing. Excellent results have been
obtained by diastolisation, a method of treatment which reduces
the inflammatory condition of the nasal passages, enabling the child
to breathe more easily, and so reducing the catarrh which is so often
a cause of defective hearing.
(e) Dental Defects.
The work done by the School Dental Surgeon is shown in
Table IV, Group V, of the Statistics. The figures given there are
an indication of the amount and the nature of the work done. It
will be seen that the scheme of dental inspection now covers practically
the whole elementary school population, so that dental
treatment is available for every school child during his whole
elementary school life. Every effort is made to concentrate as
much as possible on conservative treatment and to discourage the
casual case which only wishes to attend for extractions at a stage
when the affected teeth are no longer saveable. It will be seen
that, so far as permanent teeth are concerned, the ratio of fillings
to extractions is very satisfactory, 3,095 fillings to 481 extractions.
In the case of temporary teeth, on the other hand, very much less
time is devoted to fillings, the number of which is negligible compared
with that of extractions. Various changes have been made
in our procedure during the past year with a view to emphasising
the importance of the preventive and conservative side of the dental
work, and these changes have resulted in considerable improvement
taking place.
(f) Defects of Speech.
The Speech Defect Clinic has continued to deal with children
suffering from defects of speech, two classes being held each week,
one for children of twelve years and over and the other for children
under twelve. The improvement in most cases is necessarily slow,
as each child requires individual attention, but the results are, on
the whole, very gratifying, and in a large proportion of the cases
dealt with complete cure is obtained.
VIII.—INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
The incidence of infectious disease in the school population
was considerably greater in 1934 than during the previous year,
the total number of cases notified to me from the schools being
1,064, as compared with 651 in 1933.
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