London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1930
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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79
As explained in the last Annual Report the number of sessions was increased
to eleven per week at the beginning of June, 1929. The year 1930 is accordingly
the first complete year for which we have records of the work done under this new
arrangement.
A comparison of the work done each year since this Hospital was opened is contained in the following table:—
| 1927. From 31st March, Five Sessions. | 1928. Five Sessions. | 1929. Jan.-May, Five Sessions. June-Dec., Eleven Sessions. | 1930. Eleven Sessions. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of children's visits | 499 | 794 | 1,081 | 1,577 |
| No. of adults' visits | 1,430 | 3,032 | 3,505 | 6,658 |
| No. of maternity cases visits | 627 | 1,021 | 1,209 | 1,290 |
| No. of dentures fitted | 61 | 222 | 329 | 699 |
The steady increase shown in the foregoing table of the work done is most
satisfactory. In this Borough neglect of the teeth is one of the most common and
one of the most far-reaching causes of ill-health, and the statistical records here
given of treatment carried out mean in fact that an increasingly large number of
the people of Shoreditch are either regaining their health, or, better still, preserving
their health by availing themselves of facilities for dental treatment now within
the reach of all.
Particularly gratifying in the record of the last year's work is the fact that
16 children made 171 attendances for orthodontic treatment.
As has been explained, this treatment consists in correcting deformities and
mal positions of the teeth and jaws of growing children, and is the means of removing
conditions that would otherwise seriously prejudice their future health.
Reference has been made to the fact that it became necessary to engage a
temporary Assistant Dental Surgeon. Shortly after the summer recess the Health
Committee had under consideration the steps necessary to be taken to deal with
the arrears of work that had accumulated as a result of the increasing number of
patients. These arrears fell into two categories—patients who were waiting for
dentures and patients who were waiting for the completion of other forms of
treatment.
In order to overtake the arrears of dentures, the Committee decided in September
to modify, as a temporary measure, the rules as to eligibility for treatment, and
accordingly instructed the Dental Surgeon that extractions likely to necessitate
the provision of dentures should not be performed unless the case was urgent, or
the patient in pain. In practice this decision has not been very effective as a large
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