View report page

117
Dental Treatment.

In last year's Report mention was made of an enquiry into the state of the
teeth of 300 children born in 1929.
This enquiry was directed by Dr. McGregor, the Assistant Medical
Officer of Health, and the actual inspections, which were visual inspections
without the use of mirror or probe, were carried out by Miss Mould, the
Dental Hygienist.
Of the 300 children so inspected 155 were found to have defective teeth
either of slight or severe degree. This high proportion shows that local
conditions favour the development of dental defectiveness at an early age.
Enquiry was made in all cases as to whether or not the child had been breast
fed and as to whether or not cod liver oil had been given, but the results
obtained do not suggest any definite correlation between either of these
disiderata and freedom from dental decay. A possible explanation is that the
diets of the mother and child, bad housing conditions and lack of sunlight
have exercised a preponderating influence. Decayed teeth is the commonest
of the defects found upon the examination of school entrants and is one that
has a far-reaching influence upon future health. In attacking the problem
we should begin at the beginning by giving special attention to the diet of the
expectant mother and to ante-natal treatment generally.