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The age groups to be inspected during the year 1927 will be
the same as in 1926, namely, 5 to 9 years inclusive.
The work of the Clinic has been carried out in order to reduce
pain to the utmost minimum. In the case of teeth which have to
be extracted and are not too septic, local injections have been
given, and in all other cases either gas has been administered or
ethyl-chloride used. Teeth, both temporary and permanent, have
been filled where possible, which process has been rendered practically
painless. The mouths of all children attending the Clinic
have been rendered clean and sound by the necessary treatment.
In certain cases sound teeth have been extracted for regulation
purposes. Many children require to wear a regulating appliance
in order to make their teeth give the utmost service, and to give
them a pleasing appearance; owing to lack of time, however, all
these children have been advised to attend a large general hospital
which has a dental department.
The need for at least two more school dentists in the Borough
is again emphasised. No real preventive dentistry can be undertaken
until these be appointed, and that is the most important part
of school dental work.
Parents should be instructed in the importance of proper diet
in babyhood and in early childhood, in order that the jaws will be
properly developed and the mouth kept naturally clean. They
should be instructed also in the periods when the temporary teeth
come through, when they are lost, when the permanent teeth
appear, the need of filling teeth, and oral cleanliness. All this is
far more important than filling and extracting teeth, for it strikes
at the root of all dental trouble. Only when preventive work is